Cold Environment Keywords Flashcards
What does fluvioglacial (glacifluvial) mean?
Processes and land forms that are associated with the action of glacial meltwater.
What is a glacier?
A tongue-shaped mass of ice slowly moving down a valley.
What were the ice ages?
Major cold phases (ice sheets covering large areas of the world).
Last ice age from 2 million years ago to 10,000 BP.
What is an ice sheet?
A body of ice covering an area of at least 50,000km2.
Dome-shaped.
Ice flows outward from the centre.
Major ice sheets are Antarctica and Greenland.
Smaller ice sheets cover Iceland and Norway.
Major ice sheets can be 2,000m thick.
What does periglacial mean?
Processes and landforms associated with the fringe of, or the area near to, an ice sheet or glacier.
What is a tundra?
Northernly - Eurasia and North America.
A vast, flat, treeless Arctic region in which the subsoil is permafrost.
What is permafrost?
Permanently frozen soil.
Two consecutive years.
What does interglacial periods mean?
Times when temperatures are warmer for extended periods.
Marked by the retreat of ice to higher altitudes or Latitudes.
What does glacial periods mean?
Times when the temperature has dropped significantly.
Marked by advances of the World’s ice masses to lower latitudes and lower altitudes
What is a glacier snout?
The lowest end of a glacier.
