Ice Feature in Greenland

An ice feature which looks like a face, is caused by dark coloured cryoconite deposits falling on the ice. The darker shade of the cryconite (airbourne dust and impurities carried across the glacier by wind) lower the albedo or reflectance of the glacier's surface, this causes the ice underneath the black parts to absorb more heat and melt much faster than the surrounding ice. A similar example of lowered albedo occurs when sea-ice melts and disappears, causing the darker coloured sea underneath to absorb more heat.