The edges of glaciology

An IGS international symposium on ‘The edges of glaciology’ was held in the University of Limerick from 2 to 7 July 2023, and this article is the preface to the resulting issue of the Annals of Glaciology. The edges of glaciology are most obviously those parts of the study of ice and ice masses which involve boundaries: grain boundaries, ice cores, the glacier bed, the glacier surface, shear margins, crevasses and calving, but these and other subjects also sometimes involve philosophical edges, where different presumptions and practices can lead to controversy: for example, theories of drumlin formation or till deformation. And yet again, there are territorial edges, where glaciology lies at the interface with other disciplines, as for example in ice shelf–ocean interactions, rheology of granular materials, firn sintering and compaction. The aim of the conference was to explore and encourage discussion of all such edges. In keeping with this theme, the present preface also treads the edges of acceptability.