firn

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Ice and firn, or dense snow leftover from previous seasons, also disappeared from the ridge.

From Washington Post • Aug. 18, 2022

During large melt events, meltwater on the surface can seep through the snow and into firn, or a layer of compacted snow that is not yet compressed into glacial ice.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 5, 2021

Whillans, I. M. & Grootes, P. M. Isotopic diffusion in cold snow and firn.

From Nature • Feb. 4, 2018

At the top of the sheet there’s airy snow, known as firn, that fell last year and the year before and the year before that.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 17, 2016

A jumble of firn, new ice, and old ice underfoot.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin