This GCSE Geography quiz takes a look at glaciation. Almost all of Britain has been affected by ice and many of the landforms that have been created by glaciation are easily visible today. You are required to study glaciation from a variety of different angles including the erosional and depositional landforms it creates, how it begins and human aspects too.
In the past, there has not always been the same amount of ice on the surface of the planet. The amount of glaciation depends on what is termed the glacial budget. In the same way that a financial budget changes as money is accumulated and spent, the ice present in an ice sheet or an individual glacier changes as more ice is accumulated or lost. When there are higher levels of snowfall than melting, the quantity of ice increases and vice-versa. The glacial budget can be measured season by season or using longer periods of time like decades or centuries. Since the 1950s, the glacial budget for the whole Earth has been negative meaning that the world's glaciers are in retreat.
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Ice is one of the most powerful forces that shapes our landscape and you need to be aware of the erosional processes of glaciation. These include freeze-thaw weathering and the processes of erosion caused by moving ice. As ice moves over a land surface, the front of the ice sheet or glacier will push loose material, including soil, ahead of it. This is termed bulldozing. At the other end of a glacier, in the cwm where the ice is forming, the 'bowl' of ice rotates slowly, causing erosion beneath it. As the ice moves downhill, as it passes over masses of bedrock, it abrades (rubs down like sandpaper) the leading surface then plucks fragments from the trailing (downhill) surface.
When a glacier melts, the material that is being carried on top of the glacier as moraines and within the ice, is left behind. Unlike river erosion, the rock pieces are unsorted and angular in appearance. These are deposited as unstable piles of rock fragments which gradually settle, consolidate and become colonised by plants and animals. The other key depostional feature of glaciation is a drumlin, or rather drumlins as they are usually deposited in groups called swarms.
Areas that are actively affected by snow and ice attract tourists and the winter sports industry is now well established in the more accessible mountain ranges like the Alps and the Rockies. There are always two sides to any human economic development and these winter sports areas need to be carefully managed to strike a balance between the economic needs of the resort, safety and caring for the environment.
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1.
|
In the past, the surface of the Earth has been covered by ... |
|
[ ] |
always more ice than at the present time |
[ ] |
always less ice than at the present time |
[ ] |
exactly the same amount of ice as the present time |
[ ] |
a variable amount of ice |
|
|
2.
|
Which of the following best describes the glacial budget? |
|
[ ] |
The amount of money spent on research into glaciers each year |
[ ] |
A comparison of snowfall and melting of a glacier |
[ ] |
The money spent at a winter sports resort to ensure that people are not killed by avalanches |
[ ] |
Something the Chancellor of the Exchequer issues on TV during the winter |
|
|
3.
|
During which months is glacial ablation likely to be greater for a southern hemisphere glacier? |
|
[ ] |
January to March |
[ ] |
April to June |
[ ] |
July to September |
[ ] |
October to December |
|
|
4.
|
Which of the following statements is not true? |
|
[ ] |
Drumlins are a glacial erosion landform |
[ ] |
Freeze-thaw weathering helps to form pyramidal peaks and arêtes |
[ ] |
Ice sheets deposit a material called glacial till |
[ ] |
Glaciers carve out U-shaped valleys |
|
|
5.
|
Which of the following is not usually formed directly by the passage of a glacier? |
|
[ ] |
A ribbon lake |
[ ] |
A glacial trough |
[ ] |
An arête |
[ ] |
A truncated spur |
|
|
6.
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Which of the following is a key difference between deposits from a glacier and deposits left by a river, lake or in the sea? |
|
[ ] |
The fragments of rock are unsorted and rounded |
[ ] |
The fragments of rock are unsorted and angular |
[ ] |
The fragments of rock are sorted and rounded |
[ ] |
The fragments of rock are sorted and angular |
|
|
7.
|
What marks the boundary between the zone of accumulation of a glacier and the zone of ablation? |
|
[ ] |
A large yellow rock |
[ ] |
A crevasse |
[ ] |
There is no boundary |
[ ] |
The snowline |
|
|
8.
|
A glacial trough is another name for a ... |
|
[ ] |
pyramidal peak |
[ ] |
drumlin |
[ ] |
U-shaped valley |
[ ] |
channel cut by the water rushing out from underneath a glacier |
|
|
9.
|
In a winter sports resort, avalanches are a danger to the tourists who visit. Which one of the following statements about avalanches is false? |
|
[ ] |
Avalanches are more common where snow has built up in layers that are not bonded together |
[ ] |
A person buried by an avalanche is most likely to die from suffocation than from the cold |
[ ] |
Loud noises, earthquakes and storms can trigger an avalanche |
[ ] |
All avalanches start at a single point |
|
|
10.
|
The Athabasca glacier in the Canadian Rockies is a honeypot site. What is a honeypot site? |
|
[ ] |
A tourist location that attracts large numbers of visitors |
[ ] |
A tourist location that attracts small numbers of visitors |
[ ] |
A visitor centre near a glacier |
[ ] |
Somewhere tourists can buy locally produced honey |
|
|
1.
|
In the past, the surface of the Earth has been covered by ... |
|
[ ] |
always more ice than at the present time |
[ ] |
always less ice than at the present time |
[ ] |
exactly the same amount of ice as the present time |
[x] |
a variable amount of ice |
|
|
2.
|
Which of the following best describes the glacial budget? |
|
[ ] |
The amount of money spent on research into glaciers each year |
[x] |
A comparison of snowfall and melting of a glacier |
[ ] |
The money spent at a winter sports resort to ensure that people are not killed by avalanches |
[ ] |
Something the Chancellor of the Exchequer issues on TV during the winter |
|
|
3.
|
During which months is glacial ablation likely to be greater for a southern hemisphere glacier? |
|
[x] |
January to March |
[ ] |
April to June |
[ ] |
July to September |
[ ] |
October to December |
|
|
4.
|
Which of the following statements is not true? |
|
[x] |
Drumlins are a glacial erosion landform |
[ ] |
Freeze-thaw weathering helps to form pyramidal peaks and arêtes |
[ ] |
Ice sheets deposit a material called glacial till |
[ ] |
Glaciers carve out U-shaped valleys |
|
|
5.
|
Which of the following is not usually formed directly by the passage of a glacier? |
|
[ ] |
A ribbon lake |
[ ] |
A glacial trough |
[x] |
An arête |
[ ] |
A truncated spur |
|
|
6.
|
Which of the following is a key difference between deposits from a glacier and deposits left by a river, lake or in the sea? |
|
[ ] |
The fragments of rock are unsorted and rounded |
[x] |
The fragments of rock are unsorted and angular |
[ ] |
The fragments of rock are sorted and rounded |
[ ] |
The fragments of rock are sorted and angular |
|
|
7.
|
What marks the boundary between the zone of accumulation of a glacier and the zone of ablation? |
|
[ ] |
A large yellow rock |
[ ] |
A crevasse |
[ ] |
There is no boundary |
[x] |
The snowline |
|
|
8.
|
A glacial trough is another name for a ... |
|
[ ] |
pyramidal peak |
[ ] |
drumlin |
[x] |
U-shaped valley |
[ ] |
channel cut by the water rushing out from underneath a glacier |
|
|
9.
|
In a winter sports resort, avalanches are a danger to the tourists who visit. Which one of the following statements about avalanches is false? |
|
[ ] |
Avalanches are more common where snow has built up in layers that are not bonded together |
[ ] |
A person buried by an avalanche is most likely to die from suffocation than from the cold |
[ ] |
Loud noises, earthquakes and storms can trigger an avalanche |
[x] |
All avalanches start at a single point |
|
|
10.
|
The Athabasca glacier in the Canadian Rockies is a honeypot site. What is a honeypot site? |
|
[x] |
A tourist location that attracts large numbers of visitors |
[ ] |
A tourist location that attracts small numbers of visitors |
[ ] |
A visitor centre near a glacier |
[ ] |
Somewhere tourists can buy locally produced honey |
|
|