Glacier

A glacier (US /ˈɡleɪʃər/ or UK /ˈɡlæsiə/) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight; it forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation (melting and sublimation) over many years, often centuries. Glaciers slowly deform and flow due to stresses induced by their weight, creating crevasses, seracs, and other distinguishing features. They also abrade rock and debris from their substrate to create landforms such as cirques and moraines. Glaciers form only on land and are distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water.

On Earth, 99% of glacial ice is contained within vast ice sheets in the polar regions, but glaciers may be found in mountain ranges on every continent except Australia, and on a few high-latitude oceanic islands. Between 35°N and 35°S, glaciers occur only in the Himalayas, Andes, Rocky Mountains, a few high mountains in East Africa, Mexico, New Guinea and on Zard Kuh in Iran. Glaciers cover about 10 percent of Earth's land surface. Continental glaciers cover nearly 5 million square miles or about 98 percent of Antarctica's 5.1 million square miles, with an average thickness of 7,000 feet (2,100 m). Greenland and Patagonia also have huge expanses of continental glaciers.

Glacier (wrestler)

Raymond M. Lloyd (born May 13, 1964) is an American martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling from 1996 to 1999 under the ring name Glacier.

Early life

Lloyd was born into a law-enforcement family in Brunswick, Georgia. His father, Harold, served as a commander with the Georgia State Patrol for 28 years, while his mother, Lois, worked with the Georgia Driver's License Division prior to her retirement in 1999, and his fraternal twin brother, Ron, is a state trooper. Lloyd graduated from Brunswick High School in 1982, and played offensive tackle for the football team all four years. In his senior year, he became the school's first All-State player. He also competed for the track and field team, in the shot put and discus.

A skilled martial artist, Lloyd took up Hung Ga at fourteen, later adding other disciplines such as Judo and Kempo. His school was owned and taught by a former government agent and a U.S. Marshal, before it closed to the public in 1982. In 1983, he began competing for the World Karate Association in full-contact tournaments, eventually winning the United States Southeastern Super Heavyweight title. During his WKA stint, he was never knocked out or even knocked down; his only loss came on a disqualification for stalling, which he attributed to nervousness. However, when the WKA changed its rules in 1985 to allow kicks from the knee up (they were previously only from the waist up), Lloyd opted to retire from competition in order not to jeopardize his football scholarship by risking injury. He played center for Valdosta State University (the same alma mater as former WCW announcer Scott Hudson), under coach Mike Cavan, and was a teammate of former Atlanta Falcons linebacker Jessie Tuggle during his collegiate career.

Glacier (band)

Glacier (styled as GLACIER) is a visual kei rock band from Okinawa, Japan. Makoto, Nao and Aki have been friends since they were elementary schoolchildren. The three members started the band in Okinawa. They released a CD single Nangoku Shōjo from a Japanese record label Crown Records on 23 July 2008.

Biography

Glacier means a mass of ice on the mountains or rivers. When the band was in Okinawa, they were not conscious of Okinawa at first. So, when they decided on the band name, they chose the thing which is not in Okinawa. But, since they used Okinawan scale, their music style might be categorised as Okinawan music.

After the band moved to Tokyo, they thought that they should open their Okinawan spirits which were hiding inside. They expressed the intention on the lyrics of the title song "Nangoku Shōjo" from the first CD single Nangoku Shōjo. Makoto, who wrote the lyrics, told that he constructed the words for the listeners to remind southern islands because he wanted them to understand easily the band's hometown and feelings. From this way of thinking, the band has began to wide the Okinawan club pops as the point in their Okinawan entertainment.

Stoat

The stoat (Mustela erminea), also known as the short-tailed weasel, is a species of Mustelidae native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip. The name ermine is often, but not always, used for the animal in its pure white winter coat, or the fur thereof. In the late 19th century, stoats were introduced into New Zealand to control rabbits. The stoats have had a devastating effect on native bird populations (see stoats in New Zealand).

It is classed by the IUCN as least concern, due to its wide circumpolar distribution, and because it does not face any significant threat to its survival. It was nominated as one of the world's top 100 "worst invaders".

Ermine luxury fur was used by Catholic monarchs in the 15th century, who sometimes used it as the mozetta cape. It was also used in capes on images such as the Infant Jesus of Prague.

Etymology

The root word for "stoat" is likely either the Belgic and Dutch word stout ("naughty") or the Gothic word stautan ("to push"). According to John Guillim, in his Display of Heraldrie, the word "ermine" is likely derived from Armenia, the nation where it was thought the species originated, though other authors have linked it to the Norman French from the Teutonic harmin (Anglo-Saxon hearma). This seems to come from the Lithuanian word šarmu. In Ireland (where the least weasel does not occur), the stoat is referred to as weasel, while in North America it is called short-tailed weasel. A male stoat is called a dog, hob, or jack, while a female is called a bitch or jill. The collective noun for stoats is either gang or pack.

Ermine (heraldry)

Ermine (/ˈɜːrmɪn/) in heraldry is a "fur", or varied tincture, consisting of a white background with a pattern of black shapes representing the winter coat of the stoat (a species of weasel with white fur and a black-tipped tail). The linings of medieval coronation cloaks and some other garments, usually reserved to use by high-ranking peers and royalty, were made by sewing many ermine furs together to produce a luxurious white fur with patterns of hanging black-tipped tails. Due largely to the association of the ermine fur with the linings of coronation cloaks, crowns and peerage caps, the heraldic tincture of ermine was usually reserved to similar applications in heraldry (i.e., the linings of crowns and chapeaux and of the royal canopy).

Ermine spots

The ermine spot, the conventional heraldic representation of the tail, has had a wide variety of shapes over the centuries; its most usual representation has three tufts at the end (bottom), converges to a point at the root (top), and is attached by three studs. When "ermine" is specified as the tincture of the field (or occasionally of a charge), the spots are part of the tincture itself, rather than a semé or pattern of charges. The ermine spot (so specified), however, may also be used singly as a mobile charge, or as a mark of cadency signifying the absence of a blood relationship.

Ermine (disambiguation)

Ermine is the common name for the stoat (Mustela erminea), more especially in its white winter coat

Ermine may also refer to:

See also