Exam 12: Glaciers and Glaciation

The primary control of glacial-interglacial episodes seems to be variation in the Earth's orbit and inclination to the sun.

A(n) _______ is a mass of ice that is not restricted to a valley but covers large areas of land.

If the terminus of a glacier remains stationary for a few years a distinct _______ may form.

The longest ice core drilled was obtained at ____, Antarctica, in the 1990s.

Under the influence of gravity a glacier moves down valley and eventually __.

Two layers of sediment representing one year of deposition in a lake are called a varve.

Bodies of till shaped into streamlined hills are called ___.

Once a glacier is gone the land begins to uplift slowly to its pre-glacial height, a process called ____.

Glaciers are part of the hydrosphere.

Glaciers can be considered as _______ of fresh water for future use.

Striations and grooves in bedrock indicate the direction of ice movement.

Open fissures called ___ develop in the brittle surface ice of glaciers.

The sediment deposited by debris-laden melt water is called _______.

What caused the glacial ages?

An esker is a long sinuous ridge of ice.

As ice retreats by melting back, the rock debris carried by the glacier is deposited to form a relatively thin layer of till called a(n) ___________.

Where glaciers exist they are far more effective agents of erosion, transportation, and deposition than running water.

If all ice sheets were to melt, sea level would _____.

The upper part of a glacier, the part with perennial snow and ice, is called the __.