Glaciated Landscapes and Change Fact Attack Flashcards
What was the time period for the Pleistocene?
2 million – 11,500 years ago.
How many years ago did the Quaternary period start?
2.6 million years ago
What are the four types of cold environments?
Polar, alpine, periglacial, glaciers
What is the average annual temperature in a polar environment?
-30 to -40˚C
18,000 years ago was the last glacial maximum, what was its name?
Denvensian
The last UK glacial advance was 12,000-10,000 years ago, what was its name?
Lock Lomond Stadial
Eccentricity of the earth’s orbit changes over a period of how many years?
100,000
What period was the Little Ice Age?
1550-1750
The earth’s wobbles on its axis over a period of how many years?
21,000
Axial tilt of the earth varies between which angles?
21.8˚ – 24.4˚
What is the average size of an ice sheet?
10,000 – 100,000 sq. km.
Surging glaciers can flow up to what distance per day?
100m
What % of all current glacier ice is contained in Antarctica?
85%
The Greenland Ice sheet consists of how much of the earth’s total ice cover?
11%
For every 100m in altitude, how much does the temperature decrease by?
1˚C
What is roughly the average amount of precipitation that periglacial environments receive each year?
600mm
How long do subsoil temperatures have to remain below 0˚C for, before they are considered permafrost?
2 years
What % of the earth experiences periglacial conditions?
20%
How % of land cover do sporadic permafrost cover?
Less than 50%
What is the range of height that pingos can reach?
30-70m
What are the names of the two types of pingo?
Open system and closed system
Ice wedge polygons are usually found where?
Valley floors
What % of Canada is covered by some form of permafrost?
Over 50%
What % of Alaska is covered by permafrost?
80%
Blockfields can be found in which area of Canada
Northern Manitoba
The transformation from neve/firn to glacier ice can take up to how many years in polar regions?
150 years
The Greenland Ice Sheet covers how much of an area?
1.7 million km²
The overall transformation of ice can take what time frame?
100 – 4000 years
What % of the world’s ice masses are experiencing ‘rising trends’ in their net negative balances?
75%
What is formed on the top of a glacier through rotational ice movement?
Bergschrund
How thick is the Greenland Ice Sheet in the centre?
3km
A pyramidal peak can be found between how many cirques?
Three or more
Basil slip is divided into three processes, name them.
Creep and regelation; extending and compressing flow; surges
Rock flour is made up of what grade size?
0.1mm
An arête is a sharp ridge between how many cirques?
Two
Macro-scale landforms are how big?
1km or greater
Micro-scale landforms are how small?
Less than 1m in length
Material deposited underneath ice is known as what?
Till
What are the two types of fluvio-glacial landforms?
Ice contact and pro-glacial
Between 2002 and 2011, what was the average rate of ice loss for Greenland’s ice sheet per year?
215 gigatonnes
Name the four different types of moraine.
Medial; lateral; recessional; terminal.
Till that is transported and deposited in a different geological area is known as a what?
An erratic
A drumlin resembles the shape of a what?
Oval/egg
The erractic boulders transported by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet to the plains of Alberta weigh up to how much?
16,000 tonnes
Ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet contributed how many mm per year to global mean sea level rise between 1993 and 2010?
0.33mm
If the entire Greenland ice sheet melted, what would global mean sea level rise up to?
7m
Roughly how many people are estimated to live less than 10m above current high-tide lines?
1 billion
Roughly how many people are estimated to live less than 1m above current high-tide lines?
250 million
How many times faster is the Greenland ice sheet losing ice compared to the 1990s?
7 times faster
How deep does the permafrost go down to in the Yamal Peninsula?
300m
What is the name of the indigenous communities that live on the Yamal Peninsula?
The Nenet’s
In July 2014, what was discovered on the peninsula that was believed to be caused by methane release?
Large sink holes
Reindeer herding on the Yamal Peninsula supports how many nomads?
10,000
What % of Bolivia’s population lives in the High Andes?
70%
What type of farming are upland glaciated regions typically used for?
Pastoral (livestock)
What % of Norway’s and New Zealand’s electricity comes from HEP?
90%
How many HEP stations does Switzerland have?
Over 500
How many months does the growing season last in the Arctic?
3
Lower Arctic latitudes are what degrees latitude?
70-75˚N
What % of the world’s fresh water is locked up in ice?
75%
Arctic amplification is what sort of feedback loop?
Positive
During the summer months meltwater provides a water source for settlements downstream. How much water is transported on average from the Alps to nearby regions?
216km³
Avalanches kill around 200 people per year, where do most of these deaths occur?
The Alps and the Rockies
Zermatt in Switzerland has how many visitors per year?
2 million
How many people in how many countries, depends on glacier fed rivers?
2 billion people in more than 12 countries.
What % of India’s irrigated land could be affected by a reduction in glacial meltwater flowing into the Ganges-Brahmaputra system?
40%
How many reservoirs does China aim to build to capture glacier runoff?
59
How many miles of footpath/rights of way are there in the Lake District?
2000 miles
How many tourists visit the Lake District each year?
16 million
In 2014, how much money did visitors spend in the Lake District?
£1.1 billion
How many jobs does tourism in the Lake District support?
16,000
The Sagarmatha National Park is home to how many Sherpa people?
6000
Deforestation has been a threat to the Sagarmatha National Park, how much of Nepal’s forest remain?
Less than 30%
On the eastern slopes of the Rocky mountains, all of the glaciers have lost between what % of their mass since 1850?
Between 25 and 75%
When did the Antarctica Treaty come into force?
1961
How many countries have signed the Antarctica Treaty and what % of the world’s population does this represent?
60 countries; 89% of the world’s people
