Describe the two ways that glaciers can be used to determine past climates

What will be an ideal response?


Answer: As glaciers retreat, they leave glacial till in their path. These sediments can be used to determine where ice once covered the surface because they are deposited as the ice melts or is scraped off the bottom of the ice sheet. Glaciers can also show climate by the thickness of each layer. An ice core can be drilled from the glacier and examined for thickness of each layer, showing the amount of melting per year.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

You might also like to view...

What would explain the poor condition for biological productivity in the open tropical ocean??

A) ?Converging currents produce downwelling, thus carrying nutrients to the deep ocean. B) ?Gyres contain pollution and decaying organisms that use up available nutrients. C) ?Upwelling delivers seafloor sediment to the surface, thus blocking necessary sunlight for photosynthesis. D) ?Strong layering isolates deep, nutrient-rich water from the sunlit ocean surface.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Unlike the Slavic languages which split into three branches, Romance languages form one branch because

A) there was limited migration in this part of Europe. B) there was no literary tradition of the language. C) Romance languages derive from a single root language, Latin. D) Romance languages derive from a single root language, Arabic. E) migration efforts were slowed by intervening obstacles.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

It is believed the most prominent means by which humans add CO2 to the atmosphere is by ________.

A) the burning of coal and other fossil fuels B) renewable energy C) nuclear electric power D) solar power

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Why is the Moment magnitude scale favored over the Richter magnitude scale?

A) The Richter magnitude is based on older models of seismographs that are no longer used to record earthquakes. B) The Richter magnitude always underestimates the amount of energy released by an earthquake. C) The Moment magnitude measures the total energy released by an earthquake. D) The moment magnitude carries the calculated values out to more decimal places so it is more precise.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences