Cold Environments Landforms

Cold Environments. Glacial, Fluvial and Periglacial landforms (in that order)

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Corrie?
An arm-chair shaped hole in a mountain side. It has a steep back and sides and a rock lip at the front, often found with a tarn in the depression when the glacier retreats
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Arete?
A knife edge ridge. When two corries back into each other
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Pyramidal Peak?
Pointed peak. When 3 or more corries back into each other and the peak is formed where they meet in the middle.
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Glacial Trough/U shaped valley?
Former V-shape valley that has been calved out by a glacier. Abriasion of the sides and plucking of the floor.
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Truncated Spurs?
Former interlocking spurs cut short by a glacier. Snout of the glacier acts as a bulldozer and cuts the projections short.
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Ribbon Lakes?
Long lake. When bands of soft rock and hard rock lie side by side (opposite to waterfall), the soft rock is eroded more quickly, when the glacier retreats the water settles in the depressions. Hard rock left are known as rock steps
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Hanging Valley?
Tributary glacier forms a valley above the main glacier. Formed in the same way as the main valley just slower. Hanging valleys often act as waterfalls for misfit rivers
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Roche Moutonees?
Rock hill shape, shaped by the passage of ice. Smooth stoss with stiations and rough lee. (Rollercoaster)
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Drumlins?
Smooths, elongated mounds of till (50m in height, 1km in length and 0.5km in width). Steep stoss and gentle lee. Debate over formation - too much material so deposits then shapes (Slide)
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Stirations?
Straight, parallel scratches in the direction of ice movement. Fragments of rock within the ice scratches at the surface.
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Ground Moraine?
Spread all over the ground as the glacier retreats up the valley in warmer times
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Terminal Moraine?
Rocks deposited at the end of the glacier at the maximum advance of the ice (furthest point)
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Lateral Moraine?
Ridges of moraine that run parallel to the valley sides
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Medial Moraine?
Ridge of rocks running down the middle of a valley formed by 2 lateral moraines from 2 glaciers meet
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Recessional Moraine?
These often run parallel to terminal moraines - mark the retreat of the glacier. Each one marks the spot where the glacier has been static long enough for material to build up
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Push Moraines?
Mounds of material found when the glacier has been allowed to re-advance - (drop in temp or increase in precipitation). The glacier pushes the existing moraine forwards.
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Eskers?
Long ridges of material running in the direction of the ice - winding form and can be up to 20m high. Formed from the high hydrostatic pressure between the ice walls.
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Varves?
Distinct layer of silt lying over a layer of sand. The darker silt is depositied during the colder months. Each band of dark and light material indicates 1 year.
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Kames?
Kames are mounds of material found on the valley floor. Meltwater streams on top of the glacier have material in them, when the glacier retreats the material gets dumped.
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Kame Terraces?
Piles of deposits between the glacier and the valley wall, looks like lateral moraine but they're sorted - heaviest rocks on the bottom and lightest on top
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Braided Streams?
When a meltwater stream gets choked with material, lower discharge means increased deposits. It deposits it on the surrounding area and braided streams happen as it tries to find an efficient way to go.
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Kettle Holes?
Small depressions up to 5m -13km wide and up to 45m deep. Formed when a detached piece of ice are left by a retreating glacier, these are partially burried by fluvio deposits. When the blocks melt, depressions are left.
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Kettle Hole Lakes?
Kettle holes filled with water or marshes
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Outwash Plains?
A layer of gravel, sand and clay that forms in front of where the snout of the melting glacier used to be. Meltwater flows out of the glacier and carries sediment with it
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Open System Pingo (East Greenland)?
Dome shaped hill. Up to 500m in diameter, 50m in height. Surface water infiltrates, when it freezes it expands and pushes overlying rock upwards, growth is due to strong hydrostatic pressure pushing the ground water upwards, cracks due to pressure
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Closed System Pingo (Mackenzie)?
Dome shaped hill. 500m in diameter and 50m height. Frozen lake insulates allowing talik, permafrost advances inwards and ice forms as the temp drops, the ice lens increases in size due to strong hydrostatic pressure - expansion causes ruptures
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Ice Wedges?
Relic features. Active layer freezes and cracks. Meltwater and wind blow deposits get into the crack and the water freezes and expands. It then thaws and then freezes again. Over time the crack will expand
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Frost Heave?
Freezing of water to create humps on the ground. Active layer freezes in the winter and forms an ice lens. The ice lens lifts up the layers of soil. Occurs under stones too as they cool more than soil, it lifts rocks up and stops them slipping back
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Stone Polygons?
Small domes above areas of frost heave. Thermal cnductivity of stones is greater than that of soil. Ice lens pushes them up - material is sorted with large material on the outside
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Solifluction Lobe?
Insulated, tongue like feature formed by more rapid solifluction on certain sections of slope. Solifluction is the slow, downslope movement of waterlogged soil. Active layer becomes saturated and begins to move downhill under gravity.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Arete?

Back

A knife edge ridge. When two corries back into each other

Card 3

Front

Pyramidal Peak?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Glacial Trough/U shaped valley?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Truncated Spurs?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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