Types of Glaciers Flashcards
Glaciers are classified as…
semi-permanent bodies of ice
How are glaciers formed?
from the compaction and recrystallization of snow
Glaciers build up by the gradual accumulation of ____ over ____.
snow, time
What happens as snow builds up?
As the snow accumulates, the overlying layers of snow places a lot of pressure on the underlying layers and squeeze the snowflakes into small ice crystals
Snowflakes are squeezed so much that glacier ice becomes _______ to air.
impermeable
What are the five types of glaciers?
- Cirque glacier
- Valley glacier
- Ice cap
- Fjord glacier
- Piedmont glacier
Where do Cirque glaciers form?
In bowl-shaped depressions
What do valley glaciers fill?
valleys
_____ are small glaciers at the top of mountains.
ice caps
_____ glaciers empty into narrow bodies of water
Fjord
Piedmont glaciers spread out into large ______ areas
planar
Cirque glaciers are often the starting point for ______ glaciers
valley -
so if cirque glaciers spill out of their bowl into a valley then they become a valley glacier
What do valley glaciers create?
U-shaped valleys
What are valley glaciers surrounded by?
Bedrock and slopes that are not covered with ice
If a valley glacier flows into a body of water is considered to be a _____ glacier
Fjord
What do Fjord glaciers create?
numerous icebergs as the ice breaks off and floats away in the water
How are the bodies of water and the glaciers that fall into them formed?
by some land upheaval.
a _______ glacier is a glacier that has spread beyond its valley and covers a large,____ area
Piedmont, flat
Where are Piedmont glaciers?
they cover large flat areas
Continent-sized glacial surfaces are called ______ ______
ice sheets
What are the two Ice sheets currently in the world?
antartica and Greenland.
Ice sheets are very sensitive to…
global climate change
- they expand and contract in response to global climate
What do ice sheets contain?
a number of ice shelves
what are ice shelves?
-thick floating sheets of ice on top of water
what can ice sheets produce?
a number of ice bergs that can float away in the water
_____ ice is floating ice not attached to a glacier
sea
What is sea ice?
floating ice not attached to a glacier
- no land underneath it
how does sea ice form?
formed by freezing sea water
