Glacial key terminology

Created by

Jacky Pereira

Cards (62)

What is a glaciated landscape?
Visible features of an area of the Earth’s surface that has been created by ice
What are glacial periods?
Periods when the Earth’s temperature is much colder on average so glaciers form
What are inter-glacial periods?
When the Earth’s average temperature increases so the size and coverage of ice sheets decrease
What are glaciers? 
A large ice sheet/mass at the plain of the Earth
What does altitude refer to?
How high above sea level something is
What is deposition?
The release of material due to gravity
What is erosion? 
The wearing away of rock due to a moving force
What does kinetic mean? 
Relating to or resulting from motion
What does potential refer to in physics?
Energy of position or at rest
What does thermal relate to?
Relating to heat
What are open systems?
A system where materials and/or energy can move across its boundaries
What are closed systems?
A system where no material and/or energy can leave
What is input in the context of systems?
What enters an open system
What is output in the context of systems?
What leaves an open system
What is weathering? 
The wearing away of rock in situ
What is evaporation? 
The process by which liquid water is converted into a gaseous state
What is sublimation? 
The process where solid matter is converted into a gaseous state without becoming a liquid
What is debris? 
Loose natural material, usually rocks
What is meltwater? 
Water released by melting snow or ice
What is dynamic equilibrium?
The lack of change in a system as inputs and outputs remain in balance
What is precipitation? 
Rain, snow, sleet or hail that condenses on the ground as a product
What is negative feedback?
This decreases the amount of change by reducing some of the inputs, returning it to stability
What is glacier mass balance?
The differences between the amount of ice ablation and accumulation
What is accumulation in the context of glaciers?
The addition of mass onto a glacier
What is ablation? 
The loss of mass onto a glacier
What is firn? 
Hard, granular snow
What is the snout of a glacier?
The end zone of a glacier where melting occurs
What is the annual budget in glaciology? 
The yearly amount of accumulation and ablation
What is the lithosphere?
The hard, rigid outer layer of the Earth’s surface, made up of the crust and the mantle
What is structure in geology?
The properties of individual rock types such as jointing and permeability
What is lithology? 
The physical and chemical composition of a rock
What does spatial refer to?
Where things are located on the Earth
What does temporal refer to?
Refers to time
What are strata? 
Layers of sedimentary rock
What is an arete?
A narrow steep sided ridge between two corries
What is a pyramidal peak? 
A peak where 3 or more corries develop around a hill or mountain top
What is latitude? 
The distance of something north and south of the equator
What are joints in geology?
Fractures in rocks created without displacement
What is a bedding plane?
A surface representing the contact between a deposit and the more resistant material
What are some examples of soft rock?
Sandstone, shale, clay