RARE & DELIGHTFUL SNOW WORDS FIRN Firn entered English, as a technical term in glaciology and meteorology, from the Swiss alpine noun Firnschnee ‘last year’s snow.’ Firn is a Swiss-German adjective meaning ‘mature, older, of a previous time, of the previous year.’ Firn is a dialect variant of the standard German adjective and adverb fern ‘far away.’ The online Glossary of Meteorology under the auspices and editorship of the American Meteorological Society is one of the best internet places to seek good definitions of words used in glaciology and hydrology. In their glossary, firn is “old snow that that has become granular and compacted (dense) as the result of various surface metamorphoses, mainly melting and refreezing but also including sublimation.” “In hydrologic terms, [firn is] old snow on top of glaciers, granular and compact and not yet converted into ice. It is a transitional stage between snow and ice.”
Firn Line “The firn line is the boundary of the area of snow on a glacier surviving one year’s ablation, thus becoming firn.” In the photo at the right the firn line between this year's fresh snow and last year's compacted firn is clearly visible. Firnspiegel Firnspiegel is another Swiss German compound noun used in English glaciology and made up of firn + Spiegel German ‘mirror.’ A fernspiegel is a thin, highly reflective sheet of clear ice formed at the snow surface; formed in spring when subfreezing air temperatures combine with subsurface melting (due to penetration of solar energy into the snow).”
Firnspiegel shines and glows at the mountain's peak. And that’s enough of them there firn words fer now. More unusual snow words next time.
© 2009 William Gordon Casselman Any comments, corrections, emendations, additional word lore, orders for my books? Please email me at canadiansayings@mountaincable.net
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