A hungry pika chews on leaves it found among the rocks.


This seabird swims near a glacier.


Moving Mountains Glaciers are the largest and most powerful objects on Earth. T eir movements have shaped many of Earth’s landforms. Glaciers dig deep valleys. T ey


grind down mountains. Glaciers bulldoze sand and gravel into ridges called moraines.


Signs of Life Glaciers change Earth in other ways, too. In Greenland and Antarctica, the ice is over 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) thick in some places. It’s so heavy, it presses down on Earth’s crust. Some parts of land have been pushed below sea level. T ey may look lifeless, but glaciers


support a lively ecosystem. Many plants and animals live on or near glaciers. T ey need glaciers to survive. Koppes has seen pikas. T ey are


small mammals that live among the rocks. She has seen seabirds that only nest near glaciers. Still, her favorite glacier animal is


This ice worm lives inside the glacier. It comes to the surface to eat.


a worm. An ice worm eats algae and bacteria that live in the ice.


JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2013 21


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