Serac

A serac (originally from Swiss French sérac, a type of ricotta-like whey cheese) is a block or column of ice formed by intersecting crevasses on a glacier. Often house-sized or larger, they are dangerous to mountaineers since they may topple with little warning. Even when stabilized by persistent cold weather, they can be an impediment to glacier travel.

Seracs are found within an icefall, often in large numbers, or on ice faces on the lower edge of a hanging glacier.^[1] Examples of the latter in the Alps are found on the north-east face of Piz Roseg, the north face of the Dent d'Hérens and the north face of Lyskamm. They are a well-known obstacle on many of the world's highest mountains, in particular Kanchenjunga. The collapse of a large serac was responsible for the deaths of most of the 11 climbers on the world's second highest mountain, K2, in August 2008.

Seracs on the Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand	Serac bands on the northern precipices of Lyskamm in the Swiss Alps	Seracs in firn at 10,000 feet (3,050 meters) on the Winthrop Glacier of Mount Rainier in Washington, USA	Serac on Bans glacier, massif des Écrins, France
Serac in the Mont-Blanc massif, France	Serac in the Mont-Blanc massif, France	Serac in Écrins massif, France	Serecs in Piloto Glacier in Cordillera Darwin, Tierra del Fuego

References

1. ^ Post, Austin and Edward R. Lachapelle (Revised edition (May 2000)). Glacier Ice. University of Washington Press. 

This glaciology article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e