GREEN

• glaciers alter landscapes through

  • abrasion
  • deposition
  • transportation
  • entrainment
• glaciers can develop at different scales

  • micro
  • meso
  • macro
• different morphology means 


  different shape, structure and size of things
• glacial landforms can impact environments through sub-glacial process...


  marginal

  proglacial

  periglacial
• landforms in the system create distinctive landscapes in 


  upland and lowland areas that can be used to measure the extent of ice cover
• glacial landforms are not formed by a definitive process because 


  glaciers have been subject to sub-areal, mass movement, fluvial actions, mechanical and chemical weathering since the last ice age

  • this is called equifinality
  • change will have occurred due to a number of cycles which would have made modifications in their own right
• inversion modelling 


  mapping relict landscapes and measuring current deposits to model past ice extent
• the ice can transport sediment 


  horizontally or vertically
• glacier landform systems can highlight ice extent because 


  look at where the landform originated + how landforms go to be where they are today
• deposition occurs where?


  at margins
• Fluvioglacial processes dominate what

  pro-glacial morphologies
• marginal morphologies 


  side and front of glacier
• there are long term factors leading to climate change

  • Milankovitch cycles
  • tectonic movement
• there are short term factors that lead to climate change

  • sun spots
  • volcanic eruptions
• the Little Ice Age was caused by 


  Sun spot activity
• sun spots are


  variations in solar output
• the little ice age lasted from 


  1400-1600

  • increased the price of food
  • famine
  • thames freeze over
• the Loch Lomand stadial 


  during an interglacial period in the Pleistocene

  • caused by increase in freshwater in the ocean because of glacial melt that disrupted the thermohaline circulation
  • thermohaline circulation brought colder weather to the UK - an ice field was re-established in the Scottish Highlands
• the shape of the orbit changes every

  100,000 years
• the tilt of the axis changes every

  41,000 years
• when there is no tilt of the axis there is

  no seasons
• elliptical 


  there are seasons

  • interglacial
• circular 


  consistently further

  • glacial
• the Little Ice Age lasted from

  1400 - 1600
• The year without summer was caused by

  Tambora exploding
• In 1991 Mt Pinatubo erupted and caused 


  short term climate variation

  • decreased temperatures by 0.6C
  • lasted for 3 years
• stadial 


  shorter periods of intense colder within glacial-interglacial periods
• the earth currently has a tilt of 


  24.44 degrees

  • when the angle increases there is seasonal variability within climate systems
• The quaternary 


  most recent period of geological time - it is split into two epochs

  • Pleistocene
  • Holocene