Glaciation Flashcards
What is glaciation?
The process of glaciers forming and expanding due to the accumulation of snow and ice.
True or False: Glaciation only occurs in cold regions.
False
What are the two main types of glaciers?
Alpine glaciers and ice sheets.
Fill in the blank: Glaciers are often referred to as _______ rivers of ice.
slow-moving
What is the primary cause of glaciation?
A combination of climate factors that lead to the accumulation of snow and ice.
What is an ice sheet?
A large mass of glacier ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 square kilometers in area.
What is the process by which glaciers move downhill?
Glacial flow.
What is an example of a famous ice sheet?
The Antarctic Ice Sheet.
What is a cirque glacier?
A glacier that occupies a bowl-shaped depression on a mountainside.
True or False: Glacial retreat can lead to the formation of new landforms.
True
What is an erratic?
A large boulder that was transported and deposited by a glacier.
What is a moraine?
A landform made up of rock and sediment that has been carried and deposited by a glacier.
What is the process by which glaciers erode the land beneath them?
Glacial abrasion.
What is a drumlin?
An elongated hill that was formed by the movement of a glacier.
True or False: Glaciers can impact global climate patterns.
True
What is a fjord?
A long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by glacial erosion.
What is an ice age?
A period of long-term reduction in the temperature of Earth’s surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers.
What is a horn?
A sharp, pyramid-like peak that forms at the intersection of several cirque glaciers.