Deck 22: Amazing Ice: Glaciers and Ice Ages

Question 1

Ice is a substance with a high albedo,which means it ________.

A)requires much heat to raise its temperature by 1°C
B)absorbs most of the light that falls on it
C)reflects most of the light that falls on it
D)strongly refracts the light that falls on it

Answer 1

C

Question 2

An intermediate product in the transformation of snow to glacial ice is ________.

A)firn
B)deposition
C)ablation
D)terminus

Answer 2

A

Question 3

At the present,glaciers cover about ________ of the surface of the continents.

A)1%
B)5%
C)10%
D)20%

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The central glacier in the figure below once stretched all the way to the farthest ground moraine.What type of glacier was it?

A)a continental glacier
B)a cirque glacier
C)a piedmont glacier
D)an alpine glacier

Question 5

Glacial ice exhibits ________ behavior near the top but ________ behavior beneath a depth of 60 m.

A)brittle;plastic
B)plastic;brittle
C)solid;liquid
D)plastic;elastic

Question 6

An angular peak surrounded by three or more bowl-shaped depressions formed by a mountain glacier is termed a(n)________.

A)arête
B)cirque
C)horn
D)tarn

Question 7

When the sea level rises,causing the ocean to fill a glacially carved valley,a ________ results.

A)smorgasbord
B)tarn
C)fjord
D)ford

Question 8

The polar ice caps on Mars are an example of what type of glacier?

A)continental glaciers
B)cirque glaciers
C)piedmont glaciers
D)valley glaciers

Question 9

A bowl-shaped depression formed by a mountain glacier is termed a(n)________.

A)arête
B)cirque
C)horn
D)tarn

Question 10

At depths of greater than 60 m,ice moves by plastic deformation.What causes this transition from brittle to ductile behavior?

A)An increase in temperature causes the glacier to melt and slide.
B)An increase in pressure increases friction and melts the ice.
C)An increase in the pressure allows for only minute deformation.
D)A decrease in the amount of trapped sediments allows more flow.

Question 11

Cirques and horns are features associated with ________.

A)mountain glaciation
B)continental glaciation
C)glacial outwash deposits
D)loess deposits

Question 12

The current interglacial interval began a little more than ________ years ago.

A)1,000
B)10,000
C)100,000
D)1 million

Question 13

Glacial ice cores can be used to determine the atmospheric concentration of CO₂ during Earth's history.How do scientists come up with these data?

A)They use the thickness of the ice layers to determine how much CO2 was in the atmosphere.
B)The melt the ice and measure how much carbon was trapped in the ice.
C)They record changes in the shape of ice crystals to determine the paleoclimate.
D)They break the ice apart,release the air trapped in bubbles,and then measure the gases.

Question 14

Today,continental glaciers are limited to Antarctica and ________.

A)Alaska
B)Greenland
C)Canada
D)Siberia

Question 15

A hanging valley is formed when a ________.

A)smaller glacially carved valley intersects with a larger glacially carved valley
B)smaller stream-cut valley intersects with a larger stream-cut valley
C)smaller stream-cut valley intersects with a larger glacially carved valley
D)stream-cut valley is on the upthrust side of a normal fault

Question 16

Currently,almost all the glaciers on Earth are in a state of retreat,which means that the rate of ________ is less than the rate of ________.

A)accumulation;ablation
B)ablation;accumulation
C)formation;sublimation
D)calving;advance

Question 17

During the last ice age,a ________ glacier covered much of the northern United States.

A)piedmont
B)cirque
C)mountain
D)continental

Question 18

A glacier will always advance from its source area if the rate of accumulation is greater than the rate of ________.

A)subsidence
B)erosion
C)ablation
D)uplift

Question 19

Valleys carved by glaciers tend to be shaped like the letter ________,whereas valleys carved by water tend to be shaped like the letter ________.

A)V;U
B)V;C
C)U;V
D)V;I

Question 20

Glaciers form as fresh ________ falls to the ground and accumulates.The accumulation adds pressure,which compresses the ________ until they form a packed granular material called ________.Some material melts and then ________ in the pore spaces to create a solid mass of ice.

A)snow;snowflakes;cirques;dissolves
B)snow;snowflakes;firn;refreezes
C)ice;ice;firn;refreezes
D)firn;glacier;ice;gets trapped

Question 21

Stratified sorted sand and gravel are deposited by ________.

A)mountain glaciers
B)continental glaciers
C)glacial outwash streams
D)windstorms

Question 22

Sediments deposited directly by glaciers as they melt are characterized by ________.

A)uniformly coarse grain size
B)uniformly fine grain size
C)an absence of sorting
D)graded bedding

Question 23

Identify the area where layered sediments have been deposited in the figure below.

A)E
B)C
C)A
D)F

Question 24

You are hiking in your favorite forest when you encounter a surface that appears to have very fine scratches in it.What are these features?

A)glacial till
B)moraines
C)striations
D)scour marks

Question 25

What types of moraines are shown in the figure below?

A)medial moraines
B)terminal moraines
C)lateral moraines
D)recessional moraines

Question 26

Moraines are composed of jumbled piles of very poorly sorted rock fragments ranging in size from boulder to clay that fall out near the edges of glaciers.Why are the larger particles (boulders,etc.)not broken down during transport in the glacier?

A)because the ice is not strong enough to break up rock
B)because sediments are picked up and carried along with the ice as it moves
C)because the sediments are not carried for very long distances
D)because the ice stops the chemical weathering processes

Question 27

Identify the farthest reach of the glacier in the figure below.

A)E
B)C
C)G
D)F

Question 28

You are hiking in Illinois and notice several ringlike hills composed of till.You climb to the top of one,look toward the south,and see several more hills in the distance.In which direction did the glacier advance?

A)north
B)south
C)east
D)west

Question 29

Cirques,horns,and arêtes form from glacial ________,whereas moraines,erratics,and till form from glacial ________.

A)erosion;deposition
B)deposition;carving
C)retreat;advance
D)erosion;sublimation

Question 30

A(n)________ in eustatic sea level is ultimately the result of a ________ event.

A)increase;global cooling
B)increase;local uplift
C)decrease;subsidence
D)decrease;global cooling

Question 31

During the Pleistocene Ice Age,glaciers covered most of the ________ but contained several ________ centers.

A)northern hemisphere;accumulation
B)northern hemisphere;ablation
C)southern hemisphere;accumulation
D)southern hemisphere;ablation

Question 32

In the movie Ice Age: The Meltdown,there is a large wall of ice that begins to melt and finally breaks,causing a large flood.What real-life geologic event was this part of the movie based on?

A)the destruction of Glacial Lake Missoula
B)the formation of the Great Salt Lake
C)the breakup of the Ross Ice Shelf
D)the draining of Lake Bonneville

Question 33

Identify the esker in the figure below.

A)E
B)C
C)A
D)F

Question 34

Wind blows finer particles long distances from glacial environments,where they settle out to form ________.

A)firn
B)loess
C)outwash
D)till

Question 35

The loss of rainforests would ________ the greenhouse gases,thereby ________ global warming.

A)increase;increasing
B)increase;decreasing
C)decrease;increasing
D)decrease;decreasing

Question 36

Which types of features would you find in a glacially carved landscape?

A)eskers,drumlins,cirques,and kettles
B)cirques,arêtes,horns,and moraines
C)cirques,arêtes,kettles,and tarns
D)drumlins,ground moraines,and arêtes

Question 37

If you wander around Central Park in New York City,you will eventually encounter random,large boulders that are made of a type of rock not found in the area.How did these large boulders get to Central Park?

A)The Parks and Recreation Department placed them there for kids to play on.
B)They were carried by rivers and deposited in point bars.
C)They were carried by glaciers and dropped to form glacial erratics.
D)They were placed there by a giant tsunami millions of years ago.

Question 38

Sediments deposited directly by glaciers as they melt are termed ________.

A)firn
B)loess
C)outwash
D)till

Question 39

Using the figure below,identify which way the glacier advanced.

A)north
B)south
C)east
D)west

Question 40

If glaciers carry a mixture of different clast sizes,why are glacial outwash deposits layered?

A)because clasts fall out of the glacier in size progression
B)because gravity pulls out only the smallest particles
C)because glacial outwash is formed from the bottom of the glacier
D)because the glacier does not deposit the sediments;the river does

Question 41

The Mars rover Curiosity has recently found evidence that there was liquid water on the planet's surface at some point in its history.Because we have not found any liquid water on the planet today,what does this imply about Mars?

A)The planet was once covered entirely in liquid water.
B)A drought must have removed all the water from the surface.
C)The climate was once warm enough that the polar ice caps melted.
D)The interior of Mars must be made entirely of liquid water.

Question 42

There have been ________ to ________ ice ages in Earth's history,with the latest one occurring in the ________.

A)four;five;Pleistocene Period
B)five;six;Pleistocene Period
C)four;five;Proterozoic Era
D)five;six;Cenozoic Era

Question 43

By increasing the albedo of Earth,global ice sheets produce conditions that are ________ to their further advance,thus providing an example of ________ feedback.

A)detrimental;positive
B)detrimental;negative
C)favorable;positive
D)favorable;negative

Question 44

Which of the following figures is of glacial lake-bed deposits?

A)a
B)b
C)c
D)d

Question 45

The Milankovitch cycles describe the change in ________ because of changes in the ________ of Earth relative to the Sun.

A)greenhouse gases;tilt
B)eccentricity;orientation
C)albedo;precession
D)solar insolation;orientation

Question 46

We are currently ________ years overdue for a glaciation.However,we are currently experiencing global warming because of the addition of greenhouse gases by the ________.

A)2,000;eruptions of volcanoes
B)2,000;burning of fossil fuels
C)10;000;increase in solar radiation
D)10;000;decrease in albedo of Earth

Question 47

An important long-term factor that determines whether glacial ice will form on a continent has likely been the proportion of which gas in the atmosphere?

A)oxygen
B)nitrogen
C)carbon dioxide
D)carbon monoxide

Question 48

Imagine that you live in a desert.Installing a roof that is a light tan color would help ________ your house by ________ the albedo.

A)warm;increasing
B)warm;decreasing
C)cool;increasing
D)cool;decreasing

Question 49

The effect of periodic changes in Earth's orbital eccentricity and magnitude and direction (precession)of its axial tilt on the advance and retreat of ice sheets was first proposed by ________.

A)Richter
B)Milankovitch
C)Mohorivic
D)Lyell

Question 50

The Carboniferous Period was a time when swamps and forests dominated Earth.What was the climate like during this period?

A)humid and hot
B)humid and cold
C)dry and hot
D)dry and cold

Question 51

If a volcano were to erupt and release large amounts of ash into the air,how would this affect the climate on Earth?

A)The ash would increase the albedo and decrease the global temperature.
B)The ash would decrease the albedo and increase the global temperature.
C)The ash would increase the greenhouse gases,thus increasing temperature.
D)The ash would decrease the greenhouse gases,thus decreasing temperature.