Here the Fridreichsborg Glacier in East Greenland is calving into Kangerluqsuaq Fjord. The dark sinuous rock band in the center is a medial moraine. Glaciers may form anywhere that snow accumulation exceed seasonal melt.
Alpine glaciers form in the mountains.
Continental glaciers may cover large sections of continents as in Greenland and Antarctica. Recognition of past continental glaciation of North America and Europe was a major geological advance of the nineteenth century. A valley glacier is one that occupies a valley, whereas an ice sheet is a mass of ice that covers a large area as in Greenland and an ice cap is a mass of ice that occupies a high mountain area and flows outward in several directions. A typical valley glacier will add snow at its head and lose to melt at its foot. The snow line is the line below which the annual snow cover is lost in summer.