Review Questions for glaciers

Which one of the following is NOT true of glaciers?
1. originate on land
2. exist only in the Northern Hemisphere (North of the equator)
3. show evidence of past or present flow
4. form from the recrystallization of snow
5. all of the above are true facts
What happens to snowflakes as they become progressively buried within glaciers?
1. they become less dense because of large amounts of trapped air
2. they begin to melt as they are insulated from the cold air
3. they become interlocking crystals of ice
4. they can become bluish because of trapped air
5. both c and d
The upper part of a glacier, the part with perennial snow and ice, is called the ___
1. zone of accumulation
2. zone of wastage
3. zone of ablation
4. recharge zone
5. discharge zone
When a glacier recedes, it ___
1. flows back toward its source area
2. ablates faster than its volume is replenished by snowfall
3. is experiencing a positive snow/ice balance
4. flows faster
5. accumulates faster than it ablates
Most glaciers move___.
1. primarily by sliding along faults in the ice
2. primarily by plastic flow or creep, like silly putty
3. only by sliding along the base of the glacier
4. primarily by opening up cracks or crevasses
5. as a rigid block, with all parts moving in the same direction at the same velocity
Open fissures that develop in the brittle surface ice of glaciers are called:
1. crevasse
2. cirque
3. joint
4. crevice
5. fault
Which of the following is NOT a type of evidence left behind by glaciers?
1. scratched and polished bedrock
2. scattered stones (dropstones) in fine-grained sediment
3. changes in the isotopic compositions of marine shells
4. V-shaped valleys
5. all of the above are evidence left behind by glaciers
What is the shape of a valley formed due to glacial erosion?
1. S-shaped valley
2. U-shaped valley
3. V-shaped valley
4. Y-shaped valley
5. I-shaped valley
A sharp peak that remains after cirques have cut back into a mountain from several sides is called:
1. arête
2. horn
3. inselberg
4. cirque
5. tarn
Sharp bedrock ridges sculpted between two glacially eroded valleys are called:
1. tarns
2. cirques
3. arêtes
4. cairns
5. moraines
A steep-sided half-bowl shaped recess carved at the head of a mountain glacial valley is called:
1. fiord
2. hanging valley
3. arête
4. cirque
5. roche mountonnée
A boulder transported by a glacier that was not derived from the underlying bedrock is called:
1. clast
2. esker
3. nunatak
4. erratic
5. inselberg
Depressions left in till when imbedded blocks of ice left over from a receding glacier melted are called:
1. arêtes
2. horns
3. drumlins
4. roche moutonnées
5. kettles
Elongated low mounds of till formed along the sides of valley glaciers are called:
1. Lateral morraine
2. Proximal morraine
3. Distal morraine
4. Medial morraine
5. Terminal morraine
What does a terminal moraine represent?
1. the end of a polished and scratched segment of bedrock
2. the sharp ends of a jagged ridge formed by glaciers
3. the end of an ice sheet that is floating in the sea
4. a pile of sediment deposited at the end of the glacier
5. the final time that two glaciers come together
The end moraine marking the farthest advance of a glacier is called:
1. terminal morraine
2. medial morraine
3. lateral morraine
4. recessional morraine
5. boundary morraine
The end moraine built while the end of a glacier was temporarily stationary is called:
1. terminal morraine
2. medial morraine
3. lateral morraine
4. recessional morraine
5. boundary morraine
A layer of till deposited as the front of a glacier retreats is called:
1. ground moraine
2. outwash plain
3. valley train
4. recessional moraine
5. esker
A streamlined hill of till that has been remolded beneath a glacier is called:
1. roche moutonnée
2. moraine
3. drumlin
4. esker
5. kame
If the steep side (the "flat" end) of a drumlin is on the northeast, it indicates that the glacier advanced from:
1. southwest
2. southeast
3. northwest
4. northeast
5. none of these
An S-shaped deposit formed by glacial meltwater is called:
1. oscar
2. moraine
3. drumlin
4. esker
5. varve
Large quantities of meltwater that run away from the melting edge of a glacier may deposit ________.
1. fluvial
2. alluvial
3. discharge
4. outwash
5. pediment
The last episode of glaciation happened:
1. 5-10 thousand years ago
2. 10-21 thousand years ago
3. 50-60 thousand years ago
4. 100-115 thousand years ago
5. 2-3 million years ago
A viable hypothesis regarding the cause of ice ages MUST be able to explain:
1. Why do Ice Ages occur in cyclical periods
2. Why do glaciers during ice ages move towards the ocean
3. Why most of the geologic time has been free from extensive ice ages
4. All of the above
5. Only "a" and "c" and not "b"
In 1921, Milutin Milankovitch suggested that the primary controls on the timing of glacial periods are related to:
1. the motion of Earth's plates
2. the emission of greenhouse gases
3. variations in Earth's orbit, tilt and wobble relative to the sun
4. variations in the intensity of the sun's radiation output
5. variations in the circulation of water in the ocean basins
How could changes in Earth’s tilt influence global climate?
1. A high angle of tilt causes snow and ice to fall off the planet
2. A minimum angle of tilt causes high latitudes to receive less sunlight during the summer, causing an increase in glaciers
3. A maximum angle of tilt causes Earth to reflect more sunlight into space, causing an increase in glaciers
4. A high angle of tilt causes the continents to move away from the poles leading to more glaciers
5. Earth's tilt does not influence global climate
A decrease in the atmospheric CO₂ content cannot be the sole viable cause for the Ice Ages because:
1. Atmospheric CO₂ content has no influence whatsoever in global climate change
2. Atmospheric CO₂ content does not increase or decrease in a cyclic manner
3. CO₂ can only increase global temperature, not cause ice ages
4. All of the above reasons are correct
5. None of the above reasons are correct
Which of the following may have contributed to climatic changes related to the Ice Age?
1. plate movements
2. wobbling of Earth's axis
3. variations in the shape of Earth's orbit
4. all of these
5. none of these
Which one of the following is NOT a direct effect of the last Ice Age?
1. Moraines and drumlins in the Midwestern States
2. The great Lakes
3. The fertile soil in the Midwestern states
4. The drainage pattern of the Mississippi-Missouri River system
5. All of the above are direct results of the last Ice age
when the land surface slowly rises after the weight of glacial ice is removed by melting is called:
1. Mountain building
2. Sea level rise
3. Global warming
4. Isostatic rebound
5. Greenhouse effect
What happens to the land surface when large ice sheets melt away?
1. it subsides because there is less ice on top
2. the land surface remains unchanged but seems lower because of the loss of ice
3. the land flexes upward due to isostatic rebound
4. the land rises because the rocks are warmer without the ice
5. none of the above happens
Large lakes that developed as a result of a cooler, wetter climate during the glacial period, in areas that might be quite arid today are called:
1. kettle
2. cirque
3. playa
4. pluvial
5. finger
Which one of the following statements is NOT true regarding glacial deposits?
1. drift refers to any glacial deposit
2. outwash deposits are layered and sorted
3. till is well-sorted sediment
4. erratics are rocks deposited by a glacier
5. All of the above are true regarding glacial deposits

Review Questions for glaciers

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