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AS Physical Geography > Cold Environments > Flashcards

Cold Environments Flashcards

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1
Q

What is albedo?

A

Where snow and ice reflect most incoming solar radiation, creating a permanent deep freeze

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2
Q

How does frost weathering work?

A

Water, trapped in confined rock joints or crevasses, expands by 9% of its volume on freezing, which shatters the rocks

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3
Q

What several factors control the effectiveness of freeze-thaw weathering

A

The number of freeze thaw cycles
The availability of moisture
The density of jointing I’m rocks

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4
Q

What are glaciers?

A

Are large bodies of ice formed from compressed snow

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5
Q

Why do glaciers move?

A

They move downslope due to their own weight and gravity

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6
Q

What are the three main types of glaciers?

A

Ice sheets
Ice fields (ice caps)
Valley glaciers

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7
Q

Why do ice sheets submerge the landscape?

A

Because they often are 2-3km thick

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8
Q

What is the largest type of glacier?

A

Ice sheets

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9
Q

What are island peaks surrounded by seas of ice due to being covered by glaciers called?

A

Nunataks

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10
Q

What are ice fields?

A

Miniature ice sheets covering areas less than 50000 km

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11
Q

What are valley glaciers?

A

Giant tongues of ice that flow down from the snow line in mountainous regions

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12
Q

What are small mountain glaciers called?

A

Cirque glaciers

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13
Q

Where are small mountain glaciers often confined to?

A

Bowl-shaped depressions at the head of glacial valleys

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14
Q

What are valley glaciers that flow from ice fields called?

A

Outlet glaciers

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15
Q

What are valley glaciers which leave the mountains and spill into lowland regions before merging called?

A

Piedmont glaciers

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16
Q

What are the three steps in the forming of glacier ice?

A

Snow
Firm
Glacier Ice

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17
Q

What is ablation?

A

Melting and sublimation

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18
Q

What converts snow into firn?

A

Freeze thaw and the weight of overlying snow

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19
Q

What differs firn from glacier ice?

A

Firn still has some air left

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20
Q

How long does the formation of glacier ice take?

A

40-50 years

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21
Q

What controls the long term behaviour of glaciers?

A

Changes in mass balance or annual budget

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22
Q

What does a positive balance do to a glacier?

A

Increases total mass of ice, causing glaciers to advance

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23
Q

What does a negative balance do to a glacier

A

Reduces the ice mass and results in glacier retreat

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24
Q

Where does snow accumulate on a glacier?

A

The zone of accumulation

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25
Q

Where does snow melt

A

The zone of ablation

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26
Q

What did research in the Cascade Range in the U.S. Pacific Northwest find?

A

There were 16 years between 1984 and 2006 when glaciers had a cumulative negative mass balance

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27
Q

What does glacier flow rate depend on?

A

Valley gradient and the base temperature

28
Q

What are the two types of glacier movement?

A

Internal deformation and basal sliding

29
Q

What is internal deformation?

A

Ice crystals in glacier rearrange into parallel layers and slide past each other

30
Q

What is internal deformation caused by?

A

Weight of the ice and gravity

31
Q

What is basal sliding?

A

Where meltwater lubricates the base of the glacier, reducing friction and allowing the ice to move freely

32
Q

When does basal sliding occur?

A

Either when: intense pressure causes melting and/or meltwater seeping down from the surface through cracks in the ice

33
Q

Where does ice melt?

A

High pressure regions

34
Q

Where does ice freeze?

A

Low pressure regions

35
Q

What two locations do cold environments form?

A

High latitudes and mountains

36
Q

How do crevasses form?

A

When fracturing and faulting of ice occurs at the surface layers of a glacier

37
Q

What is a moraine?

A

Deposits of rock left by glaciers

38
Q

What are the three types of moraines?

A

Terminal
Lateral
Medial

39
Q

What are terminal moraines?

A

Moraines found at the terminus or the furthest (end) point reached by a glacier

40
Q

What are lateral moraines?

A

Moraines found deposited along the sides of the glacier

41
Q

What are medial moraines?

A

Moraines found at the junction between two glaciers

42
Q

What are surface moraines found on the surface referred to as?

A

Supraglacial

43
Q

What are moraines transported in ice called?

A

Englacial

44
Q

What are moraines transported below the glacier called?

A

Subglacial

45
Q

What often determines whether glaciers are Supraglaical or Englacial?

A

If the moraine is above the equilibrium line (englacial) or below (supraglacial)

46
Q

What are cirques?

A

Deep bowl-shaped depressions, enclosed on three sides by steep rock walls.

47
Q

What are cirques also called?

A

Corries

48
Q

Where are cirques found?

A

Mountain heads

49
Q

What are cirques the source of?

A

Valley glaciers

50
Q

On what slope side do Cirques develop?

A

North-east

51
Q

What is evidence that cirques develop on the North-east slopes?

A

71% of cirques develop on the north-east slopes of the Northern highlands in Scotland

52
Q

What are cirques a type of?

A

A feature of erosional landform

53
Q

What is the main cause of erosion in Cirques?

A

Rotational flow

54
Q

How does rotational flow work?

A

Cirques, under the force of gravity and lubricated by basal meltwater, slide downslope.

55
Q

Why does rotational flow contribute to glacial erosion?

A

It helps abrades the bedrock by plucking the bedrock at the top and using that rock to abrade the bedrock as it moves downslope

56
Q

Where do the rocks used for abrasion enter the glacier?

A

The bergschrund crevasse

57
Q

Define glacial erosion

A

Simply the carving and shaping of the land beneath a moving glacier

58
Q

Define plucking or quarrying

A

The erosion and transport of large chunks of rocks

59
Q

How does plucking work?

A

As a glacier moves over the landscape, water melts below the glacier and seeps into cracks within the underlying bedrock. This water freezes and melts, weakening the bonds holding pieces of bedrock in place. These pieces of rock can now be picked up or plucked from their rocky base and carried along with the moving glacier.

60
Q

Define abrasion

A

The erosion that occurs when particles scrape against each other.

61
Q

How does abrasion work?

A

The enormous weight of the glacier, along with rocks and sediment plucked up and clinging to its belly scratch and carve the rock surface below

62
Q

What is a small mountain lake of trapped water called?

A

A tarn

63
Q

What happens if a mountain is eroded by multiple glaciers?

A

It leaves a glacial horn

64
Q

What happens if two glaciers slide down opposite sides of a mountain?

A

An arete is formed

65
Q

What is an arete?

A

A sharp, narrow mountain ridge

66
Q

What is a roche mountonnee?

A

A mass of rock shaped by a moving glacier, with one side abraded and smooth while another is jagged and rough due to plucking

AS Physical Geography (4 decks)

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