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Geography A Level > Glaciation > Flashcards

Glaciation Flashcards

1
Q

What is Neve?

A

Granular snow consisting of low density ice crystals

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2
Q

What is sensible heat?

A

The amount of heat energy that occurs when an object is heated

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3
Q

What is sublimation?

A

The transition of ice to water vapour with the liquid stage

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4
Q

What is accumulation?

A

The addition of snow or ice to a glacier

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5
Q

What is ablation?

A

The natural removal of snow or ice from a glacier

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6
Q

What is the accumulation zone?

A

The area of net gain in a glacier

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7
Q

What is the ablation zone?

A

The net area of loss in a glacier

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8
Q

What is Paleoclimatic?

A

Climatic conditions in the geological past reconstructed from a data source

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9
Q

What is the Pleistocene Era?

A

The first epoch of the quaternary period

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10
Q

What is altitude?

A

The hight of land in relation to sea level

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11
Q

What is latitude?

A

The distance North or south of the equator

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12
Q

What is permafrost?

A

Areas of permanently frozen ground

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13
Q

What is the Thermohaline System?

A

Part of the ocean circulation caused by different water densities due to salinity and temperature

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14
Q

What are Ice lenses?

A

Formed when moisture, diffused with soil or rock accumulates

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15
Q

What is soil?

A

Any loose material at the surface of the Earth capable of supporting life

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16
Q

What is Cryohydration?

A

Individual particles in the soil are split as a result of the freezing and contracting of water on the surface of the mineral particle

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17
Q

What is the Glacial Period?

A

A time period when ice masses develop and advance to lower altitudes, characterised by a sustained decline in temperature and the formation of continental ice sheets

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18
Q

What is the interglacial period?

A

A time period when ice cover retreats to the polar regions

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19
Q

What is a crevasse?

A

A deep fissure or fracture in a glacier

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20
Q

What is basal sliding?

A

Large scale movement of ice as a result of subglacial meltwater

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21
Q

What is the pressure melting point?

A

The temperature at which ice under pressure melts

22
Q

What are seracs?

A

Steep faults in the surface of the glacier

23
Q

What is extensional flow?

A

Ice is moving faster at the front of the glacier resulting in crevasses

24
Q

What is compressional flow?

A

Ice is moving slower at the front resulting in a build up of ice

25
Q

What are glaciomarine sediments?

A

Matter deposited in a marine setting by a combination of glacier and marine related processes

26
Q

What is rock flour?

A

Very fine rock particles caused when rocks are ground down by glacial erosion

27
Q

What is abrasion?

A

Rubbing together of rocks

28
Q

What are striations?

A

Caused by large rocks cutting grooves in bed rock

29
Q

What is scree?

A

A mass of small loose stones covering a slope

30
Q

What is a tarn?

A

A small mountain lake

31
Q

What is nivation?

A

The erosion of the ground and side of a hollow as a result of continued freeze thaw

32
Q

What is a bergschrund?

A

A crevasse at the top of a glacier between the back wall of the corrie and the glacier

33
Q

What is moraine?

A

Rocks and sediment carried and then deposited by a glacier

34
Q

What does supraglacial mean?

A

On the surface of the glacier

35
Q

What does englacial mean?

A

Inside the glacier

36
Q

What does subglacial mean?

A

Underneath the glacier

37
Q

What is a sandur?

A

A glacial meltwater out wash plain

38
Q

What are the characteristics of polar environments?

A

Temperature can reach below -50c
Small amount of precipitation
Large expanses of sea ice
Large snowy areas

39
Q

What are the characteristics of alpine environments?

A

Temperature below 10c
Heavy snow in winter
Summer temperatures above 15c
High altitude

40
Q

What are the characteristics of Glacial Environments?

A

Mountainous regions
Heavy snow in winter
Warm summers promote meltwater
Ice is the main transport process

41
Q

What are the characteristics of Periglacial environments?

A

On the edge of glacial and polar regions
Presence of permafrost
Short summers allow small amounts of surface thaw
Located in Greenland, Russia and Canada

42
Q

What is glacial budget?

A

Difference between total accumulation and total ablation for one year

43
Q

What is the active layer?

A

A layer of material that is melted during the summer with the permafrost below it. It varies in thickness depending on latitude and vegetation cover

44
Q

What is a nunatak?

A

Exposed summit of a ridge
Undergoes heavy frost shattering due to proximity to ice
Located within an ice field or glacier

45
Q

What is solifluction?

A

The slow downslope creep of fine-textured soils

46
Q

What is the process of solifluction?

A

Active layer thaws in summer
Excessive water reduces friction between soil particles
Parts of the active layer move down slope
Lobate shaped debris masses form
These are rounded, tongue like features forming terraces

47
Q

What is the first step of the process of frost heave?

A

As the active layer starts to refreeze, ice crystals begin to develop. They increase the volume of the soil and cause an upward expansion in the soil surface

48
Q

What is the second step of the process of frost heave? After: As the active layer starts to refreeze, ice crystals begin to develop. They increase the volume of the soil and cause an upward expansion in the soil surface

A

Within the fine-grained material there are larger particles which, because of their lower specific heat capacity, heat up and cool faster than the surrounding finer material

49
Q

What is the third step of the process of frost heave? After: Within the fine-grained material there are larger particles which, because of their lower specific heat capacity, heat up and cool faster than the surrounding finer material

A

The soil immediately beneath a stone is likely to freeze and expand before the other material, pushing the stone upwards until it reaches the surface

50
Q

What is the final step of the process of frost heave? After: The soil immediately beneath a stone is likely to freeze and expand before the other material, pushing the stone upwards until it reaches the surface

A

On small domes, the larger particles move outwards, rolling downhill, effectively sorting the material, which when viewed from above forms patterned ground

Geography A Level (1 decks)

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