Glacier coverages on countries
11,965,000 sq miles
Antarctica
an accumulated body of ice formed within soil. They expand mainly horizontally only a few centimeters below the surface. As their name suggests, they tend to be thicker near the center, forming a convex-like shape.
___________ glaciers are a general group of glaciers that flow through the valleys between mountains. Sometimes they originate from cirque glaciers that have spilled out of their cirques and down into the valley.
Valley Glaciers
The __________ was a hypothesized glaciation that lasted from approximately 2.9 to 2.8 billion years ago during the Mesoarchean era. Much of the evidence supporting its existence is spotty and somewhat inconsistent at best.
Pongola glaciation
Located in Alaska and Canada, it is the largest glacier in North America. As a tidewater valley glacier, ____________, has been responsible for catastrophic floods resulting from the release of glacial lakes. It is also known for regularly calving off large chunks of ice into Disenchantment Bay near the Alaskan Panhandle.
Hubbard Glacier
1,784,000 sq miles
Greenland
the expansion of soil when wet, fine-grained, and porous soil freezes.
Frost Heaves
glaciers are valley glaciers that have flowed out beyond the edge of the mountains and into an open plain. They are characterized by a fan or mushroom shape at the foot of the mountain. The terminus is often filled with splay crevasses.(hint: French- Foot of Mountain)
Piedmont Glaciers
The ____________, also called the Paleoproterozoic glaciation or the Makganyene glaciation, was a period of extensive global glaciation lasting from approximately 2.45 billion years ago to 2.1 billion years ago through the Paleoproterozoic era. It is one of the two hypothesized Snowball Earth events, alongside the Neoproterozoic Snowball Earths. The glaciation was caused by the Great Oxygenation Event, 2.4 billion years ago, a time when the first photosynthesizing cyanobacteria released unprecedented amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere, permanently changing its composition and causing a substantial extinction event (Oxygen was toxic to just about every life form on Earth at the time).
Huronian glaciation
an outlet glacier in Antarctica, is recognized as the largest glacier in the world, excluding ice fields, ice caps, and ice sheets. This colossal glacier plays a significant role in draining approximately 8% of the Antarctic Ice Sheet by volume.
Lambert Glacier
200,000 sq miles
Canada
mounds of earth-covered ice in the Arctic & subarctic that can reach up to 70 m tall & 600 m in diameter.
Pingoes
glaciers are generally the smallest type of glacier and form in bowl-shaped depressions in mountains. They can expand beyond their original confines and become valley glaciers.
Cirque Glaciers
The ___________, periodically and (likely) archaically called the Sturtian-Varangian glaciation, was a group of two major glaciations during the Cryogenian period. 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.
Cryogenian glaciation
situated in the eastern Karakoram range between India and Pakistan, extends for an impressive 76 kilometers, making it the second-longest non-polar glacier on the planet. Notably, this glacier is embroiled in the ongoing Indian-Pakistani conflict in Kashmir and is renowned for extreme temperatures comparable to those found in the Arctic and Antarctic.
Siachen Glacier
109,000 sq miles
Central Asia
known as East Greenland or Open-system pingos, form when outside water flows into a collective region and then freezes. Pingos do not form in just one freezing season; they take decades, sometimes even centuries to form, growing only a few centimeters per year.
Hydraulic Pingoes
are large expanses of glaciers that cover mountains up almost to their peaks, leaving nunataks poking out. This means that ice fields are still partially confined by the mountains they reside in. They can form when a large number of valley glaciers or even smaller ice fields join together.
Ice Field
The ___________, lasting from approximately 717 Ma ago to 660 Ma ago (the numbers are not fully decided), was the first of the two global glaciations of the Cryogenian period (named for the extensive ice from glaciation) within the Neoproterozoic era. An earlier hypothesized glaciation, the Kaigas (~850-740 Ma ago) was initially thought to exist, but the two pieces of evidence suggesting it were later proven inaccurate. The ___________ is theorized to have begun as a result of the breakup of continents, specifically Rodinia. Similarly to one of the possible secondary causes of the Huronian glaciation, the formation and weathering of new continental crust would use up additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, allowing for a cooler climate. It ended as a result of a buildup of greenhouse gases, with possible sources including extensive volcanism.
Sturtian glaciation
Iceland's largest glacier, covering over 9% of the country's land area and ranking as the second largest glacier in Europe. It is famous for its jökulhlaups, or glacial outburst floods caused by volcanic activity on the island.
Vatnajokull Glacier
82,000 sq miles
Russia
shallow, often oval-shaped examples of frost heave with permanent ice lenses. Like pingos, ________ are an ice core* with overlying soil, but are much smaller in scale, with heights of only a few meters and diameters/lengths of only a dozen. They often are found in groups, particularly those with discontinuous permafrost.
Palsas
glaciers are a special form of valley glacier that drains ice from ice caps, ice fields, and ice sheets through narrow mountain passages. These can terminate both on land, into an ice shelf, or simply into the ocean.
Outlet Glaciers
The ___________ (sometimes End-Cryogenian, Elatina, or Varanger glaciation) was the other major glaciation of the Cryogenian period, lasting from approximately 650 Ma ago to 635 Ma ago. Similarly to the Sturtian glaciation, the _______ was likely caused by high weathering rates of new rocks being formed during the breakup of Rodinia, acutely decreasing the concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The decline of the _________ is thought to be caused by the steady return of carbon dioxide levels as outgassing eventually outpaced weathering.
Marinoan glaciation
ice shelf connected to the Antarctic Peninsula, experienced a significant collapse from January 31 to March 7, 2002, detaining approximately 3,250 square kilometers of floating ice. Before this event, ___________ had been stable for thousands of years, enduring since the last ice age. However, warm water currents had been steadily eroding its underside for decades. The collapse was also attributed to the formation of meltwater ponds during the 24-hour exposure to the sun in the Antarctic summer, which flowed into cracks in the ice, causing it to disintegrate.
Larsen B Glacier