Ice field

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/ice-field

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the glacial morphology?A complex of interconnected valley glaciers situated on a mountain mass
2. What is the topographical control?Glacial flow and form are dictated by underlying mountain topography
3. How do ice fields form?Ice fields start when snow falls more than it melts in high places. Over many years the snow presses together into ice and flows downhill, creating connected glaciers.
4. What are nunataks?Nunataks are the tops of mountains that stick out above the ice. They show where the ice meets the rock and help scientists see how the ice sits on the ground.

Ablation: The process of ice loss from a glacier through melting, sublimation, and calving.
Moraine: A mass or ridge of unsorted rock and sediment deposited by a glacier.
Mass Balance: The difference between the amount of snow accumulating on a glacier and the amount lost through melting and sublimation.