Polar Ice Cap

A polar ice cap or '''polar ice sheet''' is a high-. Polar ice caps do not have size, composition or geologic requirements of being over land, but they must be centered in the Polar Region . The composition of the ice will vary. Earth 's polar ice caps are mainly Water ice, while Mars 's polar ice caps are a mixture of Carbon Dioxide ice and water ice. Polar ice caps form because high- Latitude regions receive less energy in the form of Solar Radiation from the Sun than Equator ial regions, resulting in lower Surface Temperature s. Season al variations of the ice caps will take place due to varied solar energy absorption as the planet or moon revolves around the sun. Additionally, in geologic time scale, the ice caps may grow or shrink due to Climate variation. See Ice Age , Polar Climate . Both of the Earth's ice caps are currently shrinking, possibly as a result of Anthropogenic Global Warming . EARTH Earth 's North Pole is covered by floating Pack Ice (sea ice) over the Arctic Ocean . Portions of the ice that don't melt seasonally can get very thick, up to 3–4 meters thick over large areas, with ridges up to 20 meters thick. One-year ice is usually about a meter thick. The area covered by sea ice ranges between 9 and 12 million km². The land mass of the Earth's South Pole , in Antarctica , is covered by the Antarctic Ice Sheet . It covers an area of almost 14 million km² and contains 30 million km³ of ice. Around 90% of the fresh water on the Earth's surface is held in this ice sheet. In addition, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet covers 3.2 million km² and the Ross Ice Shelf covers 0.5 million km². See Climate Of Antarctica .
	Image:The Earth Seen From Apollo 17jpg	"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Vrhbosna/Earth" class="copylinks">Earth as seen from Apollo 17 , with southern polar ice cap visible (Courtesy NASA )

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Polar Ice Cap