What happens on either side of the equilibrium line in a glacier quizlet?
What happens on either side of the equilibrium line in a glacier? Above the equilibrium line, the amount of accumulation exceeds the amount lost by various processes.
What is the equilibrium line of a glacier quizlet?
Equilibrium Line. Transition between the two zones where accumulation and melting are equal.
What happens to snowflakes as they become progressively buried within glaciers quizlet?
What happens to snowflakes as they become progressively buried within glaciers? They become interlocking crystals of ice.
When either of these two glacial types spread out in less confined topography they are?
When either of these two glacial types spread out in less confined topography, they are glaciers.
How are glacial striations formed?
Over time, the glacier moves over rock and sediment, leaving striations or striae, on the rock surfaces that can reveal the direction that the glacier was flowing.
What will happen to a negative mass balance glacier quizlet?
What will a glacier with sustained negative balance do? It is out of its equilibrium and will retreat.
What does the equilibrium line represent on a glacier?
The line that separates the accumulation and ablation areas is called the equilibrium line. The elevation of the equilibrium line depends on temperature, precipitation and the surrounding landscape. If the climate conditions remained constant, neither the equilibrium line nor the glacier margin would change.
Where is the equilibrium line on a glacier?
Equilibrium line altitude The part of the glacier that has more ablation than accumulation is the ablation zone. Where ablation is equal to accumulation is the Equilibrium line altitude. The snowline at the end of the summer season is often used to demarcate the equilibrium line on satellite images of glaciers.
When an ice block that was buried in sediment finally melts a depression called a ___ forms?
Glaciers
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| The central portion of a valley glacier moves _____ the sides. | faster than |
| When an ice block that was buried in sediment finally melts a depression called a ___ forms. | kettle |
| A(n) ______ is a steep-sided half-bowl shaped recess carved at the head of a mountain glacial valley. | cirque |
What happens when a glacier encounters the sea or a lake quizlet?
What happens when a glacier encounters the sea or a lake? Large blocks of ice collapse off the front of the glacier and become icebergs. You just studied 16 terms!
What is the equilibrium line on a glacier?
boundary between the accumulation area and ablation area where the mass balance is zero. glaciers.
Why does the crust subside slightly on either side of a melting glacier?
Why does the crust subside slightly on either side of a melting glacier? Crust under the glacier rises as the ice melts. This allows mantle on either side of the glacier to move to areas under the glacier.
Where would one find the equilibrium line on a glacier?
The equilibrium line is at the boundary of the accumulation area and the ablation area, however, the elevation varies from year to year. The ice flows downhill from the accumulation zone towards the ablation zonewhere higher temperatures intensify the melting.
How do striations show the direction a glacier moved?
These inclusions make the glacier sole (the bottom of the glacier) into a kind of coarse sandpaper that is capable of scratching bedrock. Over time, the glacier moves over rock and sediment, leaving striations or striae, on the rock surfaces that can reveal the direction that the glacier was flowing.
What will happen to a negative mass balance glacier?
Changes in mass balance control a glacier's long term behavior. It is the most sensitive climate indicator on a glacier. A glacier with a sustained negative balance is out of equilibrium and will retreat.
What determines the mass balance of a glacier?
The Mass balance of a glacier can be thought of as the health of a glacier. Mass balance is the total sum of all the accumulation (snow, ice, freezing rain) and melt or ice loss (from calving icebergs, melting, sublimation) across the entire glacier.
What happens at the equilibrium line?
The line that separates the accumulation and ablation areas is called the equilibrium line. The elevation of the equilibrium line depends on temperature, precipitation and the surrounding landscape. If the climate conditions remained constant, neither the equilibrium line nor the glacier margin would change.
How do you find the equilibrium line of a glacier?
It can be calculated from the glacier hypsometry using the following equation (Furbish and Andrews (1984)): B R = Z ¯ a c A a c Z ¯ a b A a b Where: =Area-weighted mean altitude of the accumulation area. A a c =Area of accumulation. Z ¯ a b =Area-weighted mean altitude of the ablation area.
What is the equilibrium point of a glacier?
Thus a glacier has two zones: the area of accumulation where snow is retained, and the ablation area where more ice melts than accumulates. The boundary between these two zones is called the equilibrium line and is usually measured in altitude.
When a glacier retreats its ice contracts and flows back toward the glaciers point of origin?
Glaciers always retreat when they reach an elevation less than 5,000 feet. When a glacier retreats, its ice contracts and flows back toward the glacier's point of origin. Glaciers can grow smaller by melting, sublimation, or calving.
What is the sediment deposited by glaciers called?
Sediments transported and deposited by glacial ice are known as till .
What happens when a glacier encounter the sea or a lake?
What happens when a glacier encounters the sea or a lake? Large blocks of ice collapse off the front of the glacier and become icebergs. You just studied 16 terms!
What 2 areas does the equilibrium line separate?
6.2 Morphometric Analysis of the Equilibrium Line Altitude. The ELA, i.e., the boundary between a glacier's accumulation and ablation areas, is a key diagnostic feature in glaciology (Porter, 1975).
What is equilibrium line altitude?
The lower topographic limit of multi-annual snow cover is called the snow line or equilibrium line altitude (ELA). It is an irregular line (altitude) located along the ground surface above which snow does not entirely melt in summer. At the ELA the accumulation of snowfall equals ablation (melting and evaporation).
Why does the crust subside slightly on either side of a melting glacier quizlet?
Why does the crust subside slightly on either side of a melting glacier? Crust under the glacier rises as the ice melts. This allows mantle on either side of the glacier to move to areas under the glacier.
How do glaciers and ice sheets change the earths crust?
Earth's crust is moving as climate change takes a toll on ice sheets and glaciers across the world. The continuous melting of these ice sheets from Greenland and Antarctica is causing the planet's crust to deform as water is redistributed to the global oceans leading to rising sea levels.
What is equilibrium line in glacier?
boundary between the accumulation area and ablation area where the mass balance is zero. glaciers.
How do glacial grooves form?
Glacial grooves and striations are gouged or scratched into bedrock as the glacier moves downstream. Boulders and coarse gravel get trapped under the glacial ice, and abrade the land as the glacier pushes and pulls them along.
How glacial striations form quizlet?
scratches and grooves on bedrock caused by glacial abrasion.
What happens when a glacier is in equilibrium?
If the two processes result in no net gain or loss of snow and ice, the mass balance is zero and the glacier is in equilibriumequilibrium: a balanced state with no net gain or loss..