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glacier Article

What causes glaciers to grow and shrink?

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Glaciers are replenished mainly by snowfall and shrink primarily by melting, runoff, or breaking off of icebergs. For a glacier to remain at a constant size, there must be a balance between income (accumulation) and outgo (ablation). If this mass balance is positive (more gain than loss), the glacier will grow; if negative, it will shrink.

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