Table Of Context

Slide 2/3: What is a glacier? How?

Slide 4: Properties of ice

Slide 5: Glacier balance

Slide 6: Types of glaciers

Slide 7: Features in ice

Slide 8: Periglacial processes and

landforms
Slide 9: Sea Ice

Slide 10: Glacial hydrology

Slide 11: Global connections of

glaciation
Slide 12-14: History of ice

Slide 15: Sedimentary sequences

Slide 16: Methods of studying

glaciers
Slide 17: Glacier Hazard

Slide 18: Examples of glacier

Slide 19-20: Terminology 1

WHAT ARE GLACIERS?
Glaciers are accumulated mass of ice and snow. that have accumulated over years
of snowfall and have flowed at some point in their lifespan. Glacier thickness can
range from as little as a few dozen meters to well over 2 kilometers. They form when
unmelted snow accumulates and compresses into dense, glacial ice before it can
evaporate or melt. All glaciers originate on land but can flow into the sea. Glaciers that
extend into the ocean should not be confused with sea ice, which is formed from
seawater freezing rather than snow compressing. Glaciers are immense bodies of ice,
often several gigatons ( billion metric ton or 2,205 quintillion pounds) in mass. As
such, they leave behind a very unique landscape, with dozens of types of landforms.
HOW ARE THEY FORMED?
Glaciers form when snow and ice last and accumulate over time. snow begins
compresses the snow below it to form ice. First-year glacial snow is known as névé. It
is partially melted & re-frozen, slightly compacted, and granular. Accumulated snow
that has survived one melt season is known as firn. Firn is denser and more re-frozen
than névé and is very stiff. As more and more layers of snow accumulate, lower, older
snow begins to have its air bubbles squeezed out. Once this ice lasts through
summer months and achieves the critical mass that allows it to flow, it is considered a
glacier. Glacier ice is denser than "normal" ice due to the lack of air bubbles. The lack
of air bubbles also why glaciers and icebergs are blue somewhat. The difference in
density between glacier ice and regular ice is very minimal—only a few grams per
cubic meter. There are a wide variety of conditions that affect the formation and
preservation of glaciers. While these all have some influence on the formation of
glaciers, as well as their advance and retreat, certain parameters have much larger or
smaller impacts than others. Precipitation, temperature, and insolation have the
greatest impact. They cover 10% of earth surface.
Fresh snow turns to neve which undergoes more change and become more compact
which is firn, then more compression creates glacial ice. All these cahnges cause the
density and the strength of the ice to increase.

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 Abrasion- As a glacier flows downslope, it drags the rock, sediment, and debris in its basal
ice over the bedrock beneath it, grinding it. Also scratches in bedrock.
Cirque Basin- Cirques are bowl-shaped, amphitheater-like depressions that glaciers carve
into mountains and valley sidewalls at high elevations. Often, the glaciers flow up and over
the lip of the cirque as gravity drives them downslope.
Crevasses-A crevasse is a deep crack that forms in a glacier or ice sheet. Crevasses form
as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress
generated when two semi-rigid pieces above a plastic substrate have different rates of
movement.
Accumulation zone- occurs on the upper part of the glacier, at higher altitudes, where
more snow accumulates than is lost each year. This is called the accumulation zone, and is
typically covered in snow year-round.
Pyramidal peak- Where 3 or more corries erode backwards towards one another, this can
create a Pyramidal peak, a steep sided pointed mountain like the Matterhorn.
Arete- a narrow ridge of rock that separates two valleys. It is typically formed when two
glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques
erode headwards towards one another, although frequently this results in a saddle-shaped
pass, called a col. The edge is then sharpened by freeze-thaw weathering, and the slope
on either side of the arête steepened through mass wasting events and the erosion of
exposed, unstable rock
Tributary Glacier- a small glacier that flows into a larger glacier.
Lateral Moraine- sharp-crested piles of glacially-transported rocks and debris that are
dropped by the ice as it melts.
Terminal Moraine- marks the furthest extent of a glacier and is formed when glacial debris
is deposited at the snout of a glacier forming a high mound
Drumlin- oval-shaped hills, largely composed of glacial drift, formed beneath a glacier or
ice sheet and aligned in the direction of ice flow.
Meltwater stream- The movement of the water is influenced and directed by gravity and
the melting of ice. The melting of ice forms different types of glacial streams such as
supraglacial, englacial, subglacial and proglacial streams.
Outwash plain- also called a sandur, sandra or sandar, is a plain formed of glaciofluvial
deposits due to meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier. As it flows, the glacier
grinds the underlying rock surface and carries the debris along
Kettle lake- Kettles form when a block of stagnant ice (a serac) detaches from the glacier.
Eventually, it becomes wholly or partially buried in sediment and slowly melts, leaving
● U-shaped valleys, hanging valleys, cirques, horns, and aretes are behind a pit. In many cases, water begins fills the depression and forms a pond or lake—a
kettle.
features sculpted by ice. Tarns-to small lakes that form in cirques
Misfit streams- streams that run through a valley they did not create
● The eroded material is later deposited as large glacial erratics, in Terminus is the end of a glacier
Head is top of glacier
moraines, stratified drift, outwash plains, and drumlins.
● Varves are a very useful yearly deposit that forms in glacial lakes.

Proglacial actions happen before or downstream from a glacier and are from
primarily from glacial meltwater.

Supraglacial channels are found on the surface of a glacier fed by melting of

ice on the surface.

Glaciers move because of gravity

Ogive remember
later

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Ice is the common name for water in the solid state. It is formed when
latent heat is removed from water upon reaching. Water can be found in
the ice form at the poles of the earth and at higher elevations.
Weight: 1 cubic meter is around 900 kg. (0.91 per ml)
Density: 0.91 g/ml sea warerm fresh water, ice, water vapor
m/b/f points: 0 celsius, 100 celsius,
Crystals: Ice crystals have a hexagonal crystal lattice, meaning the water
molecules arrange themselves into layered hexagons upon freezing.
Slower crystal growth from colder and drier atmospheres produces more
hexagonal symmetry.

ductility (0.1%)
Conductivity- (<10-9 S/m)
Hardness- Mohs hardness of 2 or less
Heat: 2500 Kcal to increase ice 5 degrees

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The gains and losses of ice experienced by a glacier constitute its mass balance or
glacial budget. (Fig) Overtime if a glacier gains more mass than it loses (i.e.
accumulation > ablation) then the mass balance of a glacier is positive

Ablation- combined processes (such as sublimation, fusion or melting, evaporation)

which remove snow or ice from the surface of a glacier or from a snow-field; also used to
express the quantity lost by these processes (2) reduction of the water equivalent of a
snow cover by melting, evaporation, wind and avalanches
Accumulation- If the snowpack starts to remain over the summer months, it will
gradually build up into a glacier over a period of years. The key input to a glacier is
precipitation. This can be “solid precipitation” (snow, hail, freezing rain) and rain1.
Further sources of accumulation can include wind-blown snow, avalanching and hoar
frost. These inputs together make up the surface accumulation on a glacier. In general,
glaciers receive more mass in their upper reaches and lose more mass in their lower
reaches. The part of the glacier that receives more mass by accumulation than it loses
by ablation is the accumulation zone.
equilibrium line- The equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) marks the area or zone on a glacier
where accumulation is balanced by ablation over a 1-year period. The ELA is sensitive
to several meteorological factors, such as variations in winter precipitation, summer
temperature, and wind transport of dry snow. When the annual net mass balance is
negative, the ELA rises, and when the annual net mass balance is positive, the ELA
falls. Fluctuations in the ELA provide an important indicator of glacier response to
climate change that allows reconstructions of paleoclimate (accumulation season
precipitation, ablation season temperature, and prevailing snow-bearing wind directions)
Why- glaciers adjust their size to reach a balance between accumulation and ablation,
they advance when more ice is gained, and retreat when more ice is lost.
High altitudes have more sublimation that causes loss of mass.

Glaciers flow under their own weight through a combination of viscous flow within the
ice column and basal slip, which involves both sliding along and deformation within the
bed. Deformable beds, made of unfrozen sediment, are prevalent and are often
principal contributors to ice flow wherever we find them.

Basal sliding- the act of a glacier sliding over the bed due to meltwater under the ice
acting as a lubricant. This movement very much depends on the temperature of the
area, the slope of the glacier, the bed roughness, the amount of meltwater from the
glacier, and the glacier's size.

Pinnacle glacier- An iceberg with one or more spires.

Drycock- An iceberg which is eroded to form a little U-shaped harbor-like enclosure.

Wedge: Like the name, The top narrows to a pyramid-like point.

Tabular: Steep sides with a flat top - like a huge tablet. These are very solid and often
break away from ice sheets or ice shelves. Many show horizontal banding from the
layers of ice that built up as the sheet formed.

Factors:
● Precipitation
● Temperature
● insolation
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An alpine glacier is a glacier that forms at high elevations within mountains.
These glaciers flow down mountains and carve wide, 'U'-shaped valleys.

Cirque glacier- A cirque glacier is formed in a cirque, a bowl-shaped depression

on the side of or near mountains. Snow and ice accumulation in corries often
occurs as the result of avalanching from higher surrounding slopes. If a cirque
glacier advances far enough, it may become a valley glacier
hanging glacier- A hanging glacier originates high on the wall of a glacial valley
and descends only part of the way to the surface of the main glacier and abruptly
stops, typically at a cliff. Avalanching and icefalls are the mechanisms for ice and
snow transfer to the valley floor below.
Piedmont glacier- If a valley glacier spills out of the mountains, onto the flat
foreland, the ice often spreads to form a lobe.

Ice sheet- ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacial ice
that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 km². The only current ice
sheets are the Antarctic ice sheet and the Greenland ice sheet. Ice sheets are bigger
than ice shelves or alpine glaciers
Ice stream- region of fast-moving ice within an ice sheet. It is a type of glacier, a
body of ice that moves under its own weight. They can move upwards of 1,000
metres a year, and can be up to 50 kilometres in width, and hundreds of kilometers in
length.Ice streams are corridors of fast flow within an ice sheet (ca. 800 metres per
year). They discharge most of the ice and sediment from these ice sheets.
Ice shelf- An ice shelf is a large platform of glacial ice floating on the ocean, fed by
one or multiple tributary glaciers. Ice shelves form along coastlines where the ice
thickness is insufficient to displace the more dense surrounding ocean water (differ
from ice bergs).
Ice rise- An ice rise is a clearly defined elevation of the otherwise very much flatter
ice shelf, typically dome-shaped and rising several hundreds of metres above the
surrounding ice shelf .[1] An ice rise forms where the ice shelf touches the seabed
due to a locally increased elevation of the seabed, which however remains below sea
level. (In contrast, an elevation in the seabed that extends above sea level is defined
as an island). The ice shelf flows over the seabed elevation, completely covering it
with ice, thereby forming an ice rise. The resulting stress increases cause crevasse
formation around the ice rise.
Ice Cap- In glaciology, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers less than 50,000 km² of
land area. Larger ice masses covering more than 50,000 km² are termed ice sheets.
Ice tongue- An ice tongue or glacier tongue exists when there is a narrow floating
part of a glacier that extends out into a body of water beyond the glacier's lowest
contact with the Earth's crust

Differences between alpine and continental ice sheets include size where continental
is bigger. Only 2 ice sheets but a lot of alpine. Ice sheets flatten land while glaciers
make u-shaped valley. Ice sheet flows outward, alpine only goes downhill/

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 Crevasses- a crack in the surface of a glacier caused by extensive
stress within the ice. For example, extensive stress can be caused
by stretching if the glacier is speeding up as it flows down the valley.
Ogive- An arcuate transverse ridge or band of ice extending across
the glacier surface as part of a regular series of repeating ridges or
bands of lighter or darker ice.
Icefalls- portion of certain glaciers characterized by relatively rapid
flow and chaotic crevassed surface, caused in part by gravity. The
term icefall is formed by analogy with the word waterfall, which is a
similar phenomenon of the liquid phase but at a more spectacular
speed. When ice movement of a glacier is faster than elsewhere,
because the glacier bed steepens or narrows, and the flow cannot
be accommodated by plastic deformation, the ice fractures, forming
crevasses. Where two fractures meet, seracs (or ice towers) can be
formed. When the movement of the ice slows down, the crevasses
can coalesce, resulting in the surface of the glacier becoming
smoother.

Ice calving- breaking of ice chunks from the edge of a glacier.[1] It

is a form of ice ablation or ice disruption. It is the sudden release
and breaking away of a mass of ice from a glacier, iceberg, ice front,
ice shelf, or crevasse. The ice that breaks away can be classified as
an iceberg, but may also be a growler, bergy bit, or a crevasse wall
breakaway
marine ice shelf instability- MICI is based on the idea that the
finite strength of ice places a limit on ice cliff height above sea level
(freeboard); therefore, if buttressing ice shelves disintegrate and
expose deep calving cliffs, widespread catastrophic ice-sheet
disintegration could occur.
Ice shelf buttressing- cases could threaten the stability of large
parts of the Antarctic ice sheet. This is due to “ice shelf buttressing,”
the term used to describe the resistive forces imparted to the ice
sheet by its ice shelves.

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describes a landscape that undergoes seasonal freezing and thawing, typically
on the fringes of past and present glaciated regions. The landscapes are
governed by specific depositional and erosional processes, and therefore
produce completely unique landforms.

Permafrost- Permanently frozen ground, known as permafrost, is a critical feature of the

Arctic landscape. As temperatures warm, permafrost is thawing, with potentially adverse
impacts to infrastructure, communities, and the structure and function of Arctic
ecosystems. Dna can still be alive and spread virus/infections.
Pingos- Pingos are ice-cored hills that form in recently drained lakes. The unfrozen
ground directly beneath the lake, called “talik,” is surrounded by permanently frozen
ground called permafrost. After the lake drains and the water-saturated sediment at the
bottom of the lake bed becomes exposed, its surface begins to freeze

'Periglacial' describes a landscape that undergoes seasonal freezing and

thawing, typically on the fringes of past and present glaciated regions.

8
 Sea ice is frozen seawater that floats on the ocean surface. It forms in both the Arctic
and the Antarctic in each hemisphere's winter; it retreats in the summer, but does not
completely disappear.

Ice Floe- An ice floe is a large pack of floating ice often defined as a flat piece at least
20 m across at its widest point, and up to more than 10 km across. Drift ice is a floating
field of sea ice composed of several ice floes. An ice floe is a large group of floating ice
chunks that move together at the water's surface, typically in the same direction, driven
by either wind or currents.
draft vs freeboard- Draft is thickness of sea ice extending below the water level. Sea
ice freeboard is defined as the height of floating ice above the sea surface. Draft and
freeboard comprise total sea ice thickness.
pressure ridge- A pressure ridge, when consisting of ice in an oceanic or coastal
environment, is a linear pile-up of sea ice fragments formed in pack ice by accumulation
in the convergence between floes. Such a pressure ridge develops in an ice cover as a
result of a stress regime established within the plane of the ice.

Frazil ice- Fine, small, needle-like structures or thin, flat, circular plates of ice
suspended in water. In rivers and lakes it is formed in supercooled, turbulent water.
Freezer jam: Accumulation of frazil that restricts the flow of water; may contain some
broken border-ice pieces.
Pancake ice- a form of sea ice that consists of round pieces of ice with diameters
ranging from 30 centimetres (12 in) to 3 metres (9.8 ft) and thicknesses up to 10
centimetres (3.9 inches), depending on the local conditions. It forms as a result of wave
action on slush or ice rind. features elevated rims formed by piling of frazil ice or slush
onto the edges of pancakes when they collide, both due to random bumping into each
other and because of periodic compressions at wave troughs. These rims are the first
indication of the onset of the formation of the pancake ice from less consolidated forms
of ice

9
Glacier hydrology is the study of the flow of water through glaciers. It is a
mysterious world, where water running on the surface of the glacier
disappears through cracks and holes in the glaciers, and powerful rivers
emerge from the glacier snout. Beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet, these
subglacial drainage channels are connected to numerous subglacial
lakes

Surface melt- Surface melt on each ice sheet results from a combination
of daily weather conditions and the amount of solar energy absorbed by
its snow and ice. Air temperatures, pressures, and winds drive weather
conditions. The quality of snow, its grain size and color, also influence
melt
Surface lakes- Glaciers and lakes are intrinsically connected. Lakes form
when meltwater ponds, and this can happen on the ice surface
(supraglacial lakes), in front of the ice (proglacial lakes), or even
underneath the ice (subglacial lakes). Glacier lakes can affect ice flow by
reducing friction at the ice-bed interface, encouraging basal sliding. They
can change the albedo of the ice surface, encouraging more surface melt.
Proglacial lakes cause calving, which affects mass balance and can
decouple mountain glaciers from climate. They treap meltwater during
glacier retreat. Glacier lakes can be hazardous; moraine and ice dams
can fail, causing catastrophic glacier lake outburst floods or glacial
outburst floods.
Moulins- A moulin is a roughly circular, vertical well-like shaft formed
where a surface melt stream exploits a weakness in the ice. The term is
derived from the French word for mill. They can be up to 10 meters wide
and are typically found on ice sheets and flat areas of a glacier in a region
of transverse crevasses.
Subglacial lake- subglacial lakes may cause changes in ice flow, by
draining rapidly and lubricating the ice-bed interface, allowing ice streams
to flow even more rapidly. Despite the fact that they are overlain by up to
4000 m of dense ice, changes in subglacial lake levels are observable at
the ice surface. Subglacial lakes remain liquid due to geothermal heating.
Englacial hydrology is stuff that happen within the body of a
glacier.
Marginal hydrology occurs near the edges of a glacier, often forming
marginal channels.

10
Greenhouse gases absorb heat being radiated from Earth's surface, and
by absorbing this heat the atmosphere and oceans slowly warm up.
Warming ocean and air temperatures increase glacier ice melt. CO2
emissions: the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced by industry, transport, deforestation
and burning fossil fuels, amongst other human activities, warm the planet

Glacier runoff contributes to sea level rising.

Glaciers weigh millions and millions of tons, billions in the case of some
of the large ice caps and ice sheets. Tectonic plates are also not fixed, as
they float on the (relatively) fluid mantle. This means that the weight of
glaciers can actually depress tectonic plates further down into the mantle.
When they melt, the plates resume their original level in a process known
as isostatic or postglacial rebound. Isostatic rebound (post-glacial
rebound) can lead to increased volcanic activity in the areas it affects.
Additionally, some glaciated regions lie below sea level. After a glacial
period, the land may be able to fully rebound up above sea level,
changing the geologic record of the area. Much of North America,
formerly covered by the Laurentide Ice Sheet, is undergoing or has
undergone postglacial rebound. In summary expansion of bedrock
because of decompression once the glacier weight is gone.

A century ago, Serbian scientist Milutin Milankovitch hypothesized the

long-term, collective effects of changes in Earth's position relative to the
Sun are a strong driver of Earth's long-term climate, and are responsible
for triggering the beginning and end of glaciation periods (Ice Ages).

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Glacial periods (also called stadials when referring to the Quaternary period) are times in
the Earth's history where average global temperatures were approximately 6° C lower and
glaciers covered much of the planets surface. Glacial periods are usually found in groups,
interrupted by interglacial periods. This collective cycle of several glacial and interglacial
periods is known as an ice age. The last glacial period, known properly as the Last Glacial
Period, ended approximately 11,700 years ago. There are 6 main factors that contribute
to global climate and can cause glacial periods: solar variability, insulation, dust,
atmospheric composition, ocean current circulation, sea ice, and atmospheric circulation.
All of these are natural processes and the only one that is affected by humans is
atmospheric composition.
Causative Factors
Ice ages and glacial periods are directly caused by lower average temperatures from
lower amounts of solar radiation. While catastrophes and natural disasters can create the
conditions to reduce insolation, glacial periods still happen on a regular cycle. This
regularity is caused by changes in Earth's positioning and movement relative to the sun,
which greatly impacts the amount of solar radiation and thus temperature. These are
outlined mainly in the form of Milankovitch Cycles.
Non-Cyclical Causes
Non-cyclical causes of glaciation are usually random, catastrophic, and/or very rare
events which cause a major change to the Earth's atmosphere, temperature, and/or water
circulation. With their giant ash clouds able to block out the sun, volcanic eruptions are
the most common of these events. Most volcanoes are not large enough to cause
glaciation on their own. Some of the Snowball Earth periods are proposed to have been
caused in part by severe volcanic eruptions. Unsurprisingly, the heat from a volcanic
eruption can also cause the reverse, and is hypothesized to be a contributing cause to the
end of many glacial periods. Another major consideration is continental drift. While the
moving continents themselves cannot alone cool the climate to cause glaciation, their
effects of changing air and water circulation patterns can. By shifting the direction warm
water currents are directed, the mid-latitudes and polar regions could receive more or less
warm water. In the grand scheme of things, this has really only been possible through
large bodies of land blocking certain waterways and creating others. However,
modern-day climate change has been able to affect global ocean circulation. (See
Hydrologic Effects)

Most importantly, glacial periods are positive feedback loops. Once glaciation begins, the
high albedo (reflectivity) of ice will reduce the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the
Earth. This allows temperatures to stay lower and for the ice to grow more. Once
glaciation starts, it tends to continue growing until a sufficiently large disruption begins to
melt it. The ending of glacial periods are also positive feedback loops, where the
increased exposure of dark-colored land and open water absorb more heat from the sun,
causing warming and further exposure of dark-colored surfaces. High albedo of ice
reduces solar radiaton abosorbed, which causes lower temperatures which makes ice
sheets to grow more, which reflects more sunlight which repeats the process.

Milankovitch Cycles
In the 1920s, Serbian geophysicist and astronomer Milutin Milankovitch proposed that
natural variations in three parameters of the earth's orbit caused fluctuations in the
amount of incoming solar radiation, resulting in glacial periods:

1. Eccentricity - the variation in the circularity of Earth's orbital path.

2. Obliquity - (Axial Tilt) the variation in the degree of the tilt of Earth's rotational axis.

3. Precession - (Axial Precession) the variation in the direction of the tilt of Earth's
rotational axis.
These cycles affect the amount of energy received on earth which causes glacial periods.
Neoproterozoic
Both these events are generally regarded as "Snowball Earths" – a period in time when
the entire surface of Earth was covered in ice sheets. It also refers to the much earlier
Huronian glaciation, which is believed to have had a similarly global extent.

There is some debate as to how much of the planet was actually covered in ice during this period.
Besides the total glaciation of a snowball earth, the proposal of a slushball earth, with some
equatorial ocean, is reasonably popular, as well as them being only "normal" glaciation like that of the
Pleistocene. In general, it is more likely that the Marinoan was the more extensive of the two, even 12
though it lasted for a shorter amount of time.
Late Paleozoic Glaciation

The Late Paleozoic glaciation, formerly and frequently referred to as the Karoo glaciation, was a
period of extensive glaciation lasting from 358.9 to 259.1 million years ago. During this time,
Earth's supercontinents were Laurentia, Baltica, and Gondwana.
There are a number of causes cited for the causation of the Late Paleozoic Glaciation. For
example, the rapid evolution and spread of trees and forests across the continent absorbed a
large amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, lowering its concentration. Unlike modern
days, the decomposition process was very slow as termites had not evolved, and most trees were
buried underground prior to being decomposed. This also pumped a lot of additional oxygen into
the atmosphere. These undecomposed trees would be buried as coal deposits. The creation of
mountain ranges during the formation of Pangaea allowed for increased exposure of rocks, which
led to large amounts of weathering, absorbing lots of carbon dioxide. The position of Gondwana,
the largest supercontinent at the time, was also very near the south pole, which allowed for a large
body of cooler terrain to support glaciation.
The glaciation is theorized to have been ended by the large number of vegetation fires brought
about by increased concentrations of oxygen in the atmosphere. This was able to compensate
greatly for the lack of decomposers of plant matter and pump lots of carbon dioxide back into the
atmosphere. The evolution of termites also allowed for trees to be decomposed at a faster rate.
Oxygen levels had returned to normal by around 250 Ma ago.
There was a mass extinction of land animals specifically, the earth was being rapidly warmed
after, and there was a decrease in CO2

Mississippian Glaciation

The Mississippian glaciation was the first stage of the Late Paleozoic Glaciation, lasting from
around 358.9 to 323.2 million years ago.
Pennsylvanian Glaciation

The Pennsylvanian glaciation was the second stage of the Late Paleozoic Glaciation, lasting from
around 323.2 to 298.9 million years ago. The Pennsylvanian (Late Carboniferous)-Permian
boundary itself saw another rise in ice volumes. It began to peter out by the end of the Asselian
age and early Sakmarian age. Glaciation would continue into much of the middle Permian.
Permian Glaciation

Immediately following the Pennsylvanian glaciation, there was a brief swell in ice volumes.
Glaciation in the Permian lasted from around 298.9 to 259.1 million years ago, with the majority
disappearing around 295 Ma ago at the end of the Asselian age.

The last glacial period was 100,00 years ago, and we are in the holocene period.

13
Drake passage
Tectonic changes in the Southern Ocean likely triggered global cooling across the
Eocene, yet the evidence for when the Drake Passage opened remains ambiguous. This
climatic-tectonic change likely impacted marine ecosystems, including sharks that
inhabited high-latitude regions.
(separate southern america, antarctica, australia)

Pleistocene Glaciation
The Laurentide and Cordilleran Ice Sheets, the two largest bodies of ice covering North
America during the Pleistocene.
The Pleistocene Glaciation, also called the Quaternary Glaciation, was the last major
glaciation of the ongoing Late Cenozoic Ice Age. It lasted from approximately 2.588
million years ago, the start of the Quaternary Period, to 11,700 years ago, the end of the
Pleistocene epoch and start of the Holocene epoch. At the end of the glaciation,
thousands of lakes and rivers were created all over the world. As the glaciers retreated
the sea level rose and the amount of biological diversity in the oceans increased. The
Pleistocene glaciation is divided into a series of glacial and interglacial periods (also
known as stadial and interstadials, respectively). In terms of Marine Isotope Stages, it
spanned from MIS 102 all the way up to MIS 1. This also means that there were over 50
different individual glacial periods. Following the end to the Last Glacial Maximum, the
late Pleistocene was filled with a series of stadial and interstadial periods. After a brief
interglacial following the LGM, the Oldest Dryas event took place from approximately
16,000 to 14,670 years ago. The start date varies from 17,050 to 16,050 years ago, but
the end date is very clearly defined. The Bølling interstadial (or Bølling oscillation)
followed it, lasting from 14,700 to 14,100 years ago. Next came the Older Dryas event,
from around 14,100 to 13,900 years ago. The dates are less clearly defined. After it
came the Allerød interstadial (or Allerød oscillation) , which lasted from 13,900 to 12,900
years ago. In some regions, the Older Dryas event cannot be reliably found in the
geologic record, resulting in the whole period from 14,700 to 12,900 years ago being
called the Bølling-Allerød interstadial. Many have placed this to be a result of the low
resolution of the evidence, as the Older Dryas is considerably short (only 200 years)
when compared to these other events which lasted several times longer. The Younger
Dryas event was the last stage of the Pleistocene Glaciation, running from 12,900 to
11,700 years ago. While some of these glaciations were noteworthy, none of them
approached the low temperatures or extent of the Last Glacial Maximum.

There are three main types of evidence for ice ages: geological, chemical, and
paleontological. Geological evidence for ice ages comes in various forms, including rock
scouring and scratching, glacial moraines, drumlins, valley cutting, and the deposition of
till or tillites and glacial erratics.

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Sedimentary sequences that represent periods of unbroken deposition often provide
continuous records of geomagnetic changes spanning thousands, hundreds of
thousands, or even millions of years. Continuous cores of lacustrine or deep-sea
sediments may thus yield invaluable paleomagnetic information.

Varve- a pair of thin layers of clay and silt of contrasting color and texture that
represent the deposit of a single year (summer and winter) in a lake. Such layers can
be used to determine the chronology of glacial sediments.

Glacial till is the collective term for all the material carried by the body of the ice
as it flows over land, while glacial outwash is restricted to the particles carried
by the water arising from the melting of glacier ice.

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Scientists have adopted three general approaches to ice sheet mass balance
measurement: comparing outflow and melt to snowfall accumulation (the mass budget
method), observing changes in glacier elevation (volume change or geodetic method), and
detecting changes in Earth's gravity field over the ice sheet (gravimetric
Accumulation/ ablation
Probing: researchers will place poles in the ice at various points, at the beginning of the
melt period or accumulation period. After a few months the researchers will return and look
at the changes in levels of ice, by looking at the height of the ice along the pole.
Crevasse stratigraphy: researchers will find crevasses, then observe the number of layers
that formed. Based on the layers the researchers will be able to determine how much snow
accumulated. The layers are almost like layers in a tree trunk. Besides field-monitoring of
mass-balance, measurements of movement, large-scale, and long-term changes are made
through extensive satellite, airplane, and ground-based photography. Dozens of satellites
and routine aerial photography missions occur to document the movement and thickness of
glaciers, among other things, as well as search for subglacial lakes and identify underlying
topography. Glaciers are extremely useful tools for discovering past climate conditions as
well. By drilling an ice core from a glacier or ice sheet, two important sets of information can
be used. First, Oxygen isotope data can be used to determine the average temperature at
the time (See Glacial Periods - Oxygen Isotope Analysis) Additionally, glaciers encase air
pockets from millions of years ago in the ice. When drilled out, it is possible to study their air
inside. The air can indicate what the atmospheric conditions and composition were like in
the past, how the temperature variated, and different types of vegetation that were present
millions of years ago. Glaciers can also indicate current climate change depending on
where the snow line (firn line) is on a glacier and based on ice shelves and how they are
retreating. If the snow line on a glacier continues to move up the glacier then the ablation is
greater than accumulation of snow and the glacier is retreating. This causes more water to
be released from the glacier and to add to sea level and to form new lakes and rivers. Ice
shelves are able to indicate global climate change because if they continue to shrink and
retreat that indicates that the global temperatures are increasing because the ice is melting.
Retreat from any glacier can indicate climate change, but ice shelves are better at indication
because they are located in places where the temperatures are normally colder.
Altimetry- Altimetry is about measuring distances between two objects (most often the
altitude of an object with reference to the ground or sea level). instead of atmospheric
pressure, radar altimeters measure the travel time of a radio wave they sent but the
principle is the same: they measure the distance between the sensor and the surface.
Altimetry has a very wide range of applications for climate science, as it can be used to map
the surface elevation of the ice sheets (the focus of this post) and ice caps but also sea ice
thickness, sea level variations or water levels from rivers and lakes.
Radar- Ice-penetrating radar is a powerful tool that allows scientists to look down kilometres
through the solid ice and visualise the glacier bed: the rock, water and sediment that lies
underneath the ice. The bed beneath the ice is crucially important to understand how, and
why, the overlying ice behaves as it does. Using radar to measure things is also referred to
as radio-echo sounding (RES), because we transmit a radio wave and listen for the echo
reflected from layers within and beneath the ice. It works really well in glacier ice, meaning
that the glacier bed can be mapped at depths of up to 4 km. Radio Echo Sounding is the
most widely deployed instrument to measure an ice sheet thickness, investigate the
properties of the glacier bed, and unravel the layers of the ice
“Remote Sensing” just means the acquisition of information about an object without
touching it. We have been “remote sensing” with our eyes for millennia. But put a camera
up into space, and suddenly, we can observe glacier behaviour at a much larger scale. With
repeated images over time, we can easily see how glaciers have changed. “Remote
sensing” includes obtaining information from aerial photographs from drones or aeroplanes,
multibeam swath bathymetry data from ships, ground penetrating radar data and more. In
this article, we focus only on remote sensing from satellites.Earth Observation satellites
orbit the Earth, taking pictures in various bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, from
visible to thermal infrared. The large swaths (footprint of the image on the ground) make
regional assessments simple. Each satellite takes pictures at a different resolution, and so
each is used for different applications. Optical satellite remote sensing allows for the regular
monitoring of glacier surface elevation, velocity, area, length, equilibrium line altitude,
terminus position and more1,2.
Glacial seismology- Glaciers also create seismic events (ground shaking) through
crevassing, grinding against underlying rock, and toppling pieces off of steep glacier ice
falls. Also sending out waves can bounce around and give us more understanding
Gravimetry- The gravimeter measures the shape of seawater-filled cavities at the edge of
some major fast-moving glaciers. Data about the amount of water under ice fills in a crucial
gap in knowledge related to calving and melting of glaciers.
Ice Cores- Ice cores are small pieces of ice drilled from ice sheets and glaciers. They are
essentially a time capsule that are used to reconstruct climates. Older ice core has higher B
and A isotope seen by the global meteroic water line.
gas-The icy layers also hold particles—aerosols such as dust, ash, pollen, trace elements
and sea salts, providing physical evidence of past global events, such as major volcanic
eruptions.
stable isotope- Depending on the climate, the two types of oxygen (16O -18O) vary in
water. Scientists compare the ratio of the heavy (18O) and light (16O) isotopes in ice cores,
sediments, or fossils to reconstruct past climates. They compare this ratio to a standard
ratio of oxygen isotopes found in ocean water at a depth of 200 to 500 meters. The ratio of
the heavy to light oxygen isotopes is influenced mainly by the processes involved in the
water or hydrologic cycle. Carbon dating is radioactive so it is not stable isotope testing.
Other examples are H-1, H-2 which are protium and deuterium A stable isotope means the
nucleus of an atom doesn’t break

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 glacier collapse: Glaciers collapse creating a sort of avalanche were
people and nature can be crushed as it falls apart.
rock and ice avalanche: Rock avalanches are a common form of
mass movement where the transported material is dry rock or
(low-temperature) ice that is fragmented before or during slope failure.
This can crush things in the path of the avalanche.
glacier lake outburst floods: A Glacial Lake Outburst Flood, or
GLOF, is sudden release of water from a lake fed by glacier melt that
has formed at the side, in front, within, beneath, or on the surface of a
glacier. For mountains and people.
debris flows: Debris flows are fast-moving landslides that are
particularly dangerous to life and property because they move quickly,
destroy objects in their paths, and often strike without warning. They
occur in a wide variety of environments throughout the world, including
all 50 states and U.S. Territories.
Warm temperatures cause glaciers to melt which causes sea levels to
rise which leads to global warming

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Types of glaciers:
Lambert glacier- largest glacier on earth in antarctica.

Vatnajökull- In iceland, second largest glacier in europe. Volcanic eruptions

cause glacial outbursts

Siachen Glacier- located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas.

Second largest glacier not in the poles.

Laurentide Ice Sheet- a massive sheet of ice that covered millions of square
miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the Northern United States,
multiple times during the Quaternary glaciation epochs, from 2.58 million years
ago to the present. (It deepens the great lakes)

Hubbard Glacier- In alaska, largest in north america, thickening and steadily

advancing into Disenchantment Bay.

Larsen ice shelf- The Larsen Ice Shelf is a long ice shelf in the northwest part of
the Weddell Sea, extending along the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula
Larsen D and the much smaller Larsen E, F and G are also named. The breakup
of the ice shelf since the mid-1990s has been widely reported, with the collapse of
Larsen B in 2002

Patagonian Ice Fields- It is the bigger of two remnant parts of the Patagonian Ice
Sheet, which covered all of southern Chile during the last glacial period (Were
once two separate ice fields that
joined during the Last Glacial Period;)

Greenland Ice Sheets- The Greenland ice sheet is an ice sheet which forms the
second largest body of ice in the world, its melting would cause
a 7-8 meter rise in sea-level. Second largest ice sheet

Antarctic Ice Sheets- The Antarctic ice sheet is a continental glacier covering
98% of the Antarctic continent, with an area of 14 million square kilometres and
an average thickness of over 2 kilometres. majority of the ice in the world. Largest
ice sheet

Lake Vostok- largest known subglacial lake, located beneath the East
Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Great lakes- largest glacial lakes in the world.

Glaciers found almost everywhere in the world but not australia or most african
countries.
Ablation- the lower part of the glacier where more snow is lost than accumulates.

Abrasion- As a glacier flows downslope, it drags the rock, sediment, and debris in its basal ice over the
bedrock beneath it, grinding it. This process is known as abrasion and produces scratches (striations)

Accretion- The process by which a layer of ice (icing) builds up on solid objects that are exposed to freezing
precipitation or to supercooled fog or cloud droplets.

Accumulation- The higher part of a glacier where more snow is gained than lost.

Alpine glacier- a glacier that forms at high elevations within mountains. These glaciers flow down mountains
and carve wide, 'U'-shaped valleys

Arete- a thin, jagged crest that separates—or that once separated—two adjacent glaciers.

Barchan- crescent-shaped sand dune produced by the action of wind predominately from one direction.

Basal sliding- the act of a glacier sliding over the bed due to meltwater under the ice acting as a lubricant.
This movement very much depends on the temperature of the area, the slope of the glacier, the bed
roughness, the amount of meltwater from the glacier, and the glacier's size.

Calving- chunks of ice break off at the terminus, or end, of a glacier. Ice breaks because the forward motion of
a glacier makes the terminus unstable. We call these resulting chunks of ice “icebergs.”

Cirque- A cirque glacier is formed in a cirque, a bowl-shaped depression on the side of or near mountains.
Snow and ice accumulation in corries often occurs as the result of avalanching from higher surrounding slopes.
If a cirque glacier advances far enough, it may become a valley glacier.

Crevase- deep crack that forms in a glacier.. form by movement and resulting stress with the shear stress
generated when two semi-rigid pieces above have different rates of movement.

Drumlin- oval-shaped hills, largely composed of glacial drift, formed beneath a glacier or ice sheet and
aligned in the direction of ice flow.

Esker- ridges made of sands and gravels, deposited by glacial meltwater flowing through tunnels within and
underneath glaciers

Equilibrim line- marks the area or zone on a glacier where accumulation is balanced by ablation over a 1-year
period.

Firn- A stage of snow to glacier ice. when it has been compressed so that no pore space remains between
flakes or crystals, takes less than a year. (partial melting and refreezing of snow crystls)

Fjord- A long and deep body of water cut by glaciers.

Ground Moraine- made of sediment that slowly builds up directly underneath a glacier by tiny streams, or as
the result of a glacier meeting hills and valleys in the natural landscape. When a glacier melts, the ground
moraine underneath is exposed.

Horn- when glaciers erode three or more arêtes, usually forming a sharp-edged peak.

Ice berg- a piece of freshwater ice more than 15 meters long has broken off glaciers/ice shelf and floating in
open water. Icebergs are also classified by shape, most commonly being either tabular or non-tabular. Tabular
icebergs have steep sides and a flat top. Non-tabular icebergs have different shapes, with domes and spires.
Icebergs are monitored worldwide by the U.S. National Ice Cente

Ice cap- a thick layer of ice and snow, that covers fewer than 50,000 square kilometers. (reflect excess heat
back into space)

Ice sheet- also known as a continental glacier,[2] is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and
is greater than 50,000 km2 (only Antarctic ice sheet and the Greenland ice sheet.)

Isostatic rebound- Pressure from the weight of glacier is removed which then leaves dent in the crust.

Kettles- form when a block of stagnant ice (a serac) detaches from the glacier. Eventually, it becomes wholly
or partially buried in sediment and slowly melts. (lake) it is a depression formed by retreating glaciers.
Lithosphere-the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.

Medial Moraine- form where two tributary glaciers come together. They are generally surficial features on the
ice and often consist of rock that has fallen from a rockwall where the glaciers converge. (rarely seen after
glacial retreat)

Moulin- vertical rivers that serve as a glacier's internal plumbing system. They carry water out of the glacier by
meltwater streams and lakes formed on the surface of. Meltwater moves over the surface of the ice, finding the
pathway of least resistance. Forms by summer melting and eroding ice.

paternoster lake- one of a series of glacial lakes connected by a single stream or a braided stream system.

Piedmont Glacier- If a valley glacier spills out of the mountains, onto the flat foreland, the ice often spreads to
form a lobe. Then it is called a piedmont glacier.

Plastic flow- Plastic flow is the internal deformation of ice due to stress and gravity.

proglacial lakes- a lake formed either by the damming action of a moraine during the retreat of a melting
glacier, a glacial ice dam, or by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet due to isostatic depression of the crust
around the ice.

Reccesional Moraine- a moraine left by a glacier during a temporary halt in the retreat of the ice.

Regelation- ice refreezing and putting pressure on bedrock

Roche mountonee- glaciated bedrock surface, usually in the form of rounded knobs.

Serac- block/column of glacial ice, often formed by intersecting crevasses on a glacier

Snow earth- Earth has been fully covered in ice sheets (hypothesis)

Snow line- the minimum elevation of snow lying on the ground or glacier surface;

Striations- scratches or gouges cut into bedrock by glacial abrasion.

Tarn- pond or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn.

Terminal Moraine- A terminal moraine, also called an end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the
terminal of a glacier, marking its maximum advance.

Till- Glacial till is the sediment deposited by a glacier. It blankets glacier forefields, can be mounded to form
moraines and other glacier landforms

Valley Glacier-a glacier usually originating in a cirque at a valley head or in a plateau ice cap and flowing
downward between the walls of a valley.

Varve- Varved sediments (varves) refers to the annually laminated sediment deposited at the base of some
lakes, or marine settings.