Topic 2: Landscape Systems, Processes and Change

Glaciated Landscapes and Change

Personal Learning Checklists

1. How has climate change influenced the formation of glaciated landscapes over time?
2. What processes operate within glacier systems?
3. How do glacial processes contribute to the formation of glacial landforms and landscapes?
4. How are glaciated landscapes used and managed today?

SECTION B: LANDSCAPE SYSTEMS, PROCESSES AND CHANGE

Answer ONE question in this section - either Question 2 OR Question 3. Glaciated Landscape and Change If you answer Question 2 put a cross in the box You must use the Resource Booklet provided.

• This question in Paper 1 has the following marks allocated to it ...

· 2× 6 markers · 1 ×8 marker · 1x 20 marker

Introduction to Glacial Landscapes

· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJgpDyP 9ewQ

Why study glacial landscapes?

• Being able to identify, describe and interpret a glacial landform (or land system) is key for understanding: - Past environment conditions - Present Glacial environments - Future response of glaciers to environmental change

HANDOUT: Quaternary Period

We are currently living in the Quaternary period. The Quaternary started approximately 2.6 million years ago and extends up to and including the present day. It is divided into 2 epochs: The Pleistocene: from 2.6 million to 12, 000 years ago The Holocene: from 12,000 years ago to the present day The Pleistocene saw more than 20 major climate fluctuations where Earth's climate flipped between Interglacial periods Glacial periods

Eon Era Period Epoch Holocene Quaternary Pleistocene Cenozoic Pliocene Neogene Miocene Oligocene Paleogene Eocene Paleocene Phanerozoic Cretaceous Mesozoic Jurassic Triassic Permian Carboniferous Pennsylvanian Mississippian Paleozoic Devonian Silurian Ordovician Cambrian Proterozoic Precambrian Archean Hadean 1

Causes of Climate Change

Longer- and short-term climate change

• Throughout the Earth's history the climate has fluctuated between two dominant states: . The greenhouse Earth and the icehouse Earth.

· A greenhouse Earth occurs when there are no continental glaciers on the planet as a result of warming such as higher levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. An icehouse Earth is a global ice age, when large sheets are present on Earth. . During this time, the climate fluctuates between cooler glacials, when ice advances, and warmer interglacials, when ice retreats.

From icehouse to greenhouse conditions

• Evidence suggests that we are moving from the icehouse to greenhouse conditions.
• The Pleistocene epoch is often known as the Ice Age, and glaciers reached their maximum extent during this time.
• The last glacial maximum is known as the Devensian, which approximately 18,000 years ago.
• The last glacial advance in the UK is known as the Loch Lomond Stadial, which occurred between 12,000 and 10,000years ago, marking the end of the Pleistocene.

UK Glacial Extent in the Pleistocene

Skills Question: Describe the extent of the ice in the Pleistocene in the UK

Ensure you use the following ... (1) Compass directions (2) Locations (3) Maximum ice extent, areas not covered in ice Ice sheet · Edinburgh . Belfast . Dublin . Nottingham London Cardiff 0 200 km

Annotate your graph: The past 1 million years

+6 last ice previous ice ages age interglacials +3 UM 0 glacials -3 air temperature (°C) change in mean global 1 -6 800 000 600 000 400 000 200 000 0 years before present

Extent of Ice Sheets in Europe

SCANDINAVIAN ICE DIVIDE SCANDINAVIAN ICE SHEET ICE IRISH BRITISH ICE NORTH SEA ICE GERMAN - POLISH ICE ALPS PYRENEES 0 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. CAUCASU 0 SIBERIAN ICE SHEET 3

Long and Short-Term Causes of Climate Change

1 minute starter: what are the long and short- term causes of climate change? There are some images to help you. 22.2' 23.5" N N Earth Sun Sun Earth 5 EARTH'S MAJOR TECTONIC PLATES North American Eurasian Eurasian Juan De Fuca Caribbean Philippine Indian Cocos- EQUATOR African Nazca Australian Pacific South American Australian - Scotia Antarctic Arabian - C 24 5". During the Quaternary Ice Age there have been numerous: . Glacials - cold periods that normally last about 100,000 years . Interglacials - warm periods that last about 10-20,000yrs · We are in an Interglacial Period now. · Scientific research using ice cores provide evidence and a record of past climate conditions. Air bubbles trapped in the ice contain atmospheric carbon dioxide and the ice itself preserves oxygen isotopes. · Low concentrations of CO2 occur during glacial periods · Higher concentrations occur during interglacials Antarctic Ice Cores - AntarcticGlaciers.org

Short term causes of climate change: Solar output

• Sun spots- The dark spots that appear on the sun's surface caused by intense magnetic storms in the Sun's interior.
• Scientists count these sun spots and there is a good record for around 400 years. An increase in the number of sun spots means that the Sun is more active and giving off more energy, so sunspot numbers indicate levels of solar output, and they appear to vary over an 11-year cycle. See the graph on the next page.

What is the Solar Maximum?

theaurorazone.com SYFY WIRE solar flares UPCOMING SOLAR MAXIMUM WILL PAINT THE SKY WITH NORTHERN LIGHTS How the Sun makes the aurora and how to see them. By Cassidy Ward | May 18, 2023, 3:54 PM ET Đ Here comes the sun and, for satellite operators, it's not alright - SpaceNews

400 Years of Sunspot Observations

x Modern Maximum 250 200 x Dalton Minimum 150 x Maunder × × XX 100 Minimum xx * 50 XX * x 0 1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 :h Č C Sunspot Number d x

Volcanic eruptions

Major volcanic eruptions eject material high into the atmosphere where high-level winds distribute it around the globe. · Volcanoes eject huge amounts of ash, sulphur dioxide, water vapour and carbon dioxide. · High in the atmosphere, sulphur dioxide forms a haze of sulphur aerosols, which reduces the amount of sunlight received at the surface.

Sulphate aerosols and climate impact

• The sulphate aerosols produced by eruptions can reside in the stratosphere for 1-3 years
• Unlike the lower atmosphere (or troposphere, which extends from the surface to roughly 10 km), the stratosphere does not have rain clouds as a mechanism to quickly wash out pollutants.
• Therefore, a heavy influx of aerosol pollutants will remain in the stratosphere for years until the processes of chemical reactions and atmospheric circulation can filter them out.
• Mount Pinatubo eruption, 1991 saw a measurable cooling of the Earth's surface for a period of almost two years. scientists measured a drop in the average global temperature of about 1 degree F (0.6 degrees C).
• A cluster of eruptions during 2005-2015 had a cooling effect on lower tropospheric and sea surface temperatures

Examples: Laki Fissure, Iceland and Mount Tambora

People watch as lava spews out of volcanic fissure in Iceland AFP - YouTube

• Laki Fissure eruption (VEI 4) in Iceland from 1783-1784.
• The size of the volcanic aerosol and length of eruption were linked to the exceptionally cold winter in the northern hemisphere in 1785.
• However, a El Nino was also cited.. The eruption emitted ~122 megatons (Mt) SO, into the atmosphere and maintained a sulfuric aerosol veil that hung over the Northern Hemisphere for >5 months.
• The summer of 1783 was characterized by extreme and unusual weather, including an unusually hot July in western Europe
• The following winter was one of the most severe winters on record in Europe and North America

Additional information: Laki eruption

Academic article - Atmospheric and environmental effects of the 1783-1784 Laki eruption: A review and reassessment - Thordarson - 2003 - Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres - Wiley Online Library [The eruption columns extended to 9-13 km and released ~95 Mt SO2 into the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (i.e., the polar jet stream), enforcing a net eastward dispersion of the plumes which reacted with atmospheric moisture to produce ~200 Mt of H2SO4 aerosols. Away from source, the Laki aerosols were delivered to the surface by subsiding air masses within anticyclones. We show that ~175 Mt of H2SO4 aerosols were removed as acid precipitation and caused the extreme volcanic pollution (i.e., dry fog) that effected Europe and other regions in 1783. The remaining ~25 Mt stayed aloft at tropopause level for >1 year. The summer of 1783 was characterized by extreme and unusual weather, including an unusually hot July in western Europe, most likely caused by perseverance of southerly air currents. The following winter was one of the most severe winters on record in Europe and North America. In these regions, the annual mean surface cooling that followed the Laki eruption was about -1.3℃ and lasted for 2- 3 years. We propose that the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere aerosols from Laki disrupted the thermal balance of the Arctic regions for two summers and were the main mechanism for the associated climate perturbations. Eruptions of Laki magnitude have occurred in the recent past in Iceland and will occur again. If such an eruption were to occur today, one of the most likely immediate consequences would be disruption to air traffic over large portions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Mount Tambora: Active stratovolcano in Indonesia

BRUNEI MALAYSIA 0 Miles 1,000 INDONESIA Java Sea MT. TAMBORA Jakarta 1 EAST TIMOR Indian Ocean AUSTRALIA

Mount Tambora eruption and global temperatures

• In April 1815 the Indonesian volcano Mount Tambora produced one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recorded history.
• It ejected 200 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide. Accounts of very cold weather were documented in the year following this eruption in a number of regions across the planet.
• In 1816 this was named the 'year without a summer' as global temperatures dipped by 0.4-0.7 degrees. These are short lived effects, as the sulphate aerosols (which increase the reflection of radiation from the Sun back into space, cooling the Earth's lower atmosphere) only persist for 2-3years.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urYvBb7 OBM