Geog 3251: Mountain geography, summer 2007
Topics and review sheet
WEEK 2
Mountain Climate
Generalities
Extremes in temp, wind, precip, etc
Major Climatic controls
Latitude
Variance in temp, radiation, etc, as you change latitude
Altitude
As altitude increases: changes in pressure, oxygen, air density,
vegetation, moisture, radiation, etc
High altitude effects (sickness)
Large scale climate effects:
Chinook, rain shadow effect
Monsoon cycle in India
Differential heating of land vs.ocean
Small Scale
Different wind types: slope, mountain valley, katabatic.
Movement of air in mountains, diurnal cycle.
Topography
Continentality: principle of moderating effect of water
Mountain Vegetation
Mountains as “islands” of high biodiversity.
Veg zonation:
Nival
Alpine
Treeline/Timberline/Forest-tundra transition
Subalpine
Montane
Mixed Aspen-Lodgepole Pine Forest (8,000 to 10,000ft)
Pines: needles in clusters
Aspen: deciduous tree
Subalpine Forest (10,000 to 11,000ft)
Forest Tundra Transition (11,000 to 11,000ft): krummholz main growth form
Alpine (11,200 to 12,000ft)
Highest tree in the world?
Geog 3251: Mountain geography, summer 2007
Topics and review sheet
Plant adaptations to climatic conditions: focus on alpine tundra + examples
(from the video “Private life of plants”)
-adaptations to cold
-adaptations to dry conditions
-adaptations to high UV
Geog 3251: Mountain geography, summer 2007
Topics and review sheet
WEEK 3
Snow
Snow in the atmosphere
Temperature+relative humidity+ice nuclei
Riming
Aggregation
Snow on the ground
Snowpack
includes: air, ice, liquid water, pollutants
Powder snow versus snowmelt in terms of water% and air%
Properties of snow: density, depth, temperature, size and shape of crystals,
amount of pollutants; albedo
Importance of snow in water resources
Snow crystals
Seasonal snow, neve/firm, glacial ice (air bubbles in relation to atmospheric air)
Types of snow crystals
ET equitemperature vs TG temperature gradient, snow
firnspiegel
Short versus long wave radiation
Avalanches
Mass wasting process
Natural hazard
Types of avalanches
Loose snow
Point release, small, very steep slopes, light fluffy snow
Slab
Trigger, crown, flanks, stauchwall, etc
4 factors of avalanche formation
Terrain: 30-45 degree slope angle, trees, elevation, slope shape, etc
Weather: precipitation, wind (cornice), temperature
Snowpack: strong layer on top of weak layer
Humans
Glaciation and Glaciers
Sublimation
Type of glaciers
a. Warm glaciers vs. Cold Glaciers
b. Ice sheets vs. alpine glaciers
Type of glacier movement
Geog 3251: Mountain geography, summer 2007
Topics and review sheet
Plastic deformation
Basal sliding and regelation (small-scale, special case)
Glacial landforms:
Surface features: crevasses, seracs etc…
Erosional
Depositional
Subglacial
Ice cores
Different location of ice cores: Temperate regions, Greenland, Antarctica (which
areas have older ice accumulation, why?)
Type of information gathered from ice cores
Past climatic conditions (temperature proxy)
Greenhouse gases
Volcanic activity
Chemical composition of layers
Organic material can be used for carbon dating
Oxygen Isotopes (heavy versus light) as proxy for temperature record
Other proxy records of past climate: tree rings, ocean sediments,
stalagmites/stalagtites, packrat nests, corral beds
Warming temperatures, started 5,000 years ago. Corresponded with rice
agriculture.
Glaciers and Climate
Mass balance
Accumulation zone versus ablation zone
Negative versus positive mass balance - what happens to ELA?
Zero mass balance
ELA (equilibrium line altitude)
Milankovic cycles in relation to ice ages
Albedo feedback
Geog 3251: Mountain geography, summer 2007
Topics and review sheet
WEEK 4
Himalayan Culture
Himalayan environmental degradation theory
Cultural groups
Farming
Religion
Sky Burial