Glacial Geomorphology and Distribution
Glaciers behave like gigantic emissaries, holding the debris that they rust, as well as the waste that crashes onto their surfaces. The glaciers discussed in the article provided are Alpine glaciers and debris-covered glaciers.
Alpine glaciers start-up in the mountains in valleys known as aureole. Debris mantled-glaciers exist in almost all the significant mountainous areas of the universe and are the assertive hollows.
Alpine Glacial Hazards
It is quite fortunate the geographic personnel have, in turn,
been able to determine the velocity of glacial lake outburst floods. Therefore, it is sensible to note that if the people of Huaraz could be notified of the same, they would have safely escaped from the outbursts.
Huaraz is still at risk of experiencing glacial hazards from lake Palacocha because it lies on a landscape from the lake; that is, the lake lies at a higher altitude.
If lake Palcacocha were to experience another outburst, the places at risk would be Isla Santa, Carhuaz, Ancash, and Nueva district.
Isla Santa would be at greater risk because it is near the lake and lies in the landscape.
Huaraz has a lot of options at hand to reduce the risks of glacial outbursts cases. First, it can apply human-made measures making deeper the naturally existing inundation. Secondly, the moraine dam, that is, if it exists, can be anticipated to put up a gulley into the barrier. To add on, compelling a channel from any similar could be a very efficient method though very expensive.
Glacial Retreat
A fjord is a long, slim estuary with deep borders or bluffs, put in place by an ice floe.
The photo taken in 1984 does not seem to be very clear compared to the image on Google Earth in 2011. Technological advancements were put in place that enabled very clear images on Google Earth.
The stream draining the Portage lake is a small networked tributary stream fed by the ground-water. It has its soils well-drained to enable continuity of the draining process.
The sediments associated with stream draining Portage lake originated from volcanoes and the debris from the lake. Some loads were also discovered to consist of copper, which was ideally washed away by the lake waters.
Northwestern Glacier: Google Earth Measurements
Between 1996 and 2011, the glacial retreat was about forty thousand meters. The volume can therefore be calculated using the formula length by width by breadth. (40000 x 500 x23000= 460000000000 cubic meters.
Assuming thermal expansion, the number of glaciers that would raise the sea level can be determined as follows; 460000000000/360000000000 =1.27 mm glaciers.
The major reason for the glacial retreat is the effect of heat-trapping gases.
Some of the dangers associated with glacial retreat are the fear of losing lives and the development of inconsistent ice moraines, which unknowingly can lead to a glacial burst causing a flood.
Climate has always been identified as the major aspect leading to vegetation recognition in most parts of the areas under study. This is because the glacial retreat has led to soil fertility in the deposited area and vice versa in the eroded parts.
Northwestern Glacier: Google Earth Measurements
Humans engage in a green-house establishment, not knowing the gases produced largely contribute to glacial melting. Hence might cause the harm a discussed earlier to the same human beings.
Climate Change and Critical Thinking
Greenland has been populated at widths in at least the last four hundred and fifty decades by the people of the Arctic region. The melting ice is strangely noted to attract mummified penguins in the regions; in any case, they experience glacial outbursts.
In any case, the ice sheet melts wholly; altitudes would upturn highly, which would regrettably affect human civilization negatively.
The Geography of Soils
Global rising temperatures, glacial melting, and sea-level rise relate in that higher temperatures automatically result in ice melting, which in turn causes a danger of increasing altitude.
The four natural factors of soil formation are; parent material, climate, topography, and biological factors.
The gradual increase in the population of human beings means a higher demand for soil and its resources. However, geographically, the soil has been at times disadvantageous due to natural catastrophes.
Critical Zone is a criterion for coming up with solutions to soil tied approach; it extends past the indigenous ideological view on soils. For instance, it is explained in the CZ that soil is the richest source of raw materials.
Land degradation has greatly affected the soil. Productivity effects of land degradation are due to a decrease in land value in places faced by degradation issues.
Soil erosion is the activity involving the washing away of the top layer of soil, and it can be accelerated by human activity, wind, or water.
The soil, through its organic matter, hold Carbon (IV) Oxide and sequester it, preventing escape to the atmosphere, which would cause global warming.
Urbanization in the modern world is the major cause of excess CO2 emission, and as well this results in global warming.
In conclusion, soil poses a very important hope for the future because the more it absorbs Carbon (IV) Oxide, the less the dangers of global warming.
References
- Pelto, WGMS Network. “Alpine glaciers.” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 99(8), S23–S25, 2018.
- Zemp, M. Hoelzle & W. Haeberli. “Six decades of glacier mass-balance observations”: a review of the worldwide monitoring network. Annals of Glaciology, 50, 101-11, 2009.