basal sliding The process by which a temperate glacier moves over its bed. It involves three mechanisms: relatively rapid creep in the basal layers; pressure melting, whereby ice under pressure melts on the up-glacier side of a small obstacle and the released water freezes on the down-glacier side; and slippage over a layer of water at the bed.

basal sliding The process by which a temperate glacier moves over its bed. It involves three mechanisms: relatively rapid creep in the basal layers; pressure melting, whereby ice under pressure melts on the up-glacier side of a small obstacle and the released water freezes on the down-glacier side; and slippage over a layer of water at the bed.