IB Geography Polar and Periglacial Regions

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

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

Polar

Relating to the North or South Pole

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

Angle of Incidence

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

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

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

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

Tourism to Antarctica

* Diseases
* Climate change
* Organic waste doesn’t decompose
* Organic contaminants

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

Human Challenges

Cold:

*

Ice Age

* 100,000 years between them on average


* last one 12,000 years ago
* -6° than average temperature today

Snow to Ice

* Snow
* Névé → young, granular snow that is partially melted, refrozen and compacted
* Firn → névé that survives a full year
* Glacial Ice → becomes blue over time as air is compressed out

Ice Sheet

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

Ice Cap

Smaller than an ice sheet, Vatnajökull

Valley Glacier

Glaciers confined to an ancient river valley, Morteratsch

Accumulation, Ablation, Equilibrium

Accumulation → snow builds up

Ablation → ice melts, evaporates, sublimates

Equilibrium → line between zones

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

GLOF and GOF

Glacial Lake Outburst Flood and Glacial Outburst Flood