(geology) Dark silt accumulating mainly from airborne volcanic sediment or soot from artificial pollution, or detritus in water of ablation from ice sheets or glaciers. Cryoconite typically appears either as surface discoloration or in cryoconite holes.

plural of cryoconite

a hollow or pond formed in a layer of snow or ice, commonly on the surface of a glacier or in polar regions, where a dark patch of cryoconite absorbs sunlight, generating heat so that it melts its way into the white, reflective ice.

plural of cryoconite hole