Unit 13: Deserts

Unit 14: Glaciers

Stephanie Coyle
MACC
PHY 163: Geology
Agenda
● Origin of Deserts
● Desert Weathering & Erosion
● Desert Landforms
● Glacier Formation
● Glacier Movement
● Glacier Budget
● Glacier Landforms
● Ice Age Glaciation
Desert Origins
Desert Background
● 30% of Earthʼs surface
● Any region with low
rainfall (including
Antarctica!)
● found :
○ 2 belts around 30 N & S
latitude
○ Low latitude deserts
○ Near Tropic of Cancer
and Capricorn
● Near areas of high
pressure and sinking air
that is compressed and
warmed
Desert Background
Desert Background
● Rain shadows behind mountainous regions also cause deserts

https://opengeology.org/textbook/13-deserts/
Origin of Deserts - Atmospheric Circulation
● Over the equator, sun heats air and
causes it to rise
● Rains over tropics, air becomes heated
and rises again
● Dry air sinks and forms high pressure
over 15-30 latitude → desert
Origin of Deserts - Atmospheric Circulation
● N & S pole have high pressure and dry air over them
● Dry, Cold air descends

S. Hudson, CC BY 2.5
Origin of Deserts - Coriolis Effect
● Closer towards the equator, the faster the winds move
● In northern hemisphere, winds travel clockwise
● Affects jet streams, local winds/storms, and movement of polar & tropical air
● How does it work?

https://opengeology.org/textbook/13-deserts/
Desert Weathering & Erosion
Weathering in Deserts
● Takes place slower due to lack of
water/rain
● Wind is the biggest erosion agent in the
desert
○ Dust Storms
○ Loess: deposits of sand
○ Saltation
Dust Storms
B. Wolfe, 2022
Loess
● Deposits of windblown sand
● Common in Midwest (Nebraska)
from glaciers in last ice age
● Pronounced: luss
Saltation
● Sand grains picked up by wind, carried a short distance, dropped
● Rounds sand grains - abrasion

B. Wolfe, 2022
Saltation - Sliding Stones
● Thin layer of ice wraps around stone and carried by wind
● So heavy that it “slides” on sand looking like itʼs magic
● Video
Desert Landforms
Desert Landform
● Alluvial fans
● Ephemeral or intermittent lake
● Sand - cross bedding and sandstone
● Dunes - mounds of windblown sand
Alluvial
Fan
Ephemeral Lake
Sandstone
Sandstone
Dunes
Dunes
Glacier Formation
Glacier Background
● About 10% of Earthʼs surface is covered with a glacier
● Occur in mountainous areas or near the poles where it is always cold
● Long lasting, large mass of ice on land that moves on its own accord due to its
weight

USDS, 2016
Glacier Formation
● Low temperatures for snow
falling
● Cold, short summers so not
much snow melts and the new
snow can pack on top
● Moisture for snow
● Snow compacts, forms layers of
ice, eventually
Types of Glaciers
● Valley (alpine) glacier: form in mountainous regions
● Ice sheet: ice that covers a large amount of land
● Ice cap: smaller than an ice sheet

B. Wolfe, 2022
Valley (Alpine) Glacier
Ice Sheet/Ice Cap
Ice Sheet/Ice Cap

B. Wolfe, 2022

B. Wolfe, 2022
Glacier Movement
Glacier Movement
● Weight of glacier slowly pulls it
downhill
● Moves slowest near the bottom
and sides
● Moves fastest at middle and top
● Crevices form: cracks that form in
ice
Glacier Movement
Glacial Budget
Glacial Budget
● Zone of
accumulation:
area where glacier
grows
● Zone of ablation:
area where glacier
loses ice
● Equilibrium zone:
boundary between
the two zones
Glacial B. Wolfe, 2022

Budget
● Due to
climate
change,
glaciers
are
getting
smaller
each year
as the
zone of
ablation
grows
Glacial Landforms
Glacial Landform
● Erosional landforms
● Depositional landforms
● Glacial lakes
Erosional Glacial Landforms
● Glaciers are massive - as they move across rock they have a tendency to make the
rock smooth and scratch or make grooves in the rock (striations)

B. Wolfe, 2022
Erosional Glacial Landforms
● Turns valley from V shaped to U shaped due to excessive size and weight of glacier
Erosional Glacial Landforms
Erosional Glacial Landforms
B. Wolfe, 2022
Erosional Glacial Landforms
Erosional Glacial Landforms
● Fjord: drowned glacial valley, at or below sea level

B. Wolfe, 2022
Depositional Glacial Landforms
● Anything left behind from retreating glacier
● Till: unsorted sediments of all sizes left behind from a retreating glacier
○ Very erratic
○ Angular fragments
○ All mixed together
○ Been transported
by glacier so it doesnʼt
doesnʼt match
Depositional Glacial Landforms
● Moraine: low mounds of till on the
sides of a retreating glacier, front of
a glacier, or when two glaciers
combine

B. Wolfe, 2022
Depositional Glacial Landforms

B. Wolfe, 2022
Depositional Glacial Landforms
● Outwash: material deposited by debris laden glacial melt water
Depositional Glacial Landforms

B. Wolfe, 2022
Depositional Glacial Landforms
● Glacial lakes: lakes formed next to glaciers as they retreat
● Ex: Salt Lake and Finger Lakes, NY

https://opengeology.org/textbook/14-glaciers/#143_Glacial_Budget
Ice Age Glaciation
Geological Glaciation
● 4 well documented by ice cores in Antarctica
○ Archean-Proterozoic Ice Age 2.5 BYA
○ Late Proterozoic Ice Age 700 MYA “Snowball Earth”
○ Pennsylvanian Ice Age 300 MYA
○ Pliocene - Pleistocene Ice Age 2.5 MYA - 20,000 years ago “Ice Age”
● Large amounts of ice covered the Earth, in some cases almost down to the equator
● Infographic for more information
Causes of Glaciation
● Short term and long term
● Long term:
○ Plate tectonics break up and move to more extreme latitudes
● Short term:
○ Milankovitch Cycles: amount of solar radiation and variations in Earthʼs orbit and tilt
○ Amount of CO2 in air
Causes of Glaciation
Sea Level Change & Isostatic Rebound
● Most melting ice will not affect ocean depth - already in the ocean
● Ice melting on land will eventually make its way to the ocean and increase sea level
○ Additionally, land - no longer covered by weight of ice - will rebound and expand (isostatic rebound)
● Warmer temperatures (and ocean) takes up more space than colder water so
warmer temperatures also cause sea level to rise

Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science (2nd

Edition).