Ablation of snow‐fields at high altitudes by radiant solar heat

Snow‐fields and the so‐called névés of glaciers on lofty mountains often present a peculiar, honeycombed appearance, the surface being pitted with deep cell‐like hollows a foot or two feet in diameter and from a few inches to several feet in depth. When typically developed these hollows are closely spaced, the divides between them consisting merely of attenuated blades and pinnacles of hard, granular snow (Fig. 1). The hollows are alined roughly in rows and sunk at a uniform, high angle, all in the same direction.