Ice On The Land

Front 1

Firn or Neve

Back 1

Compacted snow which has experienced one winter's freezing and survived one summer's melting (temp latitudes e.g. in Alps- no extremes in climate). It is the midway point between snow and ice.

Front 2

Glaciers

Back 2

Mass of ice that fills valleys and hollows, moves downhill under gravity

Front 3

Accumulation

Back 3

The input of ice and snow into a glacier

Front 4

Ablation

Back 4

The output of ice and snow into a glacier

Front 5

Long profile of a glacier

Back 5

Changes in height and shape along a glacier from source to snout

Front 6

Plucking

Back 6

Occurs when melt water at the base, base or sides of a glacier freezes onto rock, pulling out pieces of rock as it moves

Front 7

Abrasion

Back 7

Where bits of rock stuck in the ice grind against rock below, wearing it away

Front 8

Rotational Slip

Back 8

Where the top end of a glacier moves in a circular motion, eroding hollows into the landscape

Front 9

Freeze-thaw Weathering

Back 9

Where the water gets into cracks in rocks, then freezes and expands pressurising the rock, the ice then thaws releasing the pressure. Repetition of this causes the rock to break

Front 10

Bulldozing

Back 10

The transportation of material frozen in the glacier, on its surface or in front

Front 11

Deposition

Back 11

The deposition of material as the ice carrying it melts or is overloaded with material

Front 12

Moraines

Back 12

Landforms made out material dropped by a glacier as it melts, there are four different types

Front 13

Lateral Moraine

Back 13

A long mound of deposited mayerial material where the side of a glacier was

Front 14

Medial Moraine

Back 14

A long mound of deposited material in the centre of a valley where two glaciers met (two medial moraines join together)

Front 15

Terminal Moraine

Back 15

Builds up at the snout of a glacier when it remains stationary, demosited as semicircular mounds

Front 16

Ground Moraine

Back 16

A thin layer of deposited material over a large area as a glacier melts

Front 17

Arete

Back 17

A steep-sided ridge formed when two glaciers flow in parallel valleys- the glaciers erode the sides of the valleys which sharpens the ridge between them (e.g. Striding Edge, Lake District)

Front 18

Corrie

Back 18

Begins as a hollow contaimning a small glacier. As the ice moves by rotational slip, it erodes the hollow into a steep-sided armchair shape with a lip at the bottom end. When the ice melts it can leave a small circular lake called a tarn (e.g. Red Tarn, Lake District)

Front 19

Ribbon Lakes

Back 19

Long, thin lakes that form after a glacier retreats. They form in hollows where softer rock was eroded more than the surrounding hard rock (Windermere, Lake District)

Front 20

Pyramidal Peak

Back 20

A pointed mountain peak with at least three sides. Its formed when three or more back-to-back glaciers erode a mountain (e.g. Snowdon, Wales)

Front 21

Truncated Spurs

Back 21

Cliff-like edges on the valley side formed when ridges of land (spurs) that stick out into the main valley are cut off when the glacier moves past

Front 22

Hanging Valley

Back 22

Valley thats formed by smaller glaciers (tributary glaciers) that flow into the main glacier. The glacial trough is eroded much deeper by the larger glacier so when the glaciers melt the valleys are left at a higher level

Front 23

Glacial Troughs

Back 23

Steep-sided valleys with flat bottoms. They start off as V-shaped river valleys but change to the U-shape as the glacier erodes the sides and bottom, making it deeper and wider (e.g. Nant Ffrancon, Snowdonia)