What are crevises in glaciers? How does one traverse such zones on foot?

Question

involvement of ropes and icepicks.

Answer 1

Crevasses are side-to-side fractures in the surface and near surface of glaciers. They are usually more prevalent where the glacier makes a turn or where the slope changes quickly. Glacial ice acts somewhat like a fluid and also like a solid. It takes the form of its valley (if a mountain glacier) or spreads out over a continent (if a continental glacier)...Greenland has both. The crevasses form a pressure release, where the liquid-acting ice cannot conform to the change in direction or slope. If you were to walk on a glacier you would try to go around the crevasses, but if unable to do so you could use ladders (really!!) if the crevasse was narrow enough. I think they use mountaineering techniques in some cases, too (climb down, swing over, climb up). Some crevasses are so deep you can hear running water deep inside the glacier (if it is warm enough, of course).

Answer 2

Glacier
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This article is about the geological formation. For other uses, see Glacier (disambiguation).
A glacier is a large, long-lasting river of ice that is formed on land and moves in response to gravity and undergoes internal deformation. Glacier ice is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth, and second only to oceans as the largest reservoir of total water. Glaciers can be found on every continent, including on the greater Australian continent. Glaciers are more or less permanent bodies of ice and compacted snow that have become deep and heavy enough to flow under their own weight.

Geologic features created by glaciers include end, lateral, ground and medial moraines that form from glacially transported rocks and debris; U-shaped valleys and corries (cirques) at their heads, and the glacier fringe, which is the area where the glacier has recently melted into water.

more information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaciers

Answer 3

Crevices are cracks in the glacier. You need to to cross, without treading, on it. I am not mountaineer, therefore I cannot help you, with correct answer.