Concept information
Preferred term
polar cap
Definition
- A polar ice cap or polar cap is a high-latitude region of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite that is covered in ice. There are no requirements with respect to size or composition for a body of ice to be termed a polar ice cap, nor any geological requirement for it to be over land, but only that it must be a body of solid phase matter in the polar region. This causes the term "polar ice cap" to be something of a misnomer, as the term ice cap itself is applied more narrowly to bodies that are over land, and cover less than 50,000 km²: larger bodies are referred to as ice sheets. The composition of the ice will vary. For example, Earth's polar caps are mainly water ice, whereas Mars's polar ice caps are a mixture of solid carbon dioxide and water ice. (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_ice_cap)
In other languages
-
French
URI
http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/MDL-FW7L2RRB-9
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