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Environmental Studies, The Blue Planet, Chapter 9
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29
Environmental Studies
Undergraduate 2
12/02/2012

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Term
Ablation
Definition
The loss of volume or mass of a glacier.
Term
Accumulation
Definition
What it says on the tin.
Term
Cirque
Definition
A bowl-shaped depression. Produced by glacial erosion.
Term
Cryosphere
Definition
The perennially frozen earth.
Term
Equilibrium Line
Definition
The boundary between the accumulation line and the ablation line. Where the net mass loss = gain.
Term
Fjord
Definition
The drowned seaward end of a glacier-carved bedrock trough on a high-altitude sea coast.
Term
Glacier
Definition
Persistent body of ice. Shows downward movement under gravity.
Term
Glacier Ice
Definition
The ice forming a glacier by the accumulation, compression, and recrystallization of snow.
Term
Ice
Definition
Frozen water.
Term
Ice Cap
Definition
Like a hat of ice on mountains.
Term
Ice Sheet
Definition
Sheets of glacial ice that cover continental land masses.
Term
Ice Shelf
Definition
Sea ice that forms off the coasts of Antarctica.
Term
Polar Glacier
Definition
A high-latitude or high-altitude glacier, air is freezing, no melting occurs.
Term
Snow
Definition
Frozen precipitation.
Term
Snow Line
Definition
The boundary of perennial snow.
Term
Temperate Glacier
Definition
A warm glacier that forms in a temperate zone. Ice co-exists in equilibrium with water.
Term
Terminus
Definition
The front of a glacier.
Term
Bed
Definition
Where I'd like to be.

The rock or sediment on which the glacier rests.
Term
Calving
Definition
The progressive breaking off of icebergs from the front of a glacier that terminates in deep water.
Term
Crevasse
Definition
A deep gaping fissure in the upper surface of a glacier. Generally less than 50m deep.
Term
Glaciation
Definition
The period during which the earth is cold enough for glaciers to form. AKA ice ages, glacial periods/stages/epochs.
Term
Interglacials
Definition
The period between glaciations when ice sheets retreat and sea levels rise.
Term
Moraine
Definition
Ridge-like accumulations of sediment formed by glacial advancement. Like the wake from a moving boat, only solid.
Term
Periglacial Zones
Definition
Land areas beyond the limit of glaciers where low temperatures and frost actions are important factors on influencing the landscape.
Term
Surge
Definition
An unusual behavior marked by the rapid movement and dramatic changes of size and form of a glacier.
Term
Till
Definition
Basal debris that is plastered onto the ground as till (unsorted sediment).
Term
Loess
Definition
A wind-blown or aeolian sediment derived from rock flower and is generally indicative of deposition during a long cold climate.
Term
Permafrost
Definition
Permanently-frozen ground.
Term
Sea Ice
Definition
Frozen seawater. Floats on polar oceans. Consists of freshwater.
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