Exam 3 Review Sheet Definitions 1.

Glacier: A perennial accumulation of ice, snow, sediment, and liquid originating on land and moving down slope under the influence of its own weight and gravity. A river of ice. 2. Continental Glacial Features: Ice sheets. They are unconfined and grow radially outward (example: Antarctic and Greenland Ice sheet) 3. Alpine Glacial Features: Confined glacial features (Cirque, valley, piedmont glaciers) 4. Albedo: The fraction of solar energy (shortwave raditation) that is reflected from Earth back into space. It is a measure of the reflectivity of the earths surface 5. Moraine: Depositional feature of receding glaciation/melting 6. Outwash: Unconsolidated and unsorted sediment downslope. Zone of Ablation at melting pt. 7. Firn or equilibrium line: Middle point of glacier that is between the Zone of accumulation and the Zone of Ablation. 8. Snout, Toe, Terminus, of Nose of Glacier: Tip of glacier at down slope pt. where everything converges. 9. Crevasse: Broken section of Brittle upper most flowing mass of glacier. 10. Glacial Striations: Grooves on bedrock that are linear and indicate glacial erosion. 11. Loess: fine grained sediment (Rock flour) created by grinding of sediment against rock during glacier flow 12. Till: Outwash sediment deposited by glaciers. 13. Pleistocene: The Ice Ages during this era 14. Holocene: 15. Delta O-18: Change in O18 isotope. High means cold weather, Low means warmer weather. 16. Precession: The direction of the Earths spin axis 17. Obliquity: Wobble of the earth along the spin axis (does not change insolation but affects extent of seasonal contrasts.) 18. Eccentricity: Varies between 0 and .06; affects the total amount of sunlight hitting the earth 19. Milankovitch Cycle: Mathematical theory of how orbital variations affect climate. 20. Solstice: Sun reaches directly overhead at latitude 25 Tropic of Cancer 21. Equinox: Equal amount of day and night time. 22. Troposphere: Lower most part of atmosphere. Temp cools with increasing Alt. 23. Hadley Cell: 24. Ferrel Cell:

25. Polar Cell: 26. Trade Winds: 27. Westlies: 28. Jet Stream: 29. Hurricane: 30. Greenhouse Gas: 31. Palynology: 32. Dendochronology: 33. Sun Spot:

Concepts A. Glacial processes and erosional and depositional features Glacial formation: Snow accumulates. Ablation occurs (mass it lost from ice crystals after melting and sublimation). It compacts and leads to the rounding of crystals forming NEVE. If NEVE survives the summer, is becomes FIRN. FIRN layers accumulate and cause the crystals to form glacial ice. (Takes about 25-100 years for this to happen.) Glacial Movement: (Brittle and Plastic Flow) Accumulation is uphill and moves downhill to the zone of ablation. The center of glacier moves quickest. Glacial Erosion: Glacial striations (linear grooves) give evidence of glacial erosion. -For ALPINE glaciation, Erosional features are Aretes, Horns, Hanging Valleys, Truncated Spurs, and Triangular Facets -For CONTINENTAL glaciation, erosional features are large glacial lakes such as the great lakes. Glacial Deposition: As a glacier moves it scrapes and grinds bedrock. Rocks are than incorporated into the ice. At the TERMINUS of the glacier, ice melts and dumps unconsolidated, unsorted sediment as OUTWASH. The sediment is called TILL. The depositional feature is MORAINE. Fine grained rock flour is called LOESS. B. Brittle flow and plastic flow

Brittle Flow: Broken appearance on upper mass of glacial ice. Slow moving due to friction of air Plastic Flow: Very smooth appearance inner most mass of glacial ice. Moves faster than brittle portion because of less friction. Glacial streams (channelized liquid water on (supraglacial), in (englacial), of under (subglacial) a glacier) aid in glacial movement. Also aids in transport mechanism for water and till (sediment.) C. How is delta O 18 in marine sediment affected by glaciation? Because of the advance and retreat of ice sheets, rock record is erased. Sediment record on ocean floor however, is not affected by the erosion caused by glaciers. Oxygen isotopes are used to interpret marine rock and infer paleoclimate. Ratio of O18 and O16 is indicative of temperature in that time frame. Delta O 18 is high when water during that time frame is cold. This is enhanced by glaciation. Oceans are mainly O18. Glaciers and Evaporation is more O16. D. Glacier- albedo feedback loop during glaciation advance and retreat

E. What is the relationship between Delta O18 in Marine sediments and Ocean temperature As Delta O 19 increases temperature decreases. F. How do you interpret trends in Delta O 18 from benthic foraminifera over the last 3 million years.

G. Effect of orbital forcing on climate (Milankovitch Cycle)

H. Periodicity associated with the orbital parameters of Milankovitch cycle.

I.

Gree n

house gas evidence from Vostok Ice Core, relationship to other paleoclimate proxies. a. Firm link between global climate change and variations in the quantity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. b. Temp correlates with hydrogen isotopes in ice and global changes in temp and ice sheet c. Very fast changes in CO2 levels from glacial concentrations from low to high. i. More CO2 the higher the temp. Strong indicator of glacial and interglacial periods. J. Residence time of carbon in the atmosphere and its sources

K. Where in the atmosphere are most gases located? Most gases located in Troposphere. Most abundant are Nitrogen and Oxygen. L. Interdependence between the oceans and the atmosphere and relationship to the hydrologic cycle and carbon cycle.

M. Role of heat capacity of oceans vs. continent with respect to surface temp.

N. Causes for uneven solar heating of the earth O. General composition of the troposphere P. Relationship between KE of gases and temp. Q. Convection in the atmosphere R. Effect of atmospheric pressure on evaporation of water S. Relationship between atmospheric mass, density, and pressure Homosphere vs. Heterosphere -Homosphere: Lower atmosphere. Constant distribution of gases. -Heterosphere: Above homosphere. Has lighter gases including hydrogen and helium. Increasingly dominant with increasing altitude. Composition varies with altitude and there are no permanent gases. T. What factors affect the idealized 3 cell circulation of the atmosphere U. What conditions lead to storm development V. What are greenhouse gases and how do they help trap heat in the atmosphere W. How do volcanoes affect green house gas budget of the atmosphere X. What evidence is there for recent short term climate change Y. What is the Younger Dryas and what are some hypotheses that explain this recent cold period? Z. Effect of aerosols on atmospheric temp. With respect to global warming are aerosols a component of pos or neg feedback loop? (do they contribute to or mitigate global warming? ) Extra Notes:

Seasons

Causes of Uneven Solar Heat -Thickness of Atmosphere -Albedo -Day/night time -Seasons Oceanic Heat Flow -High lats have more heat loss than gain due mainly to albedo and high incidence of solar rays - Low lats have more heat gained than lost