How do glaciers change the land?
486945
what do you think they are billions of tons moving across material mostly softer than the Glacier so they grind ,away mountains and soils and anything in the way ,\nthe titanic was no match for just a minute piece of ice ,\nclaciers are a hundereds of times bigger,they also carry huge rocks with them which do a bit of grinding on their own,\nin some parts of the world .like the high veld in South Africa the land got its shape by huge masses moving over them.
538752
It can be one or the other or both.\n\nFor example, farming may change a forest into land that is easily eroded. Climate changes include lots of rain either at the site or upstream Maybe a hot summer will melt more snow from a mountain..there are just a few examples.
308015
Short answer: nothing would happen.\n\nLonger answer:  Think of it like this.  The oceans make up 2/3rds of the surface area of the planet, approximately.  They are much, much deeper than tall buildings, trees, or even mountains.  Also think about water displacement- the volume of water that something displaces is equal to its own volume.\n\nRising sea levels are caused, mostly, by melting polar ice caps.  So how big are these ice caps and how much is melting?  The ice caps cover the Arctic (the size of a major continent) and most of Antarctica, which together is probably the size of two major continents.  Worst case scenario- most of it melts.  Let's be optimistic- 10%.  Can you really imagine the boats that we have adding up to 10% the volume of an entire continent, let alone two?  No, it's ridiculous.  A mountain or two, sure, plausible, but something the size of Texas?  No.  Absolutely not.
814186
the yes or no ones and the easy ones...\nglobal warming is causing glaciers to melt which sucks..
536136
I have never hear of an avalanche directly altering the earth. \n\nHowever, if the avalanch occurs in an area where they are reltaively uncommon and is large, it is likely that the mass of snow will uproot many or most trees in its path. As a result of this deforestation, come spring, the hillside will experience a lot of erosion. Obviously, that will change the geometry of the hillside in question.
857599
I guess I'm one of those people who notices changes in my own state - winters are NOT the same - but I am aware that our planet has undergone changes in the past. Are humans having an effect? I'm sure of it. But how much? And how much of the changes we're seeing are completely natural in the grand scheme of things? I'm not prepared to answer.
344672
Global Warming.....glaciers melting and too much water for the land.
787502
That's a lot of questions...\n\nThe land wouldn't be completely covered but the sea level would rise about 200ft so just about all coastal areas would be completely flooded. Obviously everything above that altitude would still be ok but the population would be squeezed into a much smaller area.\n\nMillions of years ago the climate was much warmer and warm ocean currents circled Antarctica which meant that it was totally ice-free and inhabited by rich plant and animal life. At this time the sea level was generally much higher than it is today. At other times, during Ice Ages, much more water was locked up as ice at the Poles and the sea level was much lower than at present.\n\nNo-one knows what is under every part of the Antarctic ice but people have drilled down to the rock in a number of places. Any remains of lost civilisations or other such surface features are likely to have been crushed and ground to dust by the weight of millions of tons of ice. It is known that there are large coal deposits left over from the compacted remains of the plants that once thrived there and there are other mineral deposits as well. At least one prehistoric lake has also been found - frozen solid, of course beneath hundreds of feet of ice and snow.\n\nThe magnetic poles are gradually shifting all the time and many maps such as UK Ordnance Survey maps indicate the rate of variation... on the most recent map I have it states that Magnetic North is moving by 09' East each year. Historically a number of "polar reversals" have been recorded where basically the magnetic north and south poles swap places (282 times in the last 10 million years).  This seems to happen quite suddenly and probably when the gradual shift reaches a critical balance point.\n\nThe main evidence comes from rocks produced from mid-ocean ridges which erupt as liquid magma and rapidly solidify retaining the magnetic field that they were subjected to as they hardened. From this it is possible to see that the North and South Poles have "flipped" and quite regular intervals for millions of years - and in fact in geological terms we seem about due for another such an event.\n\nIt appears that when the poles swap in this way there are often several rapid exchanges before the new arrangement is reached so that the North Pole may go N-S-N-S-N-S in a short space of time before sticking at the new reversed state. This would probably cause all sorts of temporary problems such as disruption to navigation and possibly interference with radio signals and so forth. As some of the rocks of the Earth contain a certain amount of iron which is susceptible to magnetic influences there may also be earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
5986
of course they move very slowly\nso slowly that it is not noticeable\n\nSpeed of glacial movement\nThe speed of glacial displacement is partly determined by friction. Friction makes the ice at the bottom of the glacier move slower than the upper portion. In alpine glaciers, friction is also generated at the valley's side walls, which slows the edges relative to the center. This has been confirmed by experiments in the 19th century, in which stakes were planted in a line across an alpine glacier, and as time passed, those in the center moved further.\n\nMean speeds vary; some have speeds so slow that trees can establish themselves among the deposited scourings. In other cases they can move as fast as many meters per day, as is the case of Byrd Glacier, an overflowing glacier in Antarctica which moves 750-800 meters per year (some 2 meters (6 ft) per day), according to studies using satellites.\n\nMany glaciers have periods of very rapid advancement called surges.[2] These glaciers exhibit normal movement until suddenly they accelerate, then return to their previous state. During these surges, the glacier may reach velocities up to 1000 times greater than normal.
211211
You need to think about this in terms of the question, that is what one of these processes involves movement of sediment.\n\nWeathering does involve movement of sediment, since weathering includes lots of processes that break down rocks into smaller particles or even dissolve rocks. Dissolution of limestone by carbonic acid in water is weathering that 'moves' rock. Freeze-thaw weathering of sandstone breaks the sandstone into smaller particles that are carried away by water, gravity, and wind. \n\nDeposition is the end result of the process of moving sediment, and may be the only one that does not answer your question, but because it is part of the process of 'moving' sediment it probably counts. \n\nErosion definitely moves sediment. Soil, sand, and rock are eroded by moving water and transported to new locations. \n\nAbrasion results in 'moving' sediment. Glaciers abrade underlying rock and grind it into small particles. Wind blows sand grains against rock and abrades it and reduces it to smaller particles. \n\nI think the only correct answer here is "all of the above.”
278416
The North Pole is constitued of ice, unlike the South Pole, there is no land mass underneath the ice.  Global warming causes the ice sheets to melt and break apart.  If a polar bear is on one of these ice sheets that breaks up it has to swim back to a larger, more substantial area to live.  But what is happening is that the bears are drowning before they can reach another ice sheet.
734739
Glaciers flow because of gravity.\n\nView this page:\nhttp://www.answers.com/topic/last-glacial-maximum\nFor info and a pic of what the world probably looked like during the last ice age. The grey denotes glaciers. The land (brown) has been adjusted for the drop in sea level and the ocean temperature difference is shown.\n\nThe ocean levels dropped. Much of the continental shelf which is now under water was exposed, dry land. The water that now covers them was locked up in the the glaciers.\n\nAlso look:\nhttp://uk.encarta.msn.com/encnet/RefPages/RefMedia.aspx?refid=461527006&artrefid=761570002&pn=3&sec=-1
793409
The Cooling period is "started" by a warming trend. "Global warming" causes more of the earths water to evaporate(even if for a time the warming takes from the poles) into the atmosphere and as it moves into to poles it is frozen. Very gradually there is a shift in temperature as the poles increase in moisture content When glaciars are large enough they can affect the general climate and local weather. The glaciars, being quite dry and cold and having influenced the enviornment, continue to draw in moisture and grow...eventuallllllllllly you have an ice age.\n\nNearly all moderate(read modern) glacial activity is fluctuating in response to the enviornment and not affecting it...though with a possiblity of global warming, that may change in 10-20 thousand years...lol
73569
Migration to warmer regions. Not all of the earth was covered in ice.
879280
Where the glaciers have deposited their till, it will be full of soil and rocks. Plants still can grow, but the rocks get in the way, so raising grazing animals such as cattle is the preferred method of farming. In glacial eroded areas, the soil may have been totally scraped out, leaving rocks and minerals available for open mining. In some cases, there will be some soil deposited that is rich in nutrients, which is good for growing crops.
303533
The First Source Shows an animation of the glacier that covered North America.\n\nSecond Source - 6th paragraph says the path of the traveling peoples had to be among the rocky mountains.  This makes an educated guess that the glacier stopped at the Rocky Mountains.\n\nThe Third source, last paragraph, talks about the glacier causing the geological area and shape of the Calgary area to be formed by a glacier over Millions of years.
502591
The fastest moving glacier in the world started speeding up a few years ago. The Columbia Glacier, between Valdez and Anchorage, Alaska sped up in 1999 from 25 metres per day to 35 metres per day. From 1982 to 2000, the glacier retreated 12 kilometres. Talk about glacial speed!\n\nGlaciers are sometimes called "rivers of ice." They move by sliding, but the internal speed varies––the centre moves faster than the sides. When a glacier is flowing, it grinds small rocks into powder. When a glaicer retreats, left behind is a tell-tale shape––a U-shaped valley.