Y8 Frozen Planet

Question 1

What is a cold environment?

Answer 1

Areas of land permanantly covered by ice. They are covered by glaciers, ice sheets and have frozen soil and rock. The temperature is constantly sub-zero.

Question 2

Where are the coldest environments found?

Answer 2

The coldest environments are found in areas of high latitude, high altitude or far from the coast.

Question 3

Why can a cold environment be found in high or low latitudes?

Answer 3

Due to the angle of 23.5° angle that the earth sits on sunlight that travels to the equator will have to travel through less atmosphere than the places of high or low latitude. Meaning that lots of the thermal energy from the sun will be lost whilst heating up more of the atmosphere.

Question 4

What is a glacier?

Answer 4

A glacier is a huge mass of ice that moves slowly over land.

Question 5

How is a glacier formed

Answer 5

A glacier is formed due to a build up of snow over many years of compressing and compacting

Question 6

What are the two zones a glacier can be divided into?

Answer 6

Ablation zone, and accumulation zone

Question 7

What is the accumulation zone?

Answer 7

The inputs into the glacier.

Question 8

What is the ablation zone?

Answer 8

The outputs from a glacier.

Question 9

What happens if the ablation zone is greater than the accumulation?

Answer 9

The glacier retreats

Question 10

What happens if the accumulation zone is greater than the ablation zone.

Answer 10

The glacier advances

Question 11

Why can a cold environment be found at high altitudes.

Answer 11

This is due to a lack of air pressure and as there is not as much land at high altitudes, the sun cannot heat the air and land as quickly so the atmosphere will be colder than at sea level

Question 12

What inputs go into the accumulation zone?

Answer 12

Avalanches, heat from sun, rock from mountains, snowfall

Question 13

What outputs go into the ablation zone?

Answer 13

Meltwater, rocks from glacier, evaporation, sublimation, calvings

Question 14

What is firn?

Answer 14

The stage between snow and ice (half ice)

Question 15

What causes sea level to rise?

Answer 15

Melting glaciers and thermal expansion

Question 16

What is thermal expansion?

Answer 16

When the molecules of water expand due to being heated.

Question 17

How do glaciers melting affect sea levels?

Answer 17

When the glacier melts the ice turns to liquid and flows into the water adding more water to the ocean and the sea level rises

Question 18

What effects would sea level rise have on social issues?

Answer 18

• Displacement of people and homelessness
• Conflict as pressure rises between governments leading to wars
• Outbreak of diseases

Question 19

What effects would sea level rise have on the economy

Answer 19

• Major financial hubs in coastal areas flooded.
• Price of houses near the flooded areas would go down
• Buisnesses would be forced to relocate
• Demand for jobs would go up
• People would work for less money as they have no other options
• Many labourers would be overskilled for their jobs

Question 20

What effects would sea level rise have on the environment

Answer 20

Loss of ecosystems in rivers as salt water kills freshwater organisms

Question 21

What is plucking?

Answer 21

When a rock is pulled next to a glacier and surrounded by meltwater and the meltwater freezes again, it entrains the rock taking the rock and plucking it from the wall or base.

Question 22

What is freeze thaw erosion?

Answer 22

The constant freezing and melting expanding the cracks within the base or wall until chunks of rocks break off.

Question 23

How much does water expand in volume when frozen?

Answer 23

9%

Question 24

What is abrasion?

Answer 24

The scraping of rocks moved underneath a glacier scraping against the land form due to being pushed or dragged by the glacier

Question 25

How is a U shaped valley formed?

Answer 25

A valley glacier eroding through interlocking spurs created by a river. The glacier erodes the interlocking spurs truncating them forming a U shaped valley.

Question 26

What is a misfit river

Answer 26

A river that is in a U shaped valley that wouldn’t be able to create the U shaped valley.

Question 27

How is a ribbon lake formed?

Answer 27

As a glacier erodes through the landscape it erodes through harder rock slower than soft rock. When a glacier erodes the soft rock it creates a small lake due to it eroding quicker.

Question 28

How is a hanging valley formed?

Answer 28

A hanging valley is formed when a smaller glacier erodes into the main glacier joining it and leaving behind another river feeding into the misfit river called a hanging valley.

Question 29

What are the scratchmarks left after a glacier called?

Answer 29

Striations

Question 30

What is rotational slip?

Answer 30

The movement along a curved base that a glacier makes.

Question 31

What is the stage between snow and ice?

Answer 31

Firn (half-ice)

Question 32

What is moraine?

Answer 32

Rock and sediments left behind by a glacier.

Question 33

What is a rock lip?

Answer 33

When the glacier deposites moraine, where areas of erosion are the weakest moraine is left behind.

Question 34

What is a glacial trough?

Answer 34

A U-shaped valley made by a glacier.

Question 35

How is a V-shaped valley formed?

Answer 35

When a river erodes downwards, the dirt around it falls and slides down the slope creating a v shaped valley.

Question 36

How is a V shaped valley different to a U shaped valley?

Answer 36

A V shaped valley is formed by a river, a U shaped valley is formed from a glacier.

Question 37

What is the first step of a corrie forming?

Answer 37

First, snow builds up in a north or northeast facing follow in the northern hemisphere or the opposite in the southern hemisphere due to sunlight being blocked form the hollow. After a year, the snow compresses and compacts squeezing out all the air pockets to form firn or half ice then glacial ice.

Question 38

What is the second step of a corrie forming?

Answer 38

Once the glacier reaches about 20 meters thick, also depending on the gradient of the hollow, it will start to move in response to gravity. On the back wall, a process known as frost-shattering occurs, this process is when the water within the crevaces of the rock freezes, expands by nine percent and melts again. After a while of this the crevaces widen giving the rock less surface area leading into our other erosional process on the back wall: plucking. Plucking is when water melts in the cracks similar to frost-shattering but this time when the glacier freezes the water again, it doesn’t have enough support and detatches from the rock become entrained in the glacier. Finally, on the base of the hollow, rocks and ice scrape against the floor eroding it and scratching away at it creating a curved base.