Glaciers and Glaciation

What is a glacier?

• A glacier is any piece of ice that moves.

• A glacier is a mass of ice that thaws and re-freezes repeatedly.

• To be considered a glacier, a mass of ice must be at least 1 mile thick

• Glaciers are masses of ice made made up of snow that has accumulated and compacted over time .

Where is earth's largest glacier?

• Alaska

• Iceland

• Greenland

• Antarctica

What are the two main types of glacial erosion?

• Abrasion and plucking
• Plucking and freeze-thaw
• Chemical and biological
• Abrasion and hydraulic action

Which letter represents the shape of valleys created by glaciers?

• V

• U

• W

• L

Abrasion is:

• parallel and straight scratches cut into bedrock by a glacier.

• a process of erosion which occurs when material being transported wears away at a surface over time.

• the transportation of large rocks and boulders

• a ridge at the edge of a glacier where rocks and sediment are deposited

Why do glaciers move?

• due to their immense weight

• gravity

• their weight AND gravity

• They DON'T move!

Large rocks or boulders that are transported by glaciers are called...

• striations

• erratics

• till

• abrasions

Unsorted sediment or pebbles, sand, clay, etc. that is transported and deposited by glaciers is called:

• striations

• erratics

• till

• abrasions

Glaciers are found:

• in locations where snowfall exceeds snowmelt

• everywhere on earth

• only near the north and south poles

• in locations where snowmelt is greater than snowfall

9. We are now in the interglacial period of an ice age.

• True
• False