Crysopehric processes

Question 1

How are glaciers formed?

Answer 1

• Accumulation, occurs when snow falls and is compacted to form ice.
• Sublimation, when ice turns directly to water vapour due to the hot sun on the mountain.
• Abliation, is the removal of snow/ice through meting and calving.

Question 2

Global scale of crysopheric processes?

Answer 2

• Ice sheets/caps
• Accumulation due to precipitation falling as snow and compacting into ice. Main decrease is abliation through melting.
• Main reason driving change is climate change, means ice begins to melt. This is changing the size of the hydrosphere due to increased melting.
• Melting/change over several years.

Question 3

Drainage basin of cyrsopheric processes?

Answer 3

• Ice caps/glaciers
• Changes to the groundwater stores changed in the summer and winter due to melting and freezing.
• Affected by seasonal changes and begin to melt in the summer.
• Time scale usually seasonal, over winter to summer.

Question 4

What is permafrost?

Answer 4

• Frozen ground due to low temperatures.
• Russia, Alaska.
• Where the temperatures are permanently cold, so the water within the ground freezes resulting in frozen ground
• Less water in groundwater store as all frozen in the soil store.
• Can be on a global, drainage basin, or hillslope scale.

Question 5

How long does it take to see changes in the permafrost?

Answer 5

Hillslope:

• Melt during particularly hot days.
• Also affected by seasonal changes.

Drainage basin:
- Affected by seasonal changes.

Global scale:

• Will not be affected by seasonal changes.
• Affected by climate change

Question 6

What happens when permafrost melts?

Answer 6

When it melts on a large scale, carbon that was previously stored within the ground is also released into the atmosphere.
Also releases water on a large scale which changes other stores.