The meltwater from the Fox Glacier in Southern New Zealand originally would have fallen as snow 20 or more klms up the valley thousands of years ago before being compressed into ice and flowing a few feet a year down to the face of the glacier. The face is rapidly withdrawing up the valley in recent years! Look at the enlarged image to see the most of image is a wall of ice with large chunks broken off like hugh rocks. It is dangerous to approach to close because of ice falls and also a large block falling can creat a sudden surge in the flow of the stream.