GLACIERS

GLACIERS

Perito Moreno Glacier Patagonia Argentina

 GLACIERS

Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland

 GLACIERS
 The word glacier comes from French
via the Vulgar Latin glacia, and
ultimately from Latin glacies
meaning ice.

 Glaciers are large, slow-moving river

of ice, formed from compacted layers
of snow, which slowly deforms and
flows in response to gravity.
 GLACIERS
 Glacier ice is the largest reservoir of
fresh water on Earth, and second
only to oceans as the largest
reservoir of total water.

 Glaciers cover vast areas of Polar

Regions but are restricted to the
highest mountains in the tropics.
 GLACIERS
 Geologic features created by glaciers
include:
• end, lateral, ground, and medial
moraines that form from glacially
transported rocks and debris;
• U-shaped valleys and cirques at their
heads,
• glacier fringe, which is the area where
the glacier has recently melted into
water
 MORAINE
 Moraines refers to any glacially
formed accumulation of
unconsolidated debris which can
occur in currently glaciated and
formerly glaciated regions, such as
those areas acted upon by a past ice
age.
 MORAINE

Moraines clearly seen on a side glacier of

the Gorner Glacier, Zermatt, Switzerland.
 U-SHAPED VALLEY
 A valley carved by glaciers, or glacial
valley, is normally U-shaped. The
valley becomes visible upon the
recession of the glacier that forms it.
U-SHAPED VALLEY

U-shaped valley in Glacier National Park in

Montana, United States.
 CIRQUE
 A cirque (French for "circus") is an
amphitheatre-like valley, or valley
head, formed at the head of a glacier
by erosion
 CIRQUE

The Lower Curtis Glacier in North Cascades

National Park is a well developed "cirque glacier.”
If the glacier continues to retreat and melt away,
a lake may form in the basin
 INTERGLACIAL
 Glacial epochs have come and gone
repeatedly over the last million years.
Presently, Earth is in a relatively warm
period, called an interglacial,
exacerbated by global warming with the
resulting retreat of the glaciers. The Earth
has been cyclically plunged into cold
episodes, however, called glacials, in
which the extent of glaciers is expanded,
colloquially referred to as ice ages.
 TYPES OF GLACIERS
 Alpine glaciers, which are found in
mountain terrains,

 Continental glaciers, which can cover

larger areas.
 TYPES OF GLACIERS
 A temperate glacier is at melting point
throughout the year, from its surface to its
base.

 The ice of polar glaciers is always below

freezing point with most mass loss due to
sublimation.

 Sub-polar glaciers have a seasonal zone of

melting near the surface and have some
internal drainage, but little to no basal
melt.
 TYPES OF GLACIERS
 The smallest alpine glaciers form in mountain
valleys and are referred to as valley glaciers.

 Larger glaciers can cover an entire mountain,

mountain chain or even a volcano; this type is
known as an ice cap.

 Outlet glaciers are tongues of ice that extend into

valleys below, far from the margins of those
larger ice masses. Outlet glaciers are formed by
the movement of ice from a polar ice cap, or an
ice cap from mountainous regions, to the sea.
 TYPES OF GLACIERS
 Largest glaciers are continental ice sheets,
enormous masses of ice that are not visibly
affected by the landscape and that cover the
entire surface beneath them, except possibly on
the margins where they are thinnest. (Antarctica
and Greenland)

 Plateau glaciers resemble ice sheets, but on a

smaller scale. They cover some plateaus and
high-altitude areas. (Iceland, Western Alaska)

 Tidewater glaciers are glaciers that flow into the

sea. As the ice reaches the sea pieces break off,
or calve, forming icebergs.
 FORMATION OF GLACIERS
 The snow which forms temperate glaciers
is subject to repeated freezing and
thawing, which changes it into a form of
granular ice called névé.

 Under the pressure of the layers of ice and

snow above it, this granular ice fuses into
denser firn.

 Over a period of years, layers of firn

undergo further compaction and become
glacial ice.
FORMATION OF GLACIERS
FORMATION OF GLACIERS
 OCCURENCE
 Glaciers occur on every continent and in
approximately 47 of the world's countries.

 Extensive glaciers are found in Antarctica,

Patagonia, Canada, Greenland and
Iceland.

 Mountain glaciers are widespread (in the

Andes, the Himalaya, the Rocky
Mountains, the Caucasus, the Alps, in
Norway, Japan, Turkey and the Iran).
THE EFFECT OF GLOBAL
WARMING
 GLACIAL RETREAT
 Studied by glaciologists, the
temporal coincidence of glacier
retreat with the measured increase
of atmospheric greenhouse gases is
often cited as an evidentiary
underpinning of anthropogenic
(human-caused) global warming.
 GLACIAL RETREAT
 In historic times, glaciers grew during a cool
period from about 1550 to 1850 known as the
Little Ice Age.

 Subsequently, until about 1940, glaciers around

the world retreated as the climate warmed.

 Glacier retreat declined and reversed in many

cases from 1950 to 1980 as a slight global
cooling occurred.

 Since 1980, glacier retreat has become

increasingly rapid and ubiquitous, and has
threatened the existence of many of the glaciers
of the world.
 GLACIAL RETREAT
 Crucial to the survival of a glacier is its
mass balance, the difference between
accumulation and ablation (melting and
sublimation).

 Climate change may cause variations in

both temperature and snowfall, causing
changes in mass balance. A glacier with a
sustained negative balance is out of
equilibrium and will retreat
 GLACIAL RETREAT
 Excluding the ice caps and ice sheets of
the Arctic and Antarctic, the total surface
area of glaciers worldwide has decreased
by 50% since the end of the 19th century.

 Currently glacier retreat rates and mass

balance losses have been increasing in the
Andes, Alps, Himalayas, Rocky Mountains
and North Cascades.
 GLACIAL RETREAT
 Glacier Ururashraju, at about 15,000
feet in Cordillera Blanca of Peru.
(1986 and 1999)
 GLACIAL RETREAT
 Grinnell glacier, Glacier National
Park, USA, which has receded almost
out of sight. (1911 and 2000)
 GLACIAL RETREAT
 Glaciers in the Northwest United
States have also been shrinking. (Mt.
Oregon, 1984 and 2002)
 GLACIAL RETREAT
 Alaska's glaciers are receding at
twice the rate previously thought
(Portage Glacier, 1950 and 2002)
 ACCELERATED GLOBAL
WARMING
 Glaciers have a very high albedo, that is they
reflect the sunlight back up and out of the
atmosphere. As they melted they expose the
ground or water beneath them. Both have much
lower albedos, they reflect much less sunlight and
absorb the energy as heat, speeding up the
melting of the glacier surprisingly fast on the local
scale.

 This fast and strong effect on the local scale

further helps to increase global warming on a
slower but larger global scale.
 SEA LEVEL RISE
 With increasing average global
temperature, the water in the oceans
expands in volume, and additional
water enters them which had
previously been locked up on land in
glaciers, for example, the Greenland
and the Antarctic ice sheets for most
glaciers worldwide, an average
volume loss of 60% until 2050 is
predicted.
 SEA LEVEL RISE
 The IPCC report notes that current and
future climate change would be expected
to have a number of impacts, particularly
on coastal systems.

 Such impacts may include increased

coastal erosion, higher storm-surge
flooding, inhibition of primary production
processes, more extensive coastal
inundation, changes in surface water
quality and groundwater characteristics.
 SEA LEVEL RISE

Sea level rise contributors: Comparison of volume (white),

area (grey) and percent contribution to sea level rise (red) by
small glaciers and ice caps, and the Greenland and Antarctic Ice
Sheets
 SEA LEVEL RISE

Small glacier/ice cap contribution: The cumulative

contribution to sea level from small glaciers and ice caps (red)
plotted with the annual global surface air temperature anomaly
(blue)
 WATER SCARCITY
 Sea level rise is projected to increase salt-
water intrusion into groundwater in some
regions, affecting drinking water and
agriculture in coastal zones. Increased
evaporation will reduce the effectiveness
of reservoirs
 In some areas, shrinking glaciers threaten
the water supply. The continued retreat of
glaciers will have a number of different
effects.
 WATER SCARCITY
 In areas that are heavily dependent
on water runoff from glaciers that
melt during the warmer summer
months, a continuation of the current
retreat will eventually deplete the
glacial ice and substantially reduce or
eliminate runoff.
 WATER SCARCITY
 Essential use of water (washing and
drinking) will be limited.

 A reduction in runoff will affect the ability

to irrigate crops and will reduce summer
stream flows necessary to keep dams and
reservoirs replenished.

 Glacier runoff is important for hydropower,

hence affecting hydroelectric stations.
 WATER SCARCITY
 There will also be impacts on
agriculture and aquaculture through
decline in soil and water quality.

 Higher temperatures will also

increase the demand for water for
the purposes of cooling and
hydration.
 IMPACTS ON ECOSYTEMS
 Many species of freshwater and
saltwater plants and animals are
dependent on glacier-fed waters to
ensure a cold water habitat that they
have adapted to.
 IMPACTS ON ECOSYTEMS
 Some species of freshwater fish need
cold water to survive and to
reproduce, and this is especially true
with Salmon and Cutthroat trout.

 Ocean krill, a cornerstone species,

prefer cold water and are the
primary food source for aquatic
mammals such as the Blue whale.
THERMOHALINE CIRCULATION
 The term thermohaline circulation (THC)
refers to the part of the large-scale ocean
circulation that is thought to be driven by
global density gradients created by surface
heat and freshwater fluxes. The adjective
thermohaline derives from thermo-
referring to temperature and -haline
referring to salt content, factors which
together determine the density of sea
water.
THERMOHALINE CIRCULATION
THERMOHALINE CIRCULATION
 As average temperatures rise
worldwide, glaciers and sea ice are
melting, and evaporation and
precipitation patterns are shifting.
With more fresh water pouring in
some regions and more evaporation
in others, parts of the ocean are
becoming fresher, while others are
becoming saltier at a visible pace.
THERMOHALINE CIRCULATION
 If the North Atlantic loses too much
salinity, one of the primary forces
driving ocean circulation could
weaken. Fresher water is less dense
than salty water, so it does not sink
in saltier water. If waters were to
stop sinking in the North Atlantic,
existing currents could slacken or
change course, leading to altered
climate patterns.
THERMOHALINE CIRCULATION
 A slackening of the conveyor could
slow or change the course of the Gulf
Stream, a warm current that gives
northwestern Europe a milder
climate than it would normally have
so far north, plunging Europe into a
colder era.
 IMPACTS ON ICE SHEET
DYNAMICS
 Ice sheet dynamics describe the
motion within large bodies of ice,
such those currently on Greenland
and Antarctica. Ice motion is
dominated by the movement of
glaciers, whose gravity-driven
activity is controlled by two main
variable factors: the temperature
and strength of their bases.
 IMPACTS ON ICE SHEET
DYNAMICS
 It is clear that increasing temperatures are
resulting in reduced ice volumes globally,
due to the melting of glaciers. Rising sea
levels will also reduce the stability of ice
shelves, which have a key role in reducing
glacial motion. Some Antarctic ice shelves
are currently thinning by tens of meters
per year, and the collapse of the Larsen B
shelf was preceded by thinning of just 1
meter per year.
 IMPACTS ON ICE SHEET
DYNAMICS
 Increasing global temperatures take around
10,000 years to directly propagate through the
ice before they influence bed temperatures, but
may have an effect through increased surfacal
melting, producing more supraglacial lakes, which
may feed warm water to glacial bases and
facilitate glacial motion.

 Observations, while currently limited in scope, do

agree with these predictions of an increasing rate
of ice loss from both Greenland and Antarctica.
 CATASTROPHES
 As temperatures rise, a global
meltdown has begun. The melting of
glaciers can lead to worldwide
problems and catastrophes.
• Water Scarcity
• Sea Level Rise
 CATASTROPHES
 As sea levels rise, oceans throughout
the world are also becoming hotter.
Warmer seas fuel more intense
hurricanes. Already, major
catastrophes brought on by the
process of melting ice, rising seas
and intensifying storms have
occurred in coastal communities
around the world: New Orleans, for
example
 CATASTROPHES
 Increased extreme weather means
more water falls on hardened ground
unable to absorb it, leading to flash
floods instead of a replenishment of
soil moisture or groundwater levels.
 CATASTROPHES
 The rising oceans may swallow some
lands forever

 Glacial lakes will burst

 Debris and ice will fall in avalanches

 Rivers will flood

 CATASTROPHES
 Water wars between countries or
states may occur. (Water war
describes an armed conflict
motivated around the use or
possession of water resources within
a state’s boundary or between two
different states.)
 SUMMARY
 The rise of global temperature
greatly affect glaciers.

 Since 1860, glacial retreats and

disappearances increased.

 The rapid melting of glaciers is a

harbinger of other problems.
 SUMMARY
 As glaciers melt, sea level rise. Sea
level rise increased the salinity of
major water resources, affecting
drinking water and agriculture in
coastal zones.

 Melting of glaciers decreased the

albedo of the Earth, helping
increased global warming.
 SUMMARY
 Several species that depends on
glacial-fed waters will be greatly
affected. The food chain will also be
disrupted.

 Glacial retreat decrease the salinity

of some areas affecting the climate.
 GLACIERS
 Prepared by:
• Jericho Olea
• Joseph Carlo Pang