Glacier Calving

A towering glacier face slowly fractures under its own weight, then releases massive ice chunks that plunge into the sea below in a process called calving. In the real world this happens when a glacier flows toward the coast faster than it melts, building internal stress until cracks called crevasses propagate through the ice until a chunk shears free; the resulting waves and rising sea levels are closely watched indicators of a warming climate. Watch each column wobble and crack before it lets go, sending a plume of spray and rippling waves outward across the water. The frequency and size of these calving events mirror the kind of glacial retreat scientists track at places like Greenland and Antarctica.

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Time scale: 1.0x Gravity strength: 1.0x Ice color palette Glacial white-blue Arctic cyan Sunset glow Meltwater teal Pause Reset