4 - Lithosphere Flashcards
CORRIE:SETTING
- Snow accumulates in north facing hollows where more snow falls in winter than melts in summer.
- North and north-east facing slopes are more shaded, so snow lies longer and is compressed into firn, then ice.
CORRIE:PROCESSES
- Plucking occurs when ice freezes onto bedrock pulling loose rocks away from the backwall.
- Abrasion occurs when the angular rock embedded in the ice grinds the hollow as the glacier moves.
- Freeze-thaw weathering occurs when water in cracks in the rock freezes, expands and contracts weakening the rock until fragments break off.
CORRIE:OVERTIME
- Glaciers move downhill due to gravity.
7. The bergshrund crevasse opens up at the back of the hollow. - This allows meltwater and rock fragments to get to the base of the glacier, increasing erosive power.
- The weight of the glacier pushes down causing rotational sliding, which deepens the hollow.
- Friction causes the ice to slow down at the front edge of the corrie, allowing a rock lip to form which traps rainwater.
- This creates a corrie lochan, a small loch which fills up with rainwater long after the glacier has gone.
Example = Corrie Cas
FORMATION OF ANARETE
Formed when two corries erode back towards each other, creating a narrow ridge between them.
Example = Striding Edge
FORMATION OF A PYRAMIDAL PEAK
When three or more corries erode form around a mountain, creating a jagged peak in the centre.
Example = Matterhorn
U-SHAPED VALLEY:SETTING
- Snow accumulates in north facing hollows where more snow falls in winter than melts in summer.
- North and north-east facing slopes are more shaded, so snow lies longer and is compressed into firn, then ice.
- Glaciers travel downhill through a V-shaped valley due to gravity.
U-SHAPED VALLEY: PROCESSES
- Plucking occurs when ice freezes onto bedrock pulling loose rocks away from the valley walls making them steeper. 4. Abrasion occurs when the angular rock embedded in the ice grinds the base of the valley as the glacier moves, deepening the valley.
- Freeze-thaw weathering occurs on the steep sides of the valley. This is when water in cracks in the rock freezes, expands and contracts weakening the rock until fragments break off resulting in scree slopes.
U-SHAPED VALLEY:OVER TIME
- Interlocking spurs are cut off by the glacier as it flows downhill.
- the valley becomes wider and straighter, often with a misfit stream that no longer fits the valley floor.
Example = Glencoe
FORMATION OF A HANGING VALLEY
- A smaller valley that has been formed by a tributary glacier.
- Tributary glacier is smaller and weighs less so it has less erosive power.
- As such, a steep drop is found where the hanging valley meets the main u-shaped valley.
- This often forms a waterfall.
FORMATION OF ARIBBON LOCH
- a long thin loch which forms on the floor of a u-shaped valley.
- form where differential erosion has created a deeper area of less resistant rock, surrounded by more resistant rock. 3. Also form when the deposition of glacial material forms a dam.
- An example = Loch Avon.
WHAT IS AN ESKER?
Eskers are meandering ridges of sediment along a valley floor, formed by meltwater streams in or underneath a glacier.
WHERE DO ESKERS FORM?
In the zone of ablation, the glacier is primarily losing mass via melting.
Meltwater streams which travel through the glacier deposit sand and gravel in the channels and tunnels that they make.
WHAT IS THE MATERIAL THAT FORMS ESKERS LIKE?
These are sorted by size because heavier stones are dropped first by flowing water.
The stones are more rounded compared to those deposited by a glacier because of the action of flowing water around the edges which wear them down by erosion.
WHAT IS A TERMINAL MORAINE?
Terminal moraine is a ridge across a u-shaped valley which is made up of unsorted glacial deposits.
WHEN DOES A TERMINAL MORAINE GET DEPOSITED?
As the glacier moves downhill it acts like a bulldozer, pushing sediment in front of its snout as it goes.
On reaching lower altitudes, or when temperatures rise, the glacier melts, losing power and depositing the moraine.