05 - Temperature, Pressure, and Time

In this episode of Ways of Ice, we ask a simple question: what controls glacier behavior? We explore three things that transform the behavior of ice: temperature, pressure, and time. We follow experiments and observations that reveal how ice, a brittle material, can slowly deform and flow like a fluid. Along the way, we meet John Tyndall and explore the strange physics of pressure melting and regelation. Then, we connect these 19th century discoveries to how modern glaciologists understand and model glaciers.