Geography SL
Geography SL
10
Chapters
152
Notes
Option A - Freshwater – Drainage basins
Option A - Freshwater – Drainage basins
Option B - Oceans & coastal margins
Option B - Oceans & coastal margins
Option C - Extreme Environments
Option C - Extreme Environments
Option D - Geophysical Hazards
Option D - Geophysical Hazards
Option E - Leisure, Tourism And Sport
Option E - Leisure, Tourism And Sport
Option F - The Geography Of Food & Health
Option F - The Geography Of Food & Health
Option G - Urban Environments
Option G - Urban Environments
Unit 1 - Changing Population
Unit 1 - Changing Population
Unit 2 - Global Climate - Vulnerability & Resilience
Unit 2 - Global Climate - Vulnerability & Resilience
Unit 3 - Global Resource Consumption & Security
Unit 3 - Global Resource Consumption & Security
IB Resources
Option C - Extreme Environments
Geography SL
Geography SL

Option C - Extreme Environments

Unveiling Periglacial Environments The Secret World Of Frost And Thaw

Word Count Emoji
692 words
Reading Time Emoji
4 mins read
Updated at Emoji
Last edited on 16th Oct 2024

Table of content

What's up with periglacial environments?

Periglacial Environments: These are like the cool cousins of glaciers! They're found hanging around the edges of glaciers and ice masses. Imagine a big, chilly place where the ground is frozen deep, and the rocks look like they've been to a rock party and come out all fractured and angular.

Three types of periglacial regions

  • Arctic Continental: Super cold, all the time!
  • Alpine: Mountains + cold = Alpine.
  • Arctic Maritime: Near Arctic oceans; it's cold, but not that cold.

Each type has its own unique temperature range, dictating the intensity and frequency of periglacial processes.

Landforms & processes

Freeze-Thaw Weathering

Ever put a soda can in the freezer and forget about it? When water freezes, it expands (like the exploding soda can), breaking rocks into angular fragments called "scree."

 

Mass Movements

  • Solifluction: "Flowing soil" (Think: soil + flux). In winter, ice freezes and expands the soil. In spring, it melts, water flows downhill, and carries soil particles, forming U-shaped lobes or terracettes.
  • Frost Creep: A sneaky type of solifluction. Imagine the soil particles doing the "wave" at a sports game; they rise up with frost and slide down with the thaw.
  • Rockfalls: Big rocks say goodbye to cliff faces, often due to freeze-thaw weathering.

Permafrost

Permafrost = permanent frost. It's like a never-melting popsicle in the ground!

  • Continuous: Really cold places (-5° to -50°C).
  • Discontinuous: Kinda cold places (-1.5° to -5°C).
  • Sporadic: Sometimes cold places (0° to -1.5°C).

Above this frosty layer is the "active layer," which thaws and has intense mass movements. It's thicker in some places and thinner in others, depending on various factors like latitude, rock type, and vegetation cover.

 

Pingos

Think of a pingo like a massive, ice-cold zit on the Earth's face. They're conical hills formed from freezing water under pressure. There are two types:

  • Open-system: Water source is distant.
  • Closed-system: Water source is local.

Thermokarst

A landscape like a bad baking experiment, all lumpy and hollow. It's caused by the melting of permafrost due to things like climate change or fire.

 

Patterned Ground

This is the Earth trying to be artistic with stone stripes, polygons, and garlands. It's created by processes like frost heave and solifluction.

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IB Resources
Option C - Extreme Environments
Geography SL
Geography SL

Option C - Extreme Environments

Unveiling Periglacial Environments The Secret World Of Frost And Thaw

Word Count Emoji
692 words
Reading Time Emoji
4 mins read
Updated at Emoji
Last edited on 16th Oct 2024

Table of content

What's up with periglacial environments?

Periglacial Environments: These are like the cool cousins of glaciers! They're found hanging around the edges of glaciers and ice masses. Imagine a big, chilly place where the ground is frozen deep, and the rocks look like they've been to a rock party and come out all fractured and angular.

Three types of periglacial regions

  • Arctic Continental: Super cold, all the time!
  • Alpine: Mountains + cold = Alpine.
  • Arctic Maritime: Near Arctic oceans; it's cold, but not that cold.

Each type has its own unique temperature range, dictating the intensity and frequency of periglacial processes.

Landforms & processes

Freeze-Thaw Weathering

Ever put a soda can in the freezer and forget about it? When water freezes, it expands (like the exploding soda can), breaking rocks into angular fragments called "scree."

 

Mass Movements

  • Solifluction: "Flowing soil" (Think: soil + flux). In winter, ice freezes and expands the soil. In spring, it melts, water flows downhill, and carries soil particles, forming U-shaped lobes or terracettes.
  • Frost Creep: A sneaky type of solifluction. Imagine the soil particles doing the "wave" at a sports game; they rise up with frost and slide down with the thaw.
  • Rockfalls: Big rocks say goodbye to cliff faces, often due to freeze-thaw weathering.

Permafrost

Permafrost = permanent frost. It's like a never-melting popsicle in the ground!

  • Continuous: Really cold places (-5° to -50°C).
  • Discontinuous: Kinda cold places (-1.5° to -5°C).
  • Sporadic: Sometimes cold places (0° to -1.5°C).

Above this frosty layer is the "active layer," which thaws and has intense mass movements. It's thicker in some places and thinner in others, depending on various factors like latitude, rock type, and vegetation cover.

 

Pingos

Think of a pingo like a massive, ice-cold zit on the Earth's face. They're conical hills formed from freezing water under pressure. There are two types:

  • Open-system: Water source is distant.
  • Closed-system: Water source is local.

Thermokarst

A landscape like a bad baking experiment, all lumpy and hollow. It's caused by the melting of permafrost due to things like climate change or fire.

 

Patterned Ground

This is the Earth trying to be artistic with stone stripes, polygons, and garlands. It's created by processes like frost heave and solifluction.

Unlock the Full Content! File Is Locked Emoji

Dive deeper and gain exclusive access to premium files of Geography SL. Subscribe now and get closer to that 45 🌟