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:
<-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
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