This term is used in the glaciological literature to refer to the melting point of ice under pressure. As the pressure increases in the downward direction, the melting temperature of ice decreases. This pressure melting point can reach values many degrees below 0°C.
Due to geothermal heat flux from below, the temperature at the same time increases. The level where ice can start melting is where the pressure melting point equals the actual temperature. In static equilibrium conditions, this would be the highest level where water can exist in a glacier. It would also be the level of the base of an ice shelf, or the ice-water interface of a subglacial lake.
Famous quotes containing the words pressure, melting and/or point:
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—David Elkind (20th century)
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Droop herbs and flowers;
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—Ben Jonson (1572–1637)
“To be just, that is to say, to justify its existence, criticism should be partial, passionate and political, that is to say, written from an exclusive point of view, but a point of view that opens up the widest horizons.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)