Glaciated Landscapes Definitions

Question 1

Ablation

Answer 1

The loss of mass from the glacier, e.g meltwater, avalanches, sublimation, evaporation

Question 2

Abrasion

Answer 2

Small rocks within the base of the glacier rubbing against the bedrock

Question 3

Accumulation

Answer 3

The addition of mass to the glacier, usually as snow

Question 4

Active Layer

Answer 4

the top laer of soil above permafrost, which thaws annually in summer

Question 5

Aretes

Answer 5

A ridge formed between two corries

Question 6

Basal Ice Melting

Answer 6

The weight of a temperate glacier causes meltwater, which will then erode the bedrock through fluvial erosion

Question 7

Basal Sliding

Answer 7

Glaciers sliding over bedrock, due to meltwater between the two surfaces

Question 8

Cold-Based Glacier

Answer 8

The glacier’s temperature remains below zero degrees year-round, do the base of the glacier remains frozen and moves very little

Question 9

Compressional Flow

Answer 9

Ice builds up and thickens due to friction as a glacier travels upwards along a shallow gradient

Question 10

Corries

Answer 10

A round hollow in the side of a hill, widened from an initial smaller hollow by a glacier within the hollow

Question 11

Drumlins

Answer 11

When a glacier hits an obstacle that cannot be eroded, deposition from underneath the glacier builds up behind the obstacle

Question 12

Erratics

Answer 12

Boulders transported and deposited by a glacier. The type of rock that forms the erratic will usually differ from the rock types in the surrounding landscape

Question 13

Esker

Answer 13

A long, winding ridge of glacial deposition

Question 14

Glacio-fluvial erosion

Answer 14

Water within the glacier erodes the base of the glacier over time through: hydraulic action, attrition, corrosion

Question 15

Frost Heave

Answer 15

The freezing and expansion of water beneath the ground, resulting in floor uplift

Question 16

Glacial Budget

Answer 16

The difference between accumulation and ablation for a glacier

Question 17

Glacial Period

Answer 17

A perid of time of colder average global tempratures causing the growth of ice cover, glacial advances and sea levels to fall

Question 18

Glacial Trough

Answer 18

A U-shaped valley formed from a v-shaped river valley that becomes filled and eroded over time by a glacier

Question 19

Hanging Valleys

Answer 19

A valley with a wall at one end, due to the glacier that filled the valley previously being low energy

Question 20

Ice Wedge

Answer 20

Water infiltrates small cracks in the permafrost and expands on freezing repeatedly

Question 21

Interglacial Period

Answer 21

A period of time of warmer average global temperatures, resulting in reduced ice cover, glacial retreat, and sea levels to rise

Question 22

Internal Deformation

Answer 22

Glacial movement caused by the weight of the glacier above deforming the ice

Question 23

Kames

Answer 23

Piles of material, sorted due to the differing weight of sediment, left on the valley floor after a glacier melts

Question 24

Meltwater Channels

Answer 24

Streams of meltwater (melted glacier) formed by higher temperatures

Question 25

Moraines

Answer 25

Deposits of eroded material that has been transported by a glacier. Moraines may be lateral, medial, ground, recessional or terminal

Question 26

NIvation

Answer 26

Erosional processes involving snow and ice

Question 27

Outwash Plain

Answer 27

Material is washed out and deposited due to large volumes of meltwater as a glacier recedes

Question 28

Periglacial

Answer 28

Landscapes found at the edge of glacier, polar and alpine regions. Permafrost occurs, with low precipitation and only highly adapted plant species survive

Question 29

Permafrost

Answer 29

Permanently frozen soils throughout the year

Question 30

Pingos

Answer 30

A mound produced as ground is forced upwards through frost-heave

Question 31

Plucking

Answer 31

Rocks on the bedrock are frozen within the glacier. As the glacier moves, the rocks are pulled from the bedrock and moved

Question 32

Polar Regions

Answer 32

Areas of maximum ice sheets and limited vegetation, located at high latitudes on Earth

Question 33

Roches Moutonnees

Answer 33

Rocks shaped by a glacier flowing over it and eroding it

Question 34

Solifluction

Answer 34

The movement of waterlogged soil, trapped between the active layer and permafrost

Question 35

Solifluction Lobes

Answer 35

As the active layer thaws, soil falls down the hillside in tongue-shaped lobes

Question 36

Thermokarst

Answer 36

Marshy, boggy wetlands caused when permafrost melts

Question 37

Till Plains

Answer 37

An ice-sheet detaches from the main glacier and melts, releasing all loose till and sediment across the bedrock

Question 38

Warm-Based Glacier

Answer 38

Faster Travelling glaciers due to basal meltwater trapped underneath the glacier, acting as lubrication to allow the glacier to move.

Question 39

Glacial Till

Answer 39

Unsorted material deposited by a glacier

Question 40

Stratification

Answer 40

The layering that occurs in most sedimentary rocks

Question 41

Pyramidal Peak

Answer 41

Pointed mountain formed my erosion and multiple corries

Question 42

U-Shaped Valley (Glacial Trough)

Answer 42

Valley widened and deepened by glacial erosion, creating a U-Shape

Question 43

Terminal Moraine

Answer 43

Ridge of debris deposited along the sides of a glacier

Question 44

Lateral Moraine

Answer 44

Ridge of debris formed where two glaciers merge

Question 45

Medial Moraine

Answer 45

Ridge of debris formed where two glaciers merge

Question 46

Freeze-thaw weathering

Answer 46

Breakdown of a rock due to water freezing and expanding in cracks

Question 47

Ribbon Lake

Answer 47

A long, narrow lake formed in a glacial trough where the glacier erodes softer bedrock more deeply than surrounding areas, often found in U-shaped valleys

Question 48

Firn

Answer 48

A dense snow that has been compacted by accumulated snow