Types of cold environments
- Created by: Ali Bland
- Created on: 16-03-15 19:05
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- Types of cold environments
- Polar
- The most extreme cold environment
- Includes Antarctica,Greenland and some islands inside the Arctic and Antarctic circle
- Very dry with relatively low amount of precipitation
- Alpine
- Mountain areas experience very cold winters with heavy snow
- The temperature can drop to -10° or less due to the high altitude
- The extreme winter cold is replaced in the summer with warmer weather
- Transforms V-shaped valleys into U-shaped valleys
- Glacial
- Environments specifically associated with glaciers
- The heavy winter snowfall provides the ice to feed the glaciers
- In summer the meltwater lubricates the glaciers - helping them move down the alpine valleys
- Periglacial
- Found on the fringes of polar or glacial environments e.g. in parts of Canada
- Experience permanently frozen ground (permafrost)
- During warmer weather, the ground surface thaws, enabling plants to grow
- Periglacial environments are not permanently covered by ice
- Polar
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