Glacial system inputs

Question 1

What are the main forms in which materials enter the glacial system?

Answer 1

Materials enter the glacial system in the form of precipitation and rock debris.

Question 2

What is the main material input to the glacial system?

Answer 2

The main material input to the glacial system is snow, with some contribution from other forms of precipitation such as sleet, hail and rain (atmospheric inputs)

Question 3

What are terrestrial glacial inputs?

Answer 3

Terrestrial inputs - Blown snow and snow and rock debris which are input in the form of avalanches from the sides of a glacier or rock debris incorporated into the base of a glacier through erosion or from weathering and erosion of slopes above a glacier.

Question 4

How does energy enter the glacial system?

Answer 4

Energy enters the glacial system in the form of gravity, solar radiation and geothermal heat.
Energy inputs may be thermal, potential or kinetic.