Deck 17: Glacier Landforms and the Ice Age

Question 1

Narrow strips of open water between patches of sea ice are referred to as:

A)sea ice
B)pack ice
C)icebergs
D)leads
E)ice floes

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following may be responsible for the development of glacial surges?

A)slow flowage
B)ablation
C)glacial abrasion
D)plucking
E)basal sliding

Answer 2

E

Question 3

A peak formed by the intersection of a number of ridges produced by alpine glaciers is referred to as a/an:

A)arête
B)horn
C)cirque
D)firn
E)col

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The granular compacted old snow that forms glacial ice is properly referred to as:

A)ice
B)firn
C)surge
D)basal ice
E)crevasse

Question 5

The valley of a tributary glacier results in a discordant junction is referred to as:

A)tarn
B)cirque
C)truncated spur
D)hanging valley
E)roche moutonee

Question 6

Sharp,often jagged ridges that rise above ice-containing troughs and that separate adjacent glaciers or glacial valleys are called:

A)cirques
B)kames
C)aretes
D)horns
E)eratics

Question 7

What is the name given to lakes that form in hollows left behind by prior alpine glaciers?

A)arête
B)horn
C)cirque
D)tarn
E)col

Question 8

What is the name commonly given to the most recent glaciation in North American?

A)Laurentide
B)Cenozoic
C)Pliocene
D)Wisconsinan
E)Holocene

Question 9

Where is the rate of flow fastest in an alpine glacier?

A)At the surface and closest to actively forming moraines
B)At the surface and toward the edges of the glacier
C)At the bottom and toward the edges of the glacier
D)Near the midline and toward the top of the glacier's surface
E)Near the midline and toward the edges of the headwall

Question 10

The pressure exerted on the base of an alpine glacier results in which of the following processes?

A)Firn field
B)pressure melting
C)lateral moraines
D)glacial plucking
E)glacial abrasion

Question 11

Which of the following types of moraine would you expect to find along the sides of a glacier?

A)terminal
B)lateral
C)medial
D)recessional
E)knob-and-kettle

Question 12

Which of the following types of moraine marks the furthest advance of a glacier?

A)ground
B)recessional
C)medial
D)terminal
E)lateral

Question 13

A narrow,steep-sided,elongated estuary formed from a glacial trough inundated by seawater is referred to as a/an:

A)fiord
B)esker
C)horn
D)arête
E)tarn

Question 14

A smooth hill,modest in size,elliptical in shape and which rises from a till plain is called a/an:

A)esker
B)kettle
C)drumlin
D)kame
E)roche moutonee

Question 15

A steep-sided depression formed in glacial till that is the result of the melting of a buried block of ice is referred to as a/an:

A)esker
B)kettle
C)pluvial lake
D)nunatak
E)kame

Question 16

Which of the following features is comprised of fresh water?

A)sea ice
B)pack ice
C)icebergs
D)leads
E)ice floes

Question 17

The most recent deglaciation set in around ___________ years ago.

A)25,000
B)18,000
C)15,000
D)1,000
E)500

Question 18

The process that causes rock fragments in an alpine glacier to scrape and grind against the bedrock is referred to as:

A)glacial ablation
B)glacial abrasion
C)plucking
D)quarrying
E)glaciation

Question 19

The bowl-shaped depression at the upper end of a valley glacier is referred to as a/an:

A)arête
B)horn
C)cirque
D)firn
E)col

Question 20

Glacial melt-water deposits of sand and gravel are collectively referred to as:

A)pluvial remains
B)ground moraines
C)glacial outwash
D)terminal moraines
E)recessional moraines

Question 21

Which of the following types of till forms a thin,more or less even cover over the ground surface?

A)till plain
B)stratified drift
C)ground moraine
D)lodgment till
E)ablation till

Question 22

A succession of alternating glaciations and interglaciations,spanning a period of 1 to 10 million years or more,constitutes a(n)____________.

A)glacial period
B)freezing epoch
C)ice age
D)interstadial
E)geologic epoch

Question 23

Basin-like hollows interspersed with knobby hills and situated in the terminal moraine are referred to as:

A)till plains
B)kettles
C)drumlins
D)kames
E)eskers

Question 24

A glacial delta composed of well-washed and well-sorted sand and gravels forms which of the following land forms?

A)till plain
B)kettle
C)drumlin
D)kame
E)esker

Question 25

Which of the following types of till consists of clay rich debris previously dragged forward beneath the moving ice?

A)till
B)stratified drift
C)ground moraine
D)lodgment till
E)ablation till

Question 26

The uppermost layer of a glacier is brittle,but beneath the ice behaves as a plastic substance and moves by slow flowage.

Question 27

Motion in an alpine glacier is fastest near the bed and slowest on the surface at its midline.

Question 28

Which of the following types of till includes all varieties of rock debris deposited in close association with glaciers?

A)till
B)glacial drift
C)ground moraine
D)lodgment till
E)ablation till

Question 29

The term ________ means the loss of snow and ice by evaporation and melting.

A)sublimation
B)ablation
C)deflation
D)inflation
E)stagnation

Question 30

A long sinuous ridge of sediment deposited in an alpine glacier's meltwater tunnel is referred to as a/an:

A)till plain
B)kettle
C)drumlin
D)kame
E)esker

Question 31

Most scientists studying climate change during the Ice Age agree that the primary factor explaining the cycles of the glaciations is ___________________.

A)polar outbreaks
B)global warming
C)carbon dioxide
D)cyclic insolation variations
E)polarity changes

Question 32

Of the following,which is not a landform made by an alpine glacier?

A)cirque
B)arete
C)medial moraine
D)glacial trough
E)drumlin

Question 33

The last glaciation reached its furthest extent over North America around _________ years ago.

A)25,000
B)18,000
C)15,000
D)1,000
E)500

Question 34

At high elevations,orographic precipitation encourages the growth of glacial ice.

Question 35

The warmer interglacial epoch in which we currently find ourselves is referred to as the:

A)Laurentide
B)Cenozoic
C)Pliocene
D)Wisconsinan
E)Holocene

Question 36

Which of the following types of till is an unstratified mixture of rock fragments ranging in size from clay to boulders?

A)till
B)stratified drift
C)ground moraine
D)lodgment till
E)ablation till

Question 37

Pack ice is a form of sea ice that forms from the freezing of seawater and completely covers the sea surface.

Question 38

Of the following locations,which is not covered with an ice sheet?

A)north pole
B)south pole
C)Greenland
D)Antarctica
E)none of the above

Question 39

Which of the following types of till shows no sorting and often consists of a mixture of sand and silt?

A)stratified drift
B)glacial drift
C)ground moraine
D)lodgment till
E)ablation till

Question 40

The term used to describe rock debris deposited in close association with glaciers is called glacial _______________.

A)debris
B)outwash
C)drift
D)till
E)deposition

Question 41

Compare the rate of movement in a surging glacier with other physical geography processes.Identify some of the possible causes of surging and the impacts of surging upon the environment.

Question 42

A rock knob is shaped by moving ice,such that the lee side is eroded by glacial abrasion to create a smooth surface.

Question 43

Hanging valleys are formed by ice sheets when they erode high mountain peaks.

Question 44

Streams of meltwater from the terminus of a glacier build glacial deltas that eventually become flat-topped land forms known as kames.

Question 45

There has been only one significant glacial episode in the last 200,000 years.

Question 46

Stratified drift consists of layers of sorted and stratified clays and angular pebbles and large boulders.

Question 47

Describe the spread of ice sheets across North America during the Wisconsinan glaciation

Question 48

Using an annotated diagram,describe the erosional land forms produced by alpine glaciers.Where relevant identify examples of such features in your local region,or provide well-known examples from around the world.

Question 49

Describe and explain the possible causes of the Late Cenozoic Ice Age.

Question 50

Describe the formation of a glacial trough and the formation of associated hanging valleys.

Question 51

Lobes of ice flowing from the Laurentide ice sheet spread around an area in Wisconsin known as the Driftless Area.

Question 52

Compare and contrast the characteristics and formation of drumlins and rock knob.

Question 53

Using an annotated diagram,describe the general features of a valley glacier.Identify and define the processes that dominate each zone.

Question 54

Ice sheets during the last glacial maximum in North America,extended as far south as Florida and Texas.

Question 55

Compare and contrast the movement and characteristics of alpine glaciers and continental ice sheets.

Question 56

Compare and contrast the different forms of glacial drift,till and moraines.Draw diagrams to indicate particle size and sorting.

Question 57

The astronomical hypothesis proposed by Milankovitch suggests that cycles in axial rotation and solar revolution has a period of around 20,000 years.

Question 58

Using an annotated diagram,describe the depositional land forms produced by continental glaciers.Where relevant identify examples of such features in your local region,or provide well-known examples from around the world.

Question 59

A cirque is a bowl-shaped depression in which snow may accumulate.

Question 60

When the floor of a trough open to the sea lies below sea level,the sea water enters as the ice front recedes,forming a fiord.