Fresh & Salt water Systems Checkpoint Three Flashcards
What is fresh water?
Naturally occurring water that lacks the salt content found in seawater.
What is the water cycle?
A cycle of processes by which water circulates between Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land.
What is precipitation?
Rain, snow, hail, fog/dew, etc.
What are glaciers?
Large moving bodies of ice; glaciers can be many meters or even kilometers thick, and can store vast amounts of freshwater.
What are ice caps? (not the coffee!)
Glaciers that cover vast areas of land, also called continental glaciers.
What are valley glaciers?
Glaciers that form in the cold regions of Earth, build up, and then start to move and flow between mountains. Valley glaciers collect huge or small pieces of rocks which drag on the surface and determine the form of the land.
How do glaciers move in cooler climates?
Little melting, snow builds up, glacier moves forward and is considered to be “advancing”.
How do glaciers move in warmer climates?
More melting, snow melts down, and the glacier moves back and is considered to be “retreating.”
What are moraines?
The material left behind by a moving glacier.
What are terminal moraines?
They mark the farthest reaches of a glacier. (The ‘wrinkle’ in the land)
What are Eskers?
They are ridges of sand and gravel formed when sediment carried by glacial melt water gets deposited.
What are Drumlins?
They are hills of sediment streamlined by a glacier flow.
What are Kettles/ Kettle lakes?
They are ponds or lakes formed when ice detaches from a glacier, leaving a pit, which fills with water.
What is a watershed?
An area of land that drains into one main lake or river. The vertical edges of a watershed are elevated areas. (mountains/hills)
What is the continental divide?
The highest point of land on a continent; rivers flow into different oceans depending on which side of the divide they begin. (ex. the Rocky Mountains)
