Deserts, Glaciers and Climates Sci245

Deserts, Glaciers, and Climates

Kristie Scricco

SCI245

March 13, 2011

Lily Barkau

Deserts, Glaciers, and Climates

Within this paper I will describe the differences in the geological features of a desert landscape and glacial landscape. I will also describe the processes that create the landforms of both a desert landscape and glacial landscape. In addition, the changes that have occurred in the earth’s climate over in the past as well as the present will be shared along with my prediction of what the earth will look like into the 21st century. My prediction will include the weather and changes that I believe will occur in some geological features.

Desert landscapes are unique from the land features, to the plants, and animals. Deserts endure extreme heat, and receive about 10 inches of rain a year. One third of earths land is desert. Sand only makes up about one fifth of the desert landscape. Dunes are hills of sand often created by wind or transported by rainfall or other weather conditions. Dunes are found mostly along coast lines, such as the dunes of Oregon, to protect the land from waves but can also be found in desert terrain. Dune fields are large areas of land covered by sand dunes, while a large number of dune fields are called ergs.

Opposite from desert climates are glacier landscapes. Glacier landscapes are found above snow level where it is often cool even in the summer such as Antarctica and Greenland. A glacier is formed by ice, sediment, water, snow. When the pressure of new snow compacting the old snow, ice, and sediment creates firn, which is a denser snow. Further compression on top of firn creates a glacier (Tongass National Forest, 2002). Glacier landscapes are unique in that only specific species can whether the frigid temperatures along with the foliage that reside in these frigid climates. Penguins, seals, and ice worms are some of the few animals that live on a glacier (Murck, 2008).

The...