Chapter 17 Review
Question 1
 If new snow was added to a glacier faster
than ice & snow melts, what would
happen to the glacier?
 It would get larger
Question 2
 What type of glacier is an massive sheet
of ice that covers millions of square
kilometers?
 Continental
Question 3
 Name at least 3 features that are formed
by glacial deposition.
 erratics, till, glacial drift, moraines, and
drumlins
Question 4
 What is a cirque?
 A deep, bowl-shaped depression formed
by glacial erosion.
Question 5
 What is the snowline?
 elevation above which ice & snow
remains throughout the year
Question 6
 What are long, winding ridges of gravel
and sand deposited by melt water called?
 Eskers
Question 7
 Where do alpine glaciers form?
 Mountains
Question 8
 What is glacial drift?
 Sediment carried and deposited by a
glacier.
Question 9
 How is the snowline affected by latitude?
 The closer to the equator, the higher up
the mountain it would be.
Question 10
 What are the two ways a glacier can
move?
 Basal slip & internal plastic flow.
Question 11
 What is basal slip?
 The process that causes the ice at the
base of a glacier to melt and the glacier
to slide.
Question 12
 What are large cracks in a glacier called?
 Crevasse
Question 13
 Outwash plains are usually filled with
these depressions known as …
 kettles
Question 14
 A glacier works around small barriers by
melting and then …
 Refreezing
Question 15
 What is the grainy ice that form when
snow melts and refreezes called?
 Firn
Question 16
 Tear-shaped mounds of sediment formed
by glacial deposition are what?
 Drumlins
Question 17
 What is an ice age?
 A long period of climatic cooling during
which the continents are glaciated
Question 18
 What is the Milankovitch Theory?
 Cyclical changes in Earth’s orbit and in
the tilt of its axis cause climatic changes.
Question 19
 One piece of evidence of past ice ages
has been found by studying…
 Changes in shells of dead organisms and
sediment changes
Question 20
 What are the three factors that
Milankovitch mentioned that affects the
solar energy reaching Earth’s surface?
 Eccentricity, Tilt, and Precession
Question 21
 What is a lateral moraine?
 Deposition of unsorted material along the
sides of a glacier
Question 22
 How is an iceberg formed? (Name the
process too!)
 The breaking of large block of ice from an
ice shelf.. calving
Question 23
 How do glacial and interglacial periods differ
and relate these differences to the sea level?
 Glacial periods are characterized by
advancement of glaciers and lowering of the
sea level and interglacial periods are
characterized by retreatment of glaciers and
raising of the sea levels.
Question 24
 What is an erratic?
 A boulder that has been transported and
deposited by a glacier.