Deck 18: Amazing Ice: Glaciers and Ice Ages

Question 1

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

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

Answer 1

A

Question 2

________ involves the internal flowing of ice under,generally,solid conditions,via the breaking and reforming of chemical bonds.

A)Brittle flowing
B)Basal sliding
C)Plastic deformation
D)Plastic sliding

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following scenarios would lead to glacial advance during a time of global warming?

A)a glacier in a depression that lies in shadows most of the day
B)a glacier in a valley on the leeward side of a mountain range
C)a glacier that caps the highest mountain on the planet
D)a continental glacier that covers an entire continent

Answer 3

A

Question 4

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 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

Which of the following images shows the oldest snow?

A)A
B)B
C)C
D)D

Question 7

Cirques and horns are features associated with ________.

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

Question 8

Glaciers that move via basal sliding can often undergo surges in which they move at a much faster rate than normal because they ________.

A)are not slowed down by plastic deformation
B)float on a cushion of air like avalanches
C)have minimal frictional contact with bedrock
D)have a larger volume than other glaciers

Question 9

________ glaciers cover vast areas of land,whereas ________ glaciers are restricted to mountaintops.

A)Alpine;continental
B)Continental;alpine
C)Piedmont;cirque
D)Piedmont;valley

Question 10

Glacial ice forms when snow accumulates in large enough volumes to compact and force ________ out and ________ the ice crystal size.

A)air;increase
B)water;increase
C)air;decrease
D)water;decrease

Question 11

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

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

Question 12

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 13

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.On what real-life geologic event was this part of the movie based?

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 14

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

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

Question 15

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 16

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

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

Question 17

________ are formed when one glacier beheads another.

A)Piedmont glaciers
B)Hanging valleys
C)U-shaped valleys
D)Roche moutonée

Question 18

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 19

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 ice cap

Question 20

At depths of greater than 60,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 21

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 22

Today,continental glaciers are limited to Antarctica and ________.

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

Question 23

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

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

Question 24

________ decreases as glaciers form.

A)Albedo
B)Rainfall
C)Sea level
D)Sublimation

Question 25

Sea level ________ during glacials and ________ during interglacials.

A)decreases;increases
B)increases;decreases
C)remains constant;decreases
D)decreases;remains constant

Question 26

Stratified sorted sand and gravel are deposited by ________.

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

Question 27

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

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

Question 28

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 29

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

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

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 ________ and contained several ________ centers.

A)Northern Hemisphere;accumulation
B)Northern Hemisphere;ablation
C)Southern Hemisphere;accumulation
D)Southern Hemisphere;ablation

Question 32

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

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

Question 33

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 34

You find evidence of changes in sea level along a coastline.How can you tell if they are the results of glaciers?

A)Look for evidence of glacial till in the form of moraines,drumlins,kettle lakes,or stratified glacial outwash sediment.
B)Determine if the sea level changes coincide with the advance of glaciers in the mountains nearest to the coastline.
C)Determine the timing of the changes in sea level and look for evidence of changes in sea level in other places around the world.
D)Determine if the area contains evidence of glacial erosion such as U-shaped valleys,striations,erratics,and rock flour.

Question 35

During the Pleistocene Ice Age glaciers reached as far south as ________.

A)Ontario,Canada
B)Illinois,USA
C)Beijing,China
D)Tennessee,USA

Question 36

What types of moraines are shown in the figure below?

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

Question 37

Which of the following images shows evidence of the rising of sea level?

A)A
B)B
C)C
D)D

Question 38

________ glaciers during the Pleistocene Ice Age stretched all the way to Illinois,Kansas,and Nebraska.

A)Mountain
B)Piedmont
C)Alpine
D)Continental

Question 39

________ can be recognized as a series of U-shaped hills that are lined up and represent the ________ of the glacier.

A)Terminal moraines;advance
B)Varves;advance
C)Drumlins;retreat
D)Recessional moraines;retreat

Question 40

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

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

Question 41

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.

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

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

Question 44

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

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

Question 45

Draw a representative eustatic sea level curve you would expect to see for a world that experienced two glacials and three interglacials.Make sure to label your axes and the glacials and interglacials on the graph.

Question 46

Label the glaciers in the image below using words from the word bank included (hint: not all the names will be used).

Question 47

Explain why the deposits made by glacial outwash are stratified.

Question 48

Which of the following would lead to an increase in the temperature of Earth?

A)an increase in volcanic ash in the atmosphere
B)the growth of massive areas of forested land
C)a reduction in the square footage of glaciers on Earth
D)a change in the angle of Earth's tilt to 22.5 degrees

Question 49

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 50

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 51

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 52

List and describe one short-term cause for glaciations.

Question 53

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 54

The Milankovitch Cycles describe the relation of Earth and the ________,which affects the amount of insolation Earth receives.

A)time of day
B)ecliptic plane
C)Moon
D)Sun

Question 55

What are the circumstances that lead to glacial advance versus glacial retreat? Most glaciers today are in retreat.What does this imply about the glaciers and their environment?