What is nivation hollow?

A shallow depression or hollow in a mountainside, permanently or intermittently occupied by a snowbank or snow patch and produced by nivation. If the snow completely melts each summer the hollow is deepened; otherwise not (Thorn, 1976).

How are Blockfields formed?

Blockfields are extensive areas of angular rock that have been created by regular freeze-thaw activity fragmenting exposed rock in situ. The material is left strewn across the level ground with blocks representing more homogenous lithology and the gaps where the bedrock had more weaknesses and/or joints.

What is nivation glacier?

Nivation – hollows form under the emerging glacier as a result of the freeze-thaw cycle and mass wasting. Over time these may enlarge and start to form corries.

What is nivation A level geography?

Nivation – The effects of snow on a landscape. These include abrasion and freeze-thaw. Furthermore, melted snow triggers mass movements such as solifluction and slope wash. These processes may produce the shallow pits known as nivation hollows.

How is patterned ground formed?

Patterned ground occurs in alpine areas with freeze thaw cycles. These mounds grow because of the repeated freezing and thawing of the ground drawing in more water. There are blockfields present around 4,000 metres (13,123 ft) where the ground has cracked to form hexagons.

How are Felsenmeer created?

The felsenmeers (meaning “sea of rocks”) were formed by excessive frost activity. Quartzite, being a brittle rock, is very susceptible to frost wedging. Continuous wedging over time formed slopes of angular rock rubble. Some slopes are very stable; others have six-foot-high ridges of “talus moraine” formed at the base.

What are the differences between glacial and periglacial landscapes?

Glacial geomorphology is concerned principally with the role of glacial ice in landform and landscape evolution while periglacial geomorphology is fundamentally concerned with the development of landscapes in cold, nonglacial environments.

What is the definition of Solifluction in geography?

Definition. Solifluction, literally “soil flow,” is a category of shallow mass movement, which affects saturated unconsolidated deposits and results from reduction of internal friction and cohesion due to excess water.

How are Pingos created?

Pingos are formed when water, rising by hydraulic pressure through gaps in the permafrost, freezes and uplifts a mound of ice covered by a layer of alluvium.

What is a nivation hollow?

nivation hollow. nivation hollow . A shallow depression or hollow in a mountainside, permanently or intermittently occupied by a snowbank or snow patch and produced by nivation.

Does a nivation hollow become a cirque when it melts?

If the snow completely melts each summer the hollow is deepened; otherwise not (Thorn, 1976). It has been suggested that deepening of a nivation hollow produces a cirque, but this is not proven. Syn: nivation cirque; snow niche.

What is the process of nivation?

Nivation refers to the geomorphic processes associated with snow patches. The primary processes are mass wasting and the freeze and thaw cycle, in which fallen snow gets compacted into firn or névé.