NJ, the answer to your question is that as the glacier travels...

  1. 603 Posts.
    NJ, the answer to your question is that as the glacier travels towards the coast snowfall accumulates on top. This continues until the glacier reaches the ocean and breaks up and melts. The accumulation of snow is the same as rain falling into a river, just at glacier speeds.

    This phenomenon has nothing to do with the coastal ice limits or the stability of inland ice sheets.
 
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