Frozen Planet Flashcards
What is a cold environment?
An area of land permanently covered by ice. The tempereature is below freezing (0°C)
What is a glacier?
A slowly moving mass or river of ice formed by build up of snow.
What is latitude?
The distance from the equator (the invisible line that seperates the northern hemisphere from the south hemisphere).
Temperatures are (colder/warmer) the higher latitiude you are in.
colder
What is altitude?
Hight above sea level
Temperature usually decreases by 1°C for every (100/10/1000) meters you go up.
100 meters
How does air heat up the atmosphere?
When the sunlight heats up the land and then the land then heats the air above it.
What is contientality?
The distance from the land to the ocean or sea.
Oceans and seas warm up (faster/slower) then land.
slower
When oceans and seas heat up, they keep their heat (longer/shorter) then land does.
longer
How do glaciers move?
Glaciers move downhill very slowly by gravity and under the pressure of its own weight.
That are the 3 processes of basal sliding-slipping?
-pressure induced melting
-friction from the movement of the glacier
-by melting from the geothermal heat in the ground beneath
What are the main ways a glacier erodes?
-plucking
-abrasion
-freeze thaw action
What is erosion?
The process of material being worn out.
How does plucking work?
Water seeps into cracks, freezes and mechanically breaks up the bedrock. These fragments are plucked out by the glacier.
How does abrasion work?
Rocks are dragged along by the glacier and the rocks scrape the bedrock like sandpaper leaving a smooth surface.
How does freeze thaw work?
-rainwater collects in a creack
-the temperature falls below 0°C and the water freezes and expands
-the cycle repeats and the rock falls apart
What are the main features of a corrie?
-steep back wall
-arm chair shape
-moraine
-steep sides
-tall
-deep tarn/lake
What is a corrie?
A valley which is formed through erosion by glaciers.
How does a corrie form?
-snow accumulates up on a mountain hollow
-the snow gets compressed due to the pressure of its own weight and forms a glacier
-the glacier starts to move in a rotational movement
-the glacier deposits sedement to make a moraine on a rock lip
-water freezes and plucks off the rock
-sedement abrases the bedrock to become more smooth
-the glacier freezes and thaws to make a deep hollow
-the glacier melts to become a tarn
What shape is a valley shaped by a glacier?
U-shaped valley with curved edges
What shape is a valley shaped by a river?
V-shaped , narrow and steep
Cold environment
Area of land permanently covered by ice.
Glacial retreat
Ablation > Accumulation. Glacier shrinks.
