ICE CAP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ice cap mean? 

• ICE CAP (noun)
  The noun ICE CAP has 1 sense:

1. a mass of ice and snow that permanently covers a large area of land (e.g., the polar regions or a mountain peak)

  Familiarity information: ICE CAP used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ICE CAP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A mass of ice and snow that permanently covers a large area of land (e.g., the polar regions or a mountain peak)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

ice cap; icecap

Hypernyms ("ice cap" is a kind of...):

ice mass (a large mass of ice)

 Context examples 

“Once the ice cap forms, it provides a slight asymmetry that either locks toward or away from Charon when Pluto’s spin slows to match the orbital motion of the moon,” Hamilton said.

(Scientists Probe Mystery of Pluto’s Icy Heart, NASA)

Some of the sites that have shapes and compositions consistent with volcanic eruptions beneath an ice sheet are about 1,000 miles (about 1,600 kilometers) from the current south polar ice cap of Mars.

(Clues about Volcanoes Under Ice on Ancient Mars, NASA)

The paper, authored by the Italian MARSIS team, outlines how a bright spot was detected in radar signals about 1 mile (about 1.5 kilometers) below the surface of the ice cap in the Planum Australe region.

(Possible Subsurface Lake near Martian South Pole, NASA)

Called the runaway albedo effect, this phenomenon would eventually lead to a single dominating ice cap, like the one observed on Pluto’s heart.

(Scientists Probe Mystery of Pluto’s Icy Heart, NASA)

Under Hamilton’s scenario, the ice cap may have been heavy enough to sink a few miles or kilometers into Pluto’s crust, which could explain why Sputnik Planitia is lower than the surrounding terrain.

(Scientists Probe Mystery of Pluto’s Icy Heart, NASA)

Research by University of Maryland astronomy professor Douglas Hamilton and New Horizons colleagues, shows that this nitrogen ice cap could have formed early on, when Pluto was still spinning quickly, and did not necessarily require an impact basin.

(Scientists Probe Mystery of Pluto’s Icy Heart, NASA)