Cryoconite is powdery windblown

dust Dust is made of particle size, fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian processes, aeolian process), Types of volcan ...

made of a combination of small rock particles, soot and

microbes A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from antiquity, with an early attestation in ...

which is deposited and builds up on

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s, or

ice cap In glaciology, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers less than of land area (usually covering a highland area). Larger ice masses covering more than are termed ice sheets. Description By definition, ice caps are not constrained by topogra ...

s. The darkening, especially from small amounts of

soot Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. Soot is considered a hazardous substance with carcinogenic properties. Most broadly, the term includes all the particulate matter produced b ...

, absorbs solar radiation melting the snow or ice beneath the deposit, and sometimes creating a cryoconite hole. Cryoconite may contain dust from far away continental deserts or farmland, particles from

volcanic eruption A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior h ...

s or

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

emissions, and soot. It was first described and named by Nils A. E. Nordenskiöld when he traveled on Greenland's icecap in 1870.Jenkins, M
"Changing Greenland - Melt Zone"
page 3, of 4, ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' June 2010, accessed July 8, 2010 During summer, cryoconite holes frequently contain liquid water and thus provide a niche for cold-adapted microorganisms like bacteria, algae and animals like

rotifers The rotifers (, from Latin 'wheel' and 'bearing'), sometimes called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were first described by Rev. John Harris ...

and

tardigrade Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them . In 1776, th ...

s to thrive. Cryoconite typically settles and concentrates at the bottom of these holes creating a noticeable dark mass. Soot decreases the reflectivity, or

albedo Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...

of ice, increasing absorption of heat. Cryoconite is constantly being added to snow and ice formations along with snow. It is buried within the snow or ice, but as the snow or ice melts increasing amounts of dark material is exposed on the surface, accelerating melting. Taylor Glacier, cryoconite hole 2014-11-21 02.jpg, Cryoconite hole,

Taylor Glacier The Taylor Glacier () is a glacier in Antarctica about long, flowing from the plateau of Victoria Land into the western end of Taylor Valley, north of the Kukri Hills. It flows to the south of the Asgard Range. The middle part of the glacier is ...

Krüokoniidi suuruse mõõtmine.jpg, Measuring a cryoconite hole, Longyearbreen Glacier ( Longyear Valley) Noorteadlased krüokoniidist proovi võtmas.jpg, Taking a sample, Longyearbreen Glacier

Notes

External links and further reading

{{Commonscat, Cryoconites
Woods Hole Image of the Day: Attack of the cryoconites
Glaciers Particulates