subglacial

American  

[suhb-gley-shuhl] / sʌbˈgleɪ ʃəl /

adjective

1. beneath a glacier.

   a subglacial stream.

2. formerly beneath a glacier.

   a subglacial deposit.

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subglacial British  

/ sʌbˈɡleɪsɪəl /

adjective

1. formed or occurring at the bottom of a glacier

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Other Word Forms

• subglacially adverb

Etymology

Origin of subglacial

First recorded in 1810–20; sub- + glacial

Example Sentences

Bell is a research professor at Columbia University who has led 10 expeditions to Antarctica and Greenland in part to study deep subglacial lakes.

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2025

While Fretwell cautioned he is not an expert in lacustrine habitats, meaning large bodies of water where life may be possible, he said Bedmap3 will help inform new studies of subglacial lakes.

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2025

Pelle said subglacial discharge came onto his radar in 2021 when he and his colleagues observed that East Antarctica's Denman Glacier's ice shelf was melting faster than expected given local ocean temperatures.

From Science Daily • Oct. 27, 2023

The notion that subglacial discharge causes additional ice shelf melting is widely accepted in the scientific community, said Greenbaum.

From Science Daily • Oct. 27, 2023

We were not in this central zone, however, but at best on the edge of it, between it and the zone of turbulent, deflected, precipitation-laden storms that it sends continually to torment the subglacial lands.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin