The flow of valley glaciers is examined in the light of recent laboratory experiments on the behaviour of ice under load. Simple expressions are given for the velocity distributions in some cases of laminar flow, and the modification of a pure laminar flow theory necessary to explain the formation of transverse crevasses and thrust planes is considered. The paper ends with some remarks about the formation of crevasse patterns on the surfaces of glaciers. The statical equilibrium of a circular ice cap is discussed in an appendix.

This paper describes compression tests at −1.5° C. on blocks of ice containing many small crystals in random orientation. Results show that ice does not possess a constant coefficient of viscosity, but obeys a more complicated relation between compressive stress u and strain rate . For the stress range 1.5–10 Kg. cm−2 this relation is approximately of the form , where n is a constant equal to about 4. A method of preparing small cylindrical single crystals of ice of a desired orientation is also described.