Distrubution Of Cold Environements Flashcards
Last glacial periods: Pleistocene era
-Started 115,000 years ago and ended 11,700 years ago
-Large ice sheet over North America, Asia and Europe
-Glaciers formed in Rockies, Greenland and Canada
Present day: Interglacial period
-10% of land covered by ice
-Antarctica has 85% of earth’s ice
-Greenland has 10% of earth’s ice
Canadian and Russian tundra has 5% of earth’s ice
What are polar environments like?
- Below -50 °C
-large snowy areas
-Small amounts of precipitation
-Large expanses of sea ice
-E.g. Antarctica
What are glacial environments like?
-Mountainous regions
-Heavy snow in winter
-Ice is the main transport process
-Warm summers promote meltwater
-e.g. Greenland
What are periglacial environments like?
-On the edge of glacial and polar regions
-Presence of permafrost
-Located in Russia, Canada and Greenland
-Short summers allow small amounts of surface thaw
-e.g. Spitsbergen
What are alpine environments like?
-Temperatures below 10 °C
-Heavy snow in winter
-High altitudes
-Summer temperatures above 15 °C
-E.g. Alps
Antartica’s climate
-Sunlight hits the surface at a low angle
-Dark winters and light summers
-Has lower temperatures due to being surrounded by sea
-Regular storms
Artic’s climate
-sunlight hits surface at a low angle
-Dark winters and light summers
-Higher temperatures due to being surrounded by land
-Warm ocean currents bring warm, moist air
Where do cold environments develop?
It gets colder as the latitudes and altitudes go up, so they form at the higher latitudes and altitudes
What happens if we enter a glacial period?
Cold environments will found lower down