SCIENCE OUTLINE! Glaciers and Groundwater

1. Describe the advance and retreat of glaciers along the snowline.

            Zone of accumulation- advance during the winter

            Zone of wastage- retreats during the summer

2. Describe valley glaciers, piedmont glaciers, continental glaciers and ice caps.

            Valley glaciers- long, narrow rivers between two mountain peaks

            Piedmont glaciers- two glaciers merged together

            Continental glaciers- swaths of land covered with ice ex: Greenland and Antarctica

            Sheets of ice mostly in the ocean

3. describe some of the difficulties associated with the search for Noah’s Ark.

            On Mt. Ararat in modern day turkey

            Entombed in ice

            Steep ice

            Wild dogs and tribal people

4. Describe the process of calving.

            Ice chips off glaciers and forms icebergs

5. Describe the Ross Ice Shelf and McMurdo Station.

            Ross Ice Shelf- In Antarctica- the size of California and includes McMurdo Station

6. Describe the movement of glaciers and the erosion pattern found in glacial valleys.

            At the top there are sheets of brittle ice- zone of flow( U-shaped)

7. Compare moraines and drumlins.

            Moraines- Accumulation of debris on the side of a glacier or at the foot

            Drumlins- streamlined hill made up of glacial till

8. Describe evidence of the ice age reaching America.

            Moraines and drumlins

            Great lakes, Finger lakes         

            American states

9. Describe the composition of the earth’s hydrosphere.

            97% salt water

            2% glaciers

            1% rivers, lakes and groundwater

Evaporation- changing a liquid into a vapor

Condensation-changing water vapor into a liquid

Precipitation- any form of moisture falling from the atmosphere ex: rain, hail, sleet, snow

Runoff- precipitation that goes back into rivers, oceans or absorbed into the ground

Transpiration- water that goes out of leaves

Groundwater-water under the ground

10. Draw and describe the water cycle, to include evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, transpiration and groundwater.

11. List some porous and impermeable materials in the soil.

            Porous- gravel, sand and sedimentary rock

            Impermeable- igneous, metamorphic, clay and asphalt

12. Describe the water table.

            Higher section of ground water below the surface

            Surrounded by porous material above impermeable material below, zone of saturation below, zone of aeration        

13. Describe the structure and uses of aquifers.

            Used for farming- irrigational system and drinking water      

            Aquifer- sandwiched between two layers of impermeable rock

14. Define “hard” water and the problems associated with it. What are some methods of treating hard water?

            Hard water- minerals in water

            Problems- clogs pipes- soap suds don’t lather

            Methods used for treating hard water- boil filter, demineralization- reverse osmosis plan (Charleston’s method)

15. Explain how caves form.

            From dissolved limestone- water dissolves it because it is slightly acidic

16. What is a sink hole?

            A depression in the ground caused by the collapse of a cave roof

17. Describe stalactites, stalagmites, and columns.

18. List 4 notable caves.

            Altamira cave- Spain

            Anemone cave- Maine

            Berger- France

            Blue Grotto- Italy