Valley Glacier
A long, narrow glacier that forms when snow and ice build up in a mountain valley
Cirque
A bowl shaped basin carved by a glacier (erosional)
Ice Cap
a mass of ice that covers less than 50,000 km² of land area
Snow Patch
A geomorphological pattern of snow and firn accumulation that lies on the surface for a longer time
Piedmont Glacier
If a valley glacier spills out of the mountains, onto the flat foreland, the ice often spreads to form a lobe.
What is a Glacier?
Huge persistent bodies of dense ice that are constantly moving under their own weight, carving and shaping the land beneath it.
Ice Shields
Vast masses of ice sheets covering stretches of land
Icesheets
Mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 km2
Alpine Glaciers
A glacier that forms in a mountainous area.
Tidewater
Water overflowing land at high tide
Freshwater Glaciers
Tidewater and freshwater glaciers are formed on land but terminate in bodies of water.
Rock Glaciers
Mixtures of rock fragments and ice (behave like glacial ice, flowing downhill slowly)
Characteristics of a glacial environment
subglacial, ice-marginal, proglacial, and periglacial
Liquid water and wind
Transport sediment in glacial environments
Wind Transport
Common when there is little vegetation
Liquid water transport
Occurs when the ice melts
Cryosphere
The frozen water part of the Earth system (includes areas of sea ice, frozen ground, snow, and glaciers)
Affects of a change in Cryosphere
Change in Sea levels from melting ice and snow
Sea ice
Expands and shrinks with the seasons in the Arctic Ocean and in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica (this does not change sea level)
Water Ice (Ice Sheets)
When it melts, water flows into the ocean which could lead to rising sea levels (could raise global sea level by over 60 metres)
Polar desert
Cold deserts whose precipitation occasionally occurs in form of snow due to the limited moisture in the air
Arctic Tundra
Treeless regions found in the Arctic and on the tops of mountains, where the climate is cold and windy, and rainfall is scant.