Processes
Glaciation
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The growth and advance of ice sheets and glaciers across land, and the distinctive record they carve and leave behind: U-shaped valleys, fjords, moraines and far-traveled boulders. That record is how nineteenth century geologists first recognized the ice ages, and the rhythm of Pleistocene glaciations is now understood to be paced by slow cycles in Earth's orbit.
Facts
TimescaleQuaternary glacial cycles run roughly 41,000 to 100,000 years; an individual glacier advances and retreats over decades to centuries 1 Driving ForceSustained cold climate drives glaciation; shifts in atmospheric carbon dioxide and the radiative forcing that follows are among the primary drivers of glacial and interglacial swings. 1 Resulting FeatureAs glacial ice moves it abrades the underlying rock and debris, carving landforms such as cirques, moraines and fjords. 2 SignificanceGlacial ice is Earth's largest reservoir of fresh water: ice sheets and glaciers together hold about 69 percent of the planet's fresh water. 2 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Glaciology is the discipline that studies the ice glaciation moves.
The timing of Pleistocene glacial cycles follows the orbital variations Milankovitch quantified.
The frequent glaciations Earth has undergone are among the periods paleoclimatologists study most.
Most commonly associated with the Cryogenian period's Sturtian and Marinoan glacial episodes.
Causes
The rebound follows the removal of the ice sheets glaciation loaded onto the crust.
In Discipline
Sources
1. Glaciation (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationQuaternary Period (drivers)Quote, Quaternary Period (drivers)
Changes in atmospheric CO2 and associated radiative forcing were among the primary drivers of globally cold glacial and warm interglacial climates.
2. Glacier (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationGlacial geologyQuote, Glacial geology
As a glacier moves, it abrades underlying rock and debris to create glacial landforms, such as cirques, moraines, and fjords.
2. Glacier (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction (freshwater reservoir)Quote, Introduction (freshwater reservoir)
Glacial ice is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth, holding with ice sheets about 69% of the world's freshwater.
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