GLACIERS AND GLACIATION
Introduction:
While ice now covers only about 10 % of the continental land area,
features attributed to glacial episodes are found over about 3/4 of
the continental surface.
Only a few tens of thousands of years ago, sheets of ice-covered
major portions of north America, Europe and Asia.
Melting glaciers recharged aquifers used today for water, glacial
sediments from older ice advances make up some of the aquifers.
ICE AND THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
Approximately 75% of the fresh water in the earth stored as ice in
glacier. Water enters this reservoir as precipitation (usually snow
full) and leaves it by evaporation or by melting.
The world’s supply of glacial ice is the equivalent of sixty years of
precipitation over the whole earth, or represent 900 years flow of
all the world’s rivers at their presents discharge
Where glaciers are large or numerous, glacial melt water may be
the principal source of summer stream flow.
Any thing modifies glacial melting patterns can profoundly affect
regional water supplies.
Dusting the glacial surface with a layer of dark material, such as
coal dust, hence the rate of melting and water flow.
Cloud seeding over glaciated areas could increase precipitation and
the amount of water stored in the glaciers.
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Increased melt water flow can: -
1. Increasing water supply
2. Achieving higher level of hydro electrical power production
The nature of a glacier
Glacier: - Is a mass of ice on land, formed by recrystallization of
snow, which moves under its own weight.
Glacial formation: - In order for glaciers to form the following factors
must exist.
1. The climate must be cold enough that some of the snow and ice
persist year-round. This in turn requires combination of an
elevation and latitude
2. There must be sufficient moisture in the air to provide the
necessary precipitation.
3. The amount of winter snowfall must exceed summer melting, so
that the snow accumulates year by year.
*As the snow accumulate, it is gradually transformed into ice. The
weight of overlying snow packs it down, drives out much of the
air, and causes it to recrystallize into coarser, denser, interlocking
ice crystals.
Firn: - The material intermediate in texture between freshly fallen
snow and compact solid ice.
Solid ice: - The complete conversion of snow into glacial ice, may
take from 5 to 3.500 years, depending on climate and rate of snow
accumulation at the top of the pile.
Cryosphere is part of the hydrosphere and includes glaciers and
frozen sea ice. It is located mostly at the north and south poles.
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The cryosphere is an effective agent of erosion and deposition. It
can significantly modify landscapes.
The cryosphere impacts Earth’s climate by cooling water and air,
and setting up oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns.
The cryosphere impacts the biosphere because water cooled by polar ice
has the largest concentration of dissolved oxygen and supports a diverse
fauna (oxygen gas is most soluble in cold water).
Types of Glaciers
Glaciers are divided into two types on the basis of: -
1. The size of the glacier
2. The rate of occurrence
The two generals of glaciers:
1- Alpine/valley glaciers
Typically found in mountainous regions, most often are at
relatively high elevation. Many occupy valleys in the mountains
and are termed logically (valley glacier).
Most of the estimated 70, 000 - 200,000 glaciers in the world are
alpine glaciers.
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B) Continental glacier (ice cape or ice sheets)
1. can cover whole continent
2. reach thicknesses of a 3km and more
3. less number than alpine glacier
4. contain far more ice than alpine glacier
Continental/ice sheet glaciers– glaciers that exist over a large part of a
continent (> 50,000 km2) in regions near the earth’s north or south
poles (Examples: Antarctica, Greenland).
Antarctica has 85% of glacier ice currently on earth, and Greenland
has 10%.
If Antarctica’s ice were to melt, the sea level would rise 70 m or 230 ft.
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At present the two principal continental glaciers are the Greenland
and the Antarctic ice sheets. The Arctic polar ice mass is not a true
glacier.
Formation and Growth of Glaciers
A - Transition from snow to glacier ice: Powdery snow →
Granules → Firn (somewhat compacted) → Glacier ice.
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B - Glacier ice moves downhill and is eventually lost (ablated) by
melting, evaporation, or calving of icebergs.
Icebergs calving off the coast of Greenland
Movement of glaciers
The movement of a glacier may be a nearly indictable (20 m/ year)
or may surge at up to 10km per year (30 m a day).
Glaciers movement occur according to the following reasons:
1-The ice pressure may be sufficient to melt a portion at its base,
allowing the whole mass of the glacial to slide on this melt water.
2- Heat flow from the underlying rocks (igneous rocks).
3- Typically, flow is fasts at the top and center and slower at the
base and sides of the glaciers. Internal deformation is most
pronounced in the deeper zones of the glacial, which are under the
greatest confining pressure.
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The Glacial Budget
In winter:
1.The rate of accumulation increase
2. Melting and evaporation decrease
3. The glacial extend farther from its source (advancing).
In Summer:
1.The rate of accumulation reduced or halted
2. Melting and evaporation accelerates
3. Ablation exceeds accumulation
4. The glacier thins (retreating), the leading edge of the glacier
melts back faster than glacier moves forward.
If the climate remains stable over many years, the average seasonal
limits of the glacier remain constant from year to year.
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