Glaciers

• How glaciers form


  1. Snowflakes collect or accumulate in a hollow in the mountains

  2. Snow continues to fall

  3. With more snowfalls, the weight compresses the snow together

  4. The compressed snow becomes a mass of solid ice
• The Glacier system consists of inputs, flows, stores and outputs, much like the hydrological cycle
• Plucking


  Occurs when rock and stones become frozen to the base and sides of the glacier Are plucked from the ground/rock face as the glacier moves Leaveing a jagged landscape.
• Abrasion


  Occurs when rocks and stones become embedded in the base and sides of the glacier

  This Causes the wearing away of the landscape and Leaves behind smooth polished surfaces
• Freeze-thaw weathering


  In warmer temperatures snow melts and water fills cracks in the rock

  When temperature drops to freezing, the water in the crack freezes and expands. As this process is repeated, over time bits of rock fall of
• Weathering = the break up of rocks in their original place, close to the earths surface.
• Erosion

  The wearing away of the landscape by rocks or ice.
• Accumulation


  Inputs to the Glacial budget such as snowfall and avalanches
• Ablation


  Outputs from the Glacial budget such as melting
• Glacial Budget


  The balance between the inputs and the outputs of a glacier
• A glacier is a slowly moving mass or river of ice formed of compacted snow