The Cryosphere
This term refers to all of Earth’s frozen water, including glaciers, permafrost, and snow.
What is the cryosphere
This is the topmost, rigid layer of a glacier where crevasses form
What is the crustal layer or fractal zone
These surface cracks form due to tension in the crustal layer.
what are crevasses
The Matanuska Glacier originates in this mountain, the highest point in the Chugach Range.
What is mt. marcus baker
This is the largest glacier in Alaska and the largest piedmont glacier on Earth
What is the malaspina glacier
Glaciers store this percentage of the world’s freshwater.
What is 70%
The zone where snow compacts into ice.
what is the accumulation zone
This phenomenon occurs when a glacier advances faster than usual.
what is a surge
During the Last Glacial Maximum, Matanuska merged with these two glaciers near present-day Palmer and Wasilla
What are the Knik and Susitna Glaciers
This country has Europe's largest glacier, Vatnajökull.
What is Iceland?
If all land ice melted, sea level would rise approximately this much.
What is 230 feet or 70 meters
This intermediate material, denser than snow but not yet glacial ice, typically forms after one melt season
what is firn
These vertical shafts funnel meltwater into the glacier, and can extend hundreds of feet into the ice.
what is a moulin
The Chugach Range is composed primarily of this type of rock
metamorphic rock
These countries are home to the Southern and Northern Patagonian Ice Fields, the largest expanse of ice in the Southern Hemisphere outside Antarctica.
What are chile and argentina
This type of glacier forms in mountainous terrain and flows down valleys.
What is an alpine glacier
This component of glacier movement describes internal deformation of ice crystals
What is creep
these occur near valley walls due to frictional drag and differential velocity
what are marginal crevasses
These two Indigenous Athabaskan groups historically used the Matanuska Valley for trade and seasonal migration
who are the Ahtna and Dena’ina
The Gangotri Glacier in India is the source of this major river that supports over 500 million people.
What is the Ganges River?
Glacial ice appears blue because it absorbs this part of the visible spectrum
What is red light
The brittle uppermost layer of a glacier deforms differently than the underlying plastic ice. Name the approximate depth boundary between them.
What is ~50 meters or 160 feet
pressurized subglacial meltwater escaping suddenly, often flooding downstream environments
what is a jokulhaup
Name two indicators in the landscape that help interpret the glacier’s historic extent
What are lateral moraines, striated bedrock, U-shaped valleys, or jagged ridgelines above former ice levels
This country has more glaciers than anywhere else outside of the polar regions.