Chapter 5 - Glaciation

Question 1

Ice age

Answer 1

A period when large parts of several continents were covered by ice sheets

Question 2

What could cause an ice age?

Answer 2

○A change in the earth’s orbit around the sun

○ A change in the angle of the earth’s axis

Question 3

What are the processes of glacial erosion?

Answer 3

Plucking

Abrasion

Question 4

Define plucking

Answer 4

Glacial erosion where rock fragments are pulled out of the valley floor by moving ice

Question 5

Define abrasion glacial

Answer 5

Rock fragments carried by a glacier scraped the rock surface as the glacier advanced

Question 6

The scratches created by glacial abrasion are called…

Answer 6

Striae

Question 7

Glacier

Answer 7

Large river of ice. Move downhill and change the shape of the landscape by erosion and deposition

Question 8

What is a cirque/corrie? Give an example

Answer 8

Large, deep hollow with a steep back wall found high up on a mountainside in an area affected by ice. e.g. Coomshingaun

Question 9

What is a pyramidal peak? Give an example

Answer 9

A peak formed when three or more cirques formed back to back. e.g. Matterhorn, Switzerland

Question 10

What is an arête? Give an example

Answer 10

A knife-edged ridge formed when two cirques formed back-to-back or side-by-side

Question 11

What is a U-shaped valley? Give an example

Answer 11

A steep-sided and flat floored valley (U-shaped) formed by the action of a glacier. e.g Glendalough

Question 12

What is a hanging valley? Give an example

Answer 12

Small tributary glaciated valley that hangs above the main valley. e.g Polanass Waterfall, Glendalough

Question 13

What is a ribbon lake? Give an example

Answer 13

Long, narrow lake found on the floor of a glaciated U-shaped valley. e.g. Glendalough

Question 14

Sometimes a group of ribbon lakes are joined together by a river or stream. These are called…

Answer 14

Paternoster lakes

Question 15

What is a fjord? Give an example

Answer 15

Drowned glaciated U-shaped valley. e.g. Killary Harbour, Co. Mayo

Question 16

Moraine

Answer 16

Deposited material found in lowlands of glaciated valleys

Question 17

What is an erratic? Give an example

Answer 17

Huge boulders that have been transported and deposited by a glacier some distance from their source region. e.g. Granite found in the limestone region of the Burren & Scottish granite found in the Wicklow Mts

Question 18

What is boulder clay?

Answer 18

Deposits of sand,gravel and stone from a melting glacier

Question 19

What is a drumlin? Give an example

Answer 19

An oval shaped hill consisting of boulder clay. e.g. Clew Bay Co.Mayo to Strangford Lough, Co.Down

Question 20

Lateral moraine

Answer 20

Material deposited either side of a glacier. Consists of unsorted material that fell from upland slopes and gathered at the side of the glacier

Question 21

Medial moraine

Answer 21

Some lateral moraines join to form medial moraine as two glaciers meet. Consists of a low ridge of material that runs along the centre of a glaciated valley

Question 22

Ground moraine

Answer 22

Irregular covering of boulder clay in a lowland area

Question 23

Terminal moraine

Answer 23

Ridge of material marking the end point of a glaciers journey. Consists of a high bank of soil and stone

Question 24

What are the four types of moraine

Answer 24

○Lateral
○Medial
○Ground
○Terminal

Question 25

Name the features of glacial erosion

Answer 25

Cirques/corries
Pyramidal peaks
Arêtes
U-shaped valleys
Hanging valleys
Ribbon lakes
Fjords

Question 26

Name the features of glacial deposition

Answer 26

Erratics
Boulder clay plains
Drumlins
Moraine
Eskers
Outwash plains

Question 27

What is an esker? Give an example

Answer 27

Long, narrow ridge of sand and gravel that winds its way across lowland areas. e.g. Eiscir Riada, Dublin to Galway

Question 28

What is an outwash plain? Give an example

Answer 28

Low-lying areas of sand and gravel found in front of a terminal moraine. e.g. Curragh, Co.Kildare

Question 29

How does glaciation have a positive affect on human activity?

Answer 29

☺Tourism
☺HEP
☺Fertile agricultural land
☺Routeways
☺Resources for construction
☺Recreation

Question 30

How does glaciation have a negative affect on human activity?

Answer 30

◘Infertile lands
◘Poor drainage
◘Flooding