Glaciers module 3
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Feb 20, 2024
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A glacier can be described as a thick ice mass that can include ice, compacted snow and sediment, and rock and liquid water. Glaciers are found in areas where the freezing point equal the average temperatures, so the snow does not melt off year to year. This allows the snow to compact over and over. Glaciers have multiple sections to them including an accumulation and ablation area. Accumulation is the area at the top of the glacier where the snow continues to accumulate like the name suggests. This adds the mass to the glacier and packs the snow and ice down. The ablation area is further down the glacier and is where there can be a loss of ice(Anatomy of a Glacier, 2022). These areas help to contribute to the glacial balance and mass of the glacier. There is a balance between the input and output of the system of the glacier. If the input outweighs the output, then the glacier will be advancing. If the output outweighs the input, then the glacier will be receding. If they stay equal, then the glacier is in equilibrium and does not do either. The glacial balance can show how our climate is doing because when our global temperatures are rising then there is less snow being packed into a glacier. The glaciers will recede with warmer temperatures. Glaciers come in different types and in different locations of the world. Ice sheets are large scale areas of glaciers which two areas in the world present which are Greenland and Antarctica. Ice caps are smaller than ice sheets in that they are less than 50, 000 square kilometers. Alpine glaciers are found in mountains and valleys and originate similar to how rivers do in that they start in the top of the mountain and head down the valley causing erosion along the way. Piedmont glaciers become the bottom base of the mountain once the alpine glaciers leave the mountains and become more of a sheet of ice(Lutgens, 2021). Glaciers also cause a tremendous amount of erosion to Earth’s surface. During the movement of a glacier there are common landforms and features made. These can include a
cirque which is a type of valley created where one side of the valley looks like a cup where sediment was deposited. An arete is a narrow ridge between two valleys such as two cirques. As the glacier moves rocks and sediments, they scratch the ground beneath causing glacial striations
which are left on the rocks left behind. A glacial horn can show up between cirques as a more prominent point. Hanging valleys can be made by glaciers which are U shaped valleys(Lutgens, 2021). With this are also depositional features such as moraines. Moraines are the accumulated sediment that is then deposited by the glacier. A kame is a small hill after the retreat of the glacier when debris falls through the crevasses in the glacier. A tarn is an area that becomes a lake or pond. Drumlins are elongated hills that line up in the flow of the glacier. An esker is a narrow ridge made up of sand or rocks that are usually found from the terminus of the glacier(Lutgens, 2021).
Figure 1: Glacial geomorphology of Western Ireland. Credit(NAGT)
In Figure 1 in Western Ireland this has the features of cirque, eskers, as well as moraines.
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Figure 2: Mt Cook in New Zealand Credit(Geologic Time Pictures)
Figure 2 includes glacier landforms such as the u shaped valley which is a hanging valley as well
as arete and moraines. There also appears to be a tarn in the middle area as well.
References Anatomy of a Glacier. National Park Service. Retrieved from : https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/nature/anatomy-of-a-glacier.htm
11 November 2022
Glacial Geomorphology of Western Ireland. NAGT. Earth Education for All. https://nagt.org/nagt/teaching_resources/field/fieldtrips/glac-geomorph.html
Lutgens, F. K., Tarbuck, E. J., & Tasa, D. G. (2021). Foundations of earth science (9th ed.). Pearson
Mt Cook and Moraine dammed lakes. Geologic Time pics. Retrieved from: https://geologypics.com/mt-cook-aoraki-and-moraine-dammed-lakes/