Glaciated landscapes Flashcards
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What is a glacier?
Moving body of ice
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How far do some glaciers move per day?
Up to 25cm per day
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Why do glaciers move?
Gravity forcing them down
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Why are glaciers important and how many people rely on them?
Drinking water, crop irrigation, tourism, recreation and hydroelectricity
1/3 of the world’s population rely on glaciers
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What is happening to many glaciers around the world?
What does this cause?
Many glaciers around the world are melting (negative mass balance).
This is causing sea levels to rise 2.6m in the last 60 years, causing extinction of animals, loss of resources, ecosystems and habitats
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Where are glaciers found
High latitude (poles) and altitude (mountainous) locations, where the temperature is regularly below 0 degrees Celsius (Cryosphere)
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Examples of accumulation (inputs) of snow.
Wind blown snow, Precipitation, desublimation (condensation into ice), avalanche debris.
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Examples of ablation (outputs) of snow
Meltwater, Calving (breakaway of ice), Rock debris, wind-blown snow, avalanche debris, solar energy, sublimation (evaporation from ice).
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Where does accumulation occur?
Where does ablation occur?
What is the line of equilibrium?
accumulation at head
ablation at toe
line of equilibrium is where inputs = outputs
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Describe the formation of glaciers
Snow falls, which contains ait, more snow falls, compacting the pre existing snow. Snow that survives one winters freezing and one summers thawing is called firn. In summer meltwater percolates into the firn, in winter it refreezes, causing it to become denser. After several years and a depth of 20m, there is very little air left and glacial ice is formed.
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What is mass balance?
Positive?
Negative?
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Mass balance is the growth or retreat of a glacier
Positive - growth
negative - retreat
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Draw a Glacier flow diagram
:)
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What is till?
Unsorted material deposited directly by glacial ice
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What is a moraine?
Deposited sediment from a retreating glacier
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Moraines formation
Till is deposited by glacier, debris dropped on top of glacier and material eroded from plucking.
Retreating glacier causes sediment to be deposited, causing a recessional moraine to form
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Glacier advance and retreat
Positive mass balance means glacier advances, becoming thicker and ploughs over moraines.
Negative mass balance means glacier retreats, but is still flowing forward due to gravity, causing the glacier to become thinner.
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Mass balance graph and description:
In winter there is lots of accumulation, in spring and autumn there is equal amounts of accumulation and ablation in summer there is more ablation then accumulation.
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What percentage of glaciers currently have a negative mass balance
75%
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How much of the earth’s surface is covered by glaciers?
10%
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How much of the world’s freshwater is stored in glaciers?
75%
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What is a ice period
permanent ice at the poles
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What is an interglacial period?
Periods of warm, causing glaciers to have a negative mass balance
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What is a Glacial period?
Period of cold, causing glaciers to have positive mass balance.
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When was the Holocene period
Interglacial or Glacial?
11,500 ybp to present
Interglacial
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When was the Devensian period?
Interglacial or Glacial?
80,000 ybp to 11,500 ybp
Glacial
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When was the Ipswichian period?
Interglacial or Glacial?
80,00 ybp to 100,000 ybp
Interglacial
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When was the Wolstonian period?
Interglacial or Glacial?
100,000 ybp to 140,000 ybp
Glacial
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When was the Hoxian period?
Interglacial or Glacial?
140,000 ybp to 200,000ybp
Interglacial
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Why do cycles of Interglacial or Glacial periods exist?
Changes in long-term cyclical change, due to changes in Earth’s orbits around to sun, leading to a variation of insolation received by the earth, caused mostly by Milankovitch cycles.
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What is the current tilt of the axis of the earth?
23.5 degrees
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Perihelion meaning.
Aphelion meaning.
Closest point to the sun
Furthest point from the sun
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Winter solstice
Summer solstice
Equinox
Shortest day
Longest day
Equal insolation of both hemisphere
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What are Milankovitch cycles?
How much of they impact the amount of incoming insolation
Orbital variations.
Causing up to 25% variation
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Stretch (eccentricity) of the orbit description
Impacts
Time frame
Impact of orbital shape (more oval vs more circular). At most elliptical there is 23% more insolation then at furthest point. Every 100,000 years
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Axis tilt (Obliquity).
Impacts
Time frame
Tilt of the earth, varies between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees. Tilted towards the sun causes warmer climates, vice versa.
Over 41,000 years
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Wobble (precession)
Impacts
Time frame
earth wobbles in orbit due to the relationship between the sun and moon (Tidal forces). Causes variations in temperatures. Takes 25,771.5 years
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What is long term climate change caused by?
Milankovitch cycles
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What is responsible for glacial and interglacial periods?
Milankovitch cycles
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What is positive feedback in relation to glacial budget
Positive feedback amplifies changes in a glacial budget. Cooling leads to further cooling, warming leads to more warming
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What is surface albedo?
Earth’s reflectivity
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Why is it important to have high surface albedo?
More reflective surfaces, so more insolation is reflected back into space, causing decrease in temperature.
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What happens when there is low surface albedo?
Ice has melted, so there are less reflective areas, Insolation is absorbed into water, causing the temperature to increase
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How much insolation is reflected and absorbed by ice and snow (high albedo)
90% reflected to space
10% absorbed
(lower temperatures)
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How much insolation is absorbed/reflected with water (low albedo)
6% reflected
94% absorbed
(temperatures increase)
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Positive feedback relationship in with positive mass balance
Cooling of climate, Artic sea water freezes (ice cover increases), Darker surfaces hidden, increased albedo, decreased absorption of insolation…
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Positive feedback in relationship with negative mass balance
Increases in temperature, Artic sea ice melts, darker surfaces revealed, Albedo reduced, Increased absorption of solar radiation.
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Why is it hard to undo glacial melting
Warming leads to more warming due to positive feedback loops.
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Negative feedback in relation to glacial budget
Negative feedback reduces changes in a glacial budget. Warming leads to cooling
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Give an example of negative feedback in relation to glacial budget
Younger Dryas, due to thermohaline
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What is the thermohaline ocean circulation
Brings warm salty water to northwest Europe, causing warm winter conditions.
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What happens to cold water vs hot water
Cold water sinks
Hot water rises
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What is the Younger Dryas period
Towards the end of the last glacial period (Devensian) when temperatures were rising, the disruption to this ocean current in the North Atlantic led to a rapid period of cooling known as the Younger Dryas.