Glacial systems and landscapes Flashcards

1
Q

Ablation

A

The loss of mass from the glacier, e.g. meltwater, avalanches, sublimation, evaporation.

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2
Q

Abrasion

A

Small rocks within the base of the glacier rub against the bedrock.

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3
Q

Accumulation

A

The addition of mass to the glacier, usually as snow.

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4
Q

Active Layer

A

The top layer of soil above permafrost, which thaws annually in summer.

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5
Q

Alpine Regions

A

Areas of low temperature in high altitude, mountainous regions.

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6
Q

Arêtes

A
  • A ridge formed between two corries.
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7
Q

Basal Ice Melting

A

The weight of a temperate glacier causes meltwater, which will then erode the
bedrock through fluvial erosion

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8
Q

Basal Sliding

A

Glaciers sliding over bedrock, due to meltwater between the two surfaces.

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9
Q

Blockfields

A

Rock-strewn landscape caused by extensive frost action.

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10
Q

Cold-Based Glacier

A
  • (Also called Polar Glaciers) The glacier’s temperature remains below zero
    degrees, so the base of the glacier remains frozen and moves very little.
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11
Q

Compressional Flow

A

Ice builds up and thickens due to friction as a glacier travels upwards along
a shallow gradient.

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12
Q

Corries

A

A round hollow in the side of a hill, widened from an initial smaller hollow by a glacier
within the hollow.

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13
Q

Crushing

A

The weight of the glacier causes fracturing in the bedrock

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14
Q

Drumlins

A

When a glacier hits an obstacle that cannot be eroded, deposition from underneath the
glacier builds up behind the obstacle.

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15
Q

Environmental Fragility

A

An environment is vulnerable or at risk, with low resilience or ability to
adapt to changes.

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16
Q

Erratics

A

Boulders transported and deposited by a glacier. The type of rock that forms the erratic
will usually differ from the rock types in the surrounding landscape.

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17
Q

Esker

A
  • A long, winding ridge of fluvio glacial deposition.
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18
Q

Extensional Flow

A
  • Ice thins out, creating crevasses, due to an increase in the glacier’s velocity
    down a shallow gradient.
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19
Q

Fluvial Erosion

A

Water within the glacier erodes the base of the glacier over time through:
hydraulic action, attrition, corrosion.

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20
Q

Frost Heave

A

The freezing and expansion of water beneath the ground, resulting in floor uplift.

21
Q

Glacial Budget

A

The difference between accumulation and ablation for a glacier.

22
Q

Glacial Period

A
  • A period of time of colder average global temperatures causing the growth of ice
    cover, glacial advances and sea levels to fall.
23
Q

Glacial Trough

A

A U-shaped valley formed from a v-shaped river valley that becomes filled and
eroded over time by a glacier.

24
Q

Hanging Valleys

A

A valley with a wall at one end, due to the glacier that filled the valley previously
being low energy.

25
Q

Holocene Epoch

A

Our current glacial period of limited ice cover, lasting over 10,000 years.

26
Q

Ice Wedge

A

Water infiltrates small cracks in the permafrost and expands on freezing repeatedly

27
Q

Interglacial Period

A

A period of time of warmer average global temperatures, resulting in reduced
ice cover, glacial retreat and sea levels to rise.

28
Q

Internal Deformation

A
  • Glacial movement caused by the weight of the glacier above deforming the
    ice.
29
Q

Kames

A

Piles of material, sorted due to the differing weight of sediment, left on the valley floor after
a glacier melts.

30
Q

Milankovitch Cycles

A

Changes to the tilt and shape of the orbit will affect the average temperature
of the Earth.

31
Q

Meltwater Channels

A

Streams of meltwater (melted glacier) formed by higher temperatures.

32
Q

Moraines

A

Deposits of eroded material that has been transported by a glacier. Moraines may be
lateral, medial, ground, recessional or terminal.

33
Q

Nivation

A

Erosional processes involving snow and ice.

34
Q

Orbital Eccentricity

A

How far a planet’s orbit is from being a perfect circle.

35
Q

Outwash Plain

A

Material is washed out and deposited due to large volumes of meltwater as a
glacier recedes.

36
Q

Patterned Ground

A

Patterned ground is formed through the frost heave of stones in and
underneath the active layer.

37
Q

Periglacial

A

Landscapes found at the edge of glacier, polar and alpine regions. Permafrost occurs,
with low precipitation and only highly adapted plant species survive.

38
Q

Permafrost

A

Permanently frozen soils throughout the year.

39
Q

Pingos

A

A mound produced as ground is forced upwards through frost heave.

40
Q

Plucking

A

Rocks on the bedrock are frozen within the glacier. As the glacier moves, the rocks are
pulled from the bedrock and moved.

41
Q

Polar Regions

A

Areas of maximum ice sheets and limited vegetation, located at high latitudes on
Earth.

42
Q

Roches Moutonnées

A

Rock shaped by a glacier flowing over it and eroding it.

43
Q

Solifluction

A

The movement of waterlogged soil, trapped between the active layer and permafrost.

44
Q

Solifluction Lobes

A

As the active layer thaws, soil falls down the hillside in tongue-shaped lobes.

45
Q

Terracettes

A

Ridges running parallel across a hillside, believed to be created by vegetation
trapping sediment falling loose down the hillside, created through frost heave.

46
Q

Thermokarst

A

Marshy, boggy wetlands caused when permafrost melts.

47
Q

Till Plains

A

An ice sheet detaches from the main glacier and melts, releasing all loose till and
sediment across the bedrock.

48
Q

Warm-Based Glacier

A
  • (Also called Temperate Glaciers) Faster travelling glaciers due to basal
    meltwater trapped underneath the glacier, acting as lubrication to allow the glacier to move.