Fragile Environments

Question 1

What 3 types of services do glaciated areas provide?

Answer 1

Provisioning
Regulating
Cultural

Question 2

What do provisioning services provide within glaciated areas?

Answer 2

Fisheries
Wild foods
Freshwater
Genetic resources

Question 3

What do regulating services provide within glaciated areas?

Answer 3

Climate regulation
Carbon sequestration

Question 4

What do cultural services provide within glaciated areas?

Answer 4

Natural beauty
Culture preservation
Spiritual value

Question 5

Describe the importance of provisioning services in glaciated areas

Answer 5

Arctic + Southern Ocean fisheries have local + international value
Seasonal seal hunting for indigenous tribes
Freshwater stores in ice caps + glaciers

Question 6

Describe the importance of regulating services in glaciated areas

Answer 6

Large carbon + peat stores in Arctic soil
Warming may release large volumes of CO2 + CH4
Arctic + Antarctic regulate global environment

Question 7

Describe the importance of cultural services in glaciated areas

Answer 7

Travellers enjoy unspoilt wilderness
Ecosystems have cultural merit to certain tribes + need maintaining

Question 8

What is a carbon sink?

Answer 8

Natural or artificial resevoir that absorbs more carbon than it releases, leading to carbon accumulation

Question 9

Describe the environmental role + importance of glaciated areas

Answer 9

Regions of permafrost + tundra peat are major areas for soil carbon storage
Arctic regions act as weak carbon sink

Question 10

How can permafrost accelerate environmental damage?

Answer 10

Melting due to positive feedback
Soils release carbon + upset balance

Question 11

What are the 3 main natural hazards to glaciated upland landscapes?

Answer 11

Avalanches
Lahars
Glacial Outburst Floods (GOF)

Question 12

What is the main cause of a glacial outburst flood?

Answer 12

Sudden discharge of a sub-glacial lake or ice moraine dammed lake

Question 13

In how many ways can a glacial outburst flood be triggered?

Answer 13

6

Question 14

List the ice dam related causes of a GOF

Answer 14

Overflow + melting of ice dam
Breakdown due to tectonic activity
Enlargement of underlying tunnels due to increased water pressure

Question 15

List the water related cause of a GOF

Answer 15

Increased floatation of ice due to rising water levels

Question 15

List the moraine dam related causes of a GOF

Answer 15

Irreversible overtopping of moraine dam by tsunami style wave
Dam failure due to melting ice within or removal of sediment

Question 15

Give a historical example of a GOF

Answer 15

Iceland 1996
Grimsvotn erupted, caused large peak discharge
Resulted in $15m damages

Question 16

What is a lahar?

Answer 16

Mixture of water, mud + rock fragments

Question 17

How does a lahar occur?

Answer 17

Volcanic activity and/or glacial melting

Question 18

Give a historical example of a lahar

Answer 18

1985, Columbia (Nevado Del Ruiz)
Volcanic activity resulted in large scale glacial melting

Question 19

What were the impacts of the Nevado Del Ruiz lahar?

Answer 19

Moved 50km downstream
3-8m mud deposits in places
23,000 killed almost instantly

Question 20

When does an avalanche occur?

Answer 20

When stress exceeds strength of mass of snow located on a slope

Question 21

How does an avalanche occur?

Answer 21

Snow becomes strong + cohesive
Breaks away from underlying slope