An ice sheet is a massive layer of ice covering a significant portion of land, usually in polar regions like Antarctica and Greenland. These icy giants are among Earth’s largest natural features, shaped by centuries of snowfall accumulation that compresses into solid ice over time.
Ice sheets form where snowfall exceeds melting and sublimation (the direct transition from ice to vapor). Over thousands of years, layers of snow pile up and gradually compact under their weight, transforming into dense ice.
This process builds up immense thicknesses of ice, often several kilometers deep. The sheer weight of this ice …