snow field

{{short description|Permanent accumulation of snow and ice, usually in mountains or glaciers}}

{{about|accumulations of permanent snow and ice|the UK indie rock band|Editors (band)}}

{{confused|ice field}}

File:Tarn_6320_feet_23126.JPG on Mount Rainier.]]

A snow field, snowfield or neve is an accumulation of permanent snow and ice, typically found above the snow line, normally in mountainous and glacial terrain.{{Cite journal|title=Snowfield and neve|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.630200|access-date=2020-12-18|website=AccessScience|doi=10.1036/1097-8542.630200 }}

Glaciers originate in snowfields. The lower end of a glacier is usually free from snow and névé in summer. In the upper end and above the upper boundary of a glacier, the snow field is an ice field covered with snow. The glacier upper boundary, where it emerges from under a snow field, is ill-defined because of gradual transition.Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin, Rollin D. Salisbury (1904) "Geology", [https://books.google.com/books?id=p0QNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA258&dq=%22snow+field+is%22 p. 258]