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34 Cards in this Set

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pleistocene epoch
from two million to 11 thousand years ago; extensive glaciation of the northern hemisphere; the time of human evolution
ice sheets
A permanent layer of ice covering an extensive tract of land, esp. a polar region.
nunatasks
An isolated peak of rock projecting above a surface of inland ice or snow.
cirque galciers
is formed in a [cirque], bowl-shaped depressions on the side of or near mountains.
valley glaciers
which provide drainage for icefields, are also constrained by underlying topography. These glaciers form up in mountain ranges as gathering snow turns to ice.
piedmont glaciers
a type of glaciation characteristic of Alaska; large valley glaciers meet to form an almost stagnant sheet of ice.
accumulation zone
is the area above the firn line, where snowfall accumulates and exceeds the losses from ablation, (melting, evaporation, and sublimation). The accumulation zone is also defined as the part of a glacier’s surface, usually at higher elevations, on which there is net accumulation of snow, which subsequently turns into firn and then glacier ice.
ablation zone
efers to the low-altitude area of a glacier or ice sheet below firn with a net loss in ice mass due to melting, sublimation, evaporation, ice calving, aeolian processes like blowing snow, avalanche, and any other ablation.
firn
Crystalline or granular snow, esp. on the upper part of a glacier, where it has not yet been compressed into ice.
equilibrium line
is the boundary between the accumulation area and the ablation area..
glacial surge
The swift and dramatic movement of a glacier.
plucking
A process of glacial erosion which involves the penetration of ice or rock wedges into subglacial niches, crevices, and joints.
abrasion
The process of scraping or wearing away.
striations
any of a number of tiny parallel grooves such as: the scratches left by a glacier on rocks
drift
is the name for all material of glacial origin found anywhere on land or at sea, including sediment and large rocks (glacial erratic)
stratified drift
Fluvioglacial drift composed of material deposited by a meltwater stream.
glacial erratics
is a piece of rock that differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests.
meltwater
Water formed by the melting of snow and ice.
roche moutonnee
(or sheepback) is a rock formation created by the passing of a glacier
till plain
An extensive, relatively flat area overlying a till
kettles
A depression left in a mass of glacial drift, formed by the melting of an isolated block of glacial ice
drumlin
A low oval mound or small hill, typically one of a group, consisting of compacted glacial till shaped by past glacial action.
moraine
A mass of rocks and sediment deposited by a glacier, typically as ridges at its edges or extremity.
esker
A long ridge of gravel and other sediment, typically winding, deposited by meltwater from a retreating glacier or ice sheet
outwash plain
is a plain formed of glacial sediments deposited by meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier
kame
A low, long, steep-sided mound of glacial drift, commonly stratified sand and gravel, deposited.
arete
is a thin, almost knife-like, ridge of rock which is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys
col
A high, sharp-edged pass occurring in a mountain ridge, usually produced by the headward erosion of opposing cirques
horn
a sharp peak formed where the ridges separating three or more cirques intersect
tarn
A small mountain lake, especially one set in a glaciated steep-walled amphitheatre known as a cirque.
glacial trough
A deep U-shaped valley with steep sides that leads down from a cirque a.
hanging valley
A tributary valley that joins a main valley where the latter has been deepened
paternoster lakes
is one of a series of glacial lakes connected by a single stream or a braided stream system
Holocene Epoch
based on that past evidence, can be considered an interglacial in the current ice age.