Case studies

You must study a real glaciated landscape in detail. You need to explain how glacial processes shaped it and use actual

Glacial systems and landscapes

Case studies

Some glaciated landscapes outside the UK are home to people who face extreme cold, unstable ground, and natural hazards.

Glacial systems and landscapes

Case studies

Real-world case studies are where everything you have learned about glacial processes and landforms — from corrie format

Glacial systems and landscapes

Glaciated landscape development

Moving ice carves distinctive landforms into upland rock. Corries, glacial troughs, and arêtes are all products of this

Glacial systems and landscapes

Glaciated landscape development

When a glacier melts, it drops the rock and sediment it was carrying. This material builds up into distinctive landforms

Glacial systems and landscapes

Glaciated landscape development

Melting glaciers produce streams of water that deposit sediment and carve channels. These meltwater streams create disti

Glacial systems and landscapes

Glaciated landscape development

Periglacial landforms form at the cold, frozen edges of glaciated areas. Repeated freezing and thawing of the ground cre

Glacial systems and landscapes

Glaciated landscape development

Glacial processes shape individual landforms over time. Together, those landforms combine to create a whole glaciated la

Glacial systems and landscapes

Glaciated landscape development

Glaciated landscapes are shaped by four distinct sets of processes, each leaving its own signature on the land: erosion

Glacial systems and landscapes

Glaciers as natural systems

A glacier works as a system — snow and ice enter as inputs, move through the glacier as transfers, and leave as meltwate

Glacial systems and landscapes

Glaciers as natural systems

A landform is a single physical feature shaped by ice, such as a corrie or a glacial trough. A landscape is the wider vi

Glacial systems and landscapes

Glaciers as natural systems

Treating a glacier as a system means understanding it as a set of interacting parts — with inputs such as snowfall feedi

Glacial systems and landscapes

Human impacts on cold environments

Cold environments are environmentally fragile. This means they are highly sensitive to disturbance and recover very slow

Glacial systems and landscapes

Human impacts on cold environments

Human activities such as mining, tourism, and road building damage cold environments. These impacts have grown over time

Glacial systems and landscapes

Human impacts on cold environments

Climate change is warming cold environments faster than anywhere else on Earth. This melts glaciers, thaws frozen ground

Glacial systems and landscapes

Human impacts on cold environments

People use different strategies to protect cold environments from damage today. Those strategies may need to change depe

Glacial systems and landscapes

Human impacts on cold environments

Cold environments — from Arctic tundra to glaciated mountain ranges — are environmentally fragile, meaning they are high

Glacial systems and landscapes

Quantitative and qualitative skills

Glacial fieldwork uses three core skills: careful observation of landforms, precise measurement of features, and mapping

Glacial systems and landscapes

Quantitative and qualitative skills

When geographers collect measurements in glacial landscapes, they use statistical techniques to process and interpret th

Glacial systems and landscapes

Quantitative and qualitative skills

Studying glacial landscapes requires more than knowing what a corrie or drumlin looks like — you also need to collect, m

Glacial systems and landscapes

Systems and processes

A glacier gains mass through snowfall (accumulation) and loses mass through melting (ablation). The balance between thes

Glacial systems and landscapes

Systems and processes

Glaciers fall into two types based on their temperature at the base. Warm-based glaciers have a melted base and move eas

Glacial systems and landscapes

Systems and processes

Glaciers shape the land through a chain of linked processes. These range from frost breaking up rock, to ice moving and

Glacial systems and landscapes

Systems and processes

Meltwater flowing from glaciers acts like a powerful river. It erodes rock, carries sediment, and deposits it to build d

Glacial systems and landscapes

Systems and processes

Periglacial environments are cold areas at the edge of glaciers where the ground stays permanently frozen. In summer, on

Glacial systems and landscapes

Systems and processes

Understanding how glaciers work as systems — balancing accumulation (the gain of snow and ice) against ablation (the los

Glacial systems and landscapes

The nature and distribution of cold environments

Cold environments cover large parts of the Earth's surface. They exist at high latitudes near the poles and at high alti

Glacial systems and landscapes

The nature and distribution of cold environments

Cold environments share extreme climates, thin poor soils, and sparse vegetation. These three features shape each other

Glacial systems and landscapes

The nature and distribution of cold environments

Cold environments exist today in polar regions, high mountains, and areas dominated by freeze-thaw processes. During the

Glacial systems and landscapes

The nature and distribution of cold environments

Cold environments — including polar ice sheets, alpine zones (high-altitude mountain regions), and periglacial areas (co

Glacial systems and landscapes