IB Geography Polar and Periglacial Regions

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Polar Characteristics

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19 Terms

1

Polar Characteristics

  • Climate → long, cold winters, freezing, windy, little precipitation, ice caps

  • Soil → little soil, frozen through year

  • Plants → moss, algae, lichen, few other plants

  • Animals → polar bears in Arctic, penguins in Antarctic, whales, seals, snowy owls

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2

Tundra/Periglacial Characteristics

  • Climate → cold, windy, dry, temperature -12° to -6°, summer lasts 60-80 days

  • Permafrost → as deep as 450m, active layer

  • Soil → high in organic matter, too cold to decompose

  • Plants → trees don’t grow, small plants when snow melts, cushion plants

  • Animals → foxes, polar bears, caribou, gray wolves, goats + sheep + marmots in alpine areas, shallows lakes and bogs appear in the summer

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3

Polar

Relating to the North or South Pole

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4

Tundra

A vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen, periglacial conditions

Periglacial: relating to a area adjacent to a glacier or ice sheet or otherwise subject to repeated freezing and thawing

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5

Angle of Incidence

Solar footprint, same energy over a larger area, higher angle of incidence → colder

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6

Arctic

  • Ocean surrounded by countries: US, Russia, Canada, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark

  • Taiga and tundra(most extensive ecosystems) + alpine, marshes

  • Specially adapted flora and fauna

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7

Antarctica

  • Frozen continent surrounded by ocean

  • No countries(1961 Antarctic Treaty), only claims

  • Generally much colder(continentality), average of -55°, -87° lowest recorded

  • Winds of up to 250kmph

  • 97.7% ice → 14 million km2

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8

Antarctic Treaty 1961

  • No military use

  • Scientific investigation

  • Free exchange of data

  • Territorial claims put on hold

  • Nuclear-free zone

  • Applies to land not seas

  • Stations open to inspection

  • National laws apply to citizens, not areas

  • May be modified unanimously

  • All nations ensure no-one violates

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9

Tourism to Antarctica

  • Diseases

  • Climate change

  • Organic waste doesn’t decompose

  • Organic contaminants

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10

Barrow, Alaska

  • Northernmost town in the USA

  • Dark/light

  • Light for 65 days a year

  • No paved roads

  • No roads out

  • Supplies flown in → massive prices

  • Native Alaskans

  • 5,000 population

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11

Human Challenges

Cold:

  • <-10° intolerable for long-term

  • frostbite, hypothermia, extremities

  • Oymyakon → coldest inhabited place on earth

Resource Development:

  • inavailability of water, food, fuel

  • infrastructure → roads and rail lines buckle from melting and refreezing

  • topography → unstable ground

  • no running water, pipes freeze

  • price of goods high

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12

Ice Age

  • 100,000 years between them on average

  • last one 12,000 years ago

  • -6° than average temperature today

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13

Snow to Ice

  • Snow

  • NĂ©vĂ© → young, granular snow that is partially melted, refrozen and compacted

  • Firn → nĂ©vĂ© that survives a full year

  • Glacial Ice → becomes blue over time as air is compressed out

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14

Ice Sheet

Covers a landmass(50,000km2+), Antarctica, Greenland

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15

Ice Cap

Smaller than an ice sheet, Vatnajökull

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16

Valley Glacier

Glaciers confined to an ancient river valley, Morteratsch

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17

Accumulation, Ablation, Equilibrium

Accumulation → snow builds up

Ablation → ice melts, evaporates, sublimates

Equilibrium → line between zones

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18

Effects of Glacial Loss

  • Global → sea level rise, surface energy balance, ocean circulation

  • Regional → water availability for drinking, agriculture, fisheries, HEP, recreation

  • Local → water availability for plants, animals, recreation, runoff issues and hazards

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19

GLOF and GOF

Glacial Lake Outburst Flood and Glacial Outburst Flood

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