levo

Glaciated Landscapes

Glacial landscapes and human activity

  • 2 things to know
  • Component 1 Section A

Overview

Glacial lake outburst flood, named GLOF and its consequences and GLOF outside the Himalayas.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Define a glacial lake outburst flood.

Key term

Why has the risk of GLOFs risen in the Himalayas?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Define a glacial lake outburst flood.

    Model answer

    A GLOF is the sudden release of water held behind a moraine or ice dam. The dam fails and a wall of water and debris sweeps down the valley.

  2. 2

    Why has the risk of GLOFs risen in the Himalayas?

    Model answer

    Warming has accelerated glacier retreat, so meltwater ponds behind unstable moraine dams. Over 20 glacial lakes in Nepal are currently classed as potentially dangerous.

  3. 3

    Describe a named GLOF and its consequences.

    Model answer

    The Dig Tsho outburst in the Khumbu region of Nepal in August 1985 released about 5 million m³ of water. The flood destroyed the almost complete Namche hydroelectric plant, 14 bridges and about 30 houses.

  4. 4

    Give an example of a GLOF outside the Himalayas.

    Model answer

    A moraine dam at Lake Palcacocha in Peru failed in December 1941. The flood reached the city of Huaraz and around 1,800 people were killed.

  5. 5

    What warning signs suggest a moraine dam is about to fail?

    Model answer

    Rapid growth of the lake, seepage through the dam and calving of ice into the water all suggest instability. Rockfall or an avalanche into the lake can trigger the wave that overtops the dam.

  6. 6

    Name a GLOF management scheme and describe what was done.

    Model answer

    The Imja Tsho project in Nepal lowered the lake by about 3.4 m during 2016. Engineers cut a controlled outlet channel through the moraine and installed an automated early warning system.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Coastal Landscapes
Glaciated Landscapes
Changing Places
Water and Carbon Cycles

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

One therefore represents 250 metres.
centimetremetremillimetre

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

ACustomary rights are often unwritten.
BA government can lease the same land to an investor.
COccupants then have no legal defence against eviction.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Due west is a bearing of 270°.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Glaciated Landscapes, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.