Glaciers T4: Location and distribution Flashcards
What are the 3 types of cold environment.
- Polar
- Alpine
- Glacial
Describe a warm based glacier.
It is a glacier where the base of the glacier is warmer than the top of the glacier. The temperature fluctuates between -15 and 5 degrees c due to seasonal climatic changes. They move due to meltwater at the base of the glacier and are found in maritime locations.
Describe a cold based glacier.
The base of the glacier is as cold or colder than the top of the glacier. they temperature fluctuates between-30 and -10 degrees c. The y are found in areas of high altitude polar regions with little snow, precipitation but also little melting. They often don’t move but if they do its due to internal deformation.
What are the 7 different types of glacier?
- Piedmont glacier
- Ice sheet
- Ice caps
- ice fields
- Valley glaciers
- Cirque glaciers
- Sea glaciers
What is a piedmont glacier?
They are located close the poles and they occur when steep valley glaciers spill onto flat planes. They are tongue shaped.
What is an ice sheet?
They are thick blocks of ice that are found close to the poles. They move with plasticity and flow.
What is an ice cap?
They are found in arctic region they have an area less than 50000km^2. They occur when snow accumulates and then compress into ice pellets.
What is an ice field?
A large area of interconnected glaciers, they are formed by large amounts fo accumulation over long periods of time.
What isa valley glacier?
They are streams of flowing ice confined by steep valley walls, they are 1000’s of feet deep and erode bedrock.
What is a cirque glacier?
They are small glaciers found on half open semicircular shaped hollow on mountains or hollows.
What is a cirque glacier?
They are found in arctic and antarctic regions. They are large area of unbroken sea ice. They reflect the suns radiation and cool the earth.
