Lesson 3.1.4.1

3.1.4.1 Glaciers as natural systems Quiz: AQA Geography, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 3.1.4.1, Glaciers as natural systems: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Geography (7037), Unit 1: Physical geography, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. In a glacial system, what is the accumulation zone?

    • The meltwater channel beneath the glacier, which carries water away from the ice base
    • The part of a glacier where ice loss through melting exceeds gain over the year
    • The part of a glacier where snow gain exceeds loss over the year
    • The moraine deposited at the glacier terminus, which marks the furthest extent of the ice

  2. Which term describes loss of ice from a glacier through melting, sublimation and calving?

    • Ablation
    • Regelation, which is the refreezing of meltwater within cracks in the ice
    • Accumulation, which is the gain of snow and ice from snowfall and avalanches each year
    • Nivation, which is the frost weathering and erosion beneath a snow patch on a slope

  3. What is the equilibrium line on a glacier?

    • The boundary of the glacier's terminal moraine, which marks the outer edge of the debris
    • The line where meltwater flows into a lake at the glacier's snout during the summer months
    • The highest point of the glacier surface, which marks the top of the accumulation area
    • The boundary between the accumulation zone and the ablation zone, where gains equal losses

  4. A glacier has an accumulation of 2.4 m water equivalent per year and an ablation of 1.6 m water equivalent per year. What is its mass balance?

    • +4.0 m water equivalent per year, which is obtained by adding the accumulation and the ablation together
    • +1.6 m water equivalent per year, which is equal to the ablation value given in the question
    • -0.8 m water equivalent per year, because the ablation is subtracted from accumulation with the wrong sign
    • +0.8 m water equivalent per year

  5. Which statement describes a glacial budget?

    • A count of the number of moraines on a glacier, which shows how often the ice has advanced
    • The balance between accumulation and ablation over a period, which indicates whether the glacier is growing or shrinking
    • A record of the annual income from glacier tourism, which is used to fund the monitoring of the ice
    • A measure of the glacier's colour in summer, which reflects the amount of debris on its surface

  6. Which type of glacier is frozen to its bed and erodes the landscape only slowly?

    • A warm-based glacier, which has meltwater at its bed that allows the ice to slide and erode
    • A valley glacier with abundant basal meltwater, which slides rapidly over its bed
    • A surge-type glacier that moves rapidly in short episodes, eroding its bed as it goes
    • A cold-based glacier

  7. Which glacier type is characterised by meltwater at its base that enables basal sliding?

    • A cold-based glacier, which is frozen to its bed and so has little basal sliding
    • A polar ice cap frozen to bedrock, which keeps its base below the freezing point
    • A warm-based glacier
    • A sea ice shelf floating on water, which is not in contact with any rock bed at all

  8. Which factor best explains why the position of the equilibrium line varies between glaciers?

    • Differences in the colour of the glacier surface only, which affects how much light is absorbed
    • Differences in the length of the glacier's name, which has no effect on its physical processes
    • Differences in climate, aspect and altitude that change the balance of snowfall and melting
    • Differences in the number of tourists visiting the glacier, which change the amount of melt

  9. Which is the best description of historical patterns of ice advance and retreat?

    • Glaciers are unaffected by climate and move at random, without any link to the weather or the seasons
    • Glaciers have always remained the same size since the last ice age, with no change in their extent
    • Glaciers only advance and never retreat, so their extent keeps growing from one century to the next
    • Glaciers have advanced and retreated over time in response to climate, leaving evidence in landforms and deposits

  10. Which statement about ablation and accumulation in a glacier is correct?

    • They are only relevant to periglacial environments, where the ice is not present at all
    • They describe the colours of ice in the glacier, which vary with the amount of air bubbles
    • They are the two main inputs and outputs of the glacier mass budget
    • They are the names of two different glacier types, which are distinguished by their basal conditions

  11. A glacier's terminus retreats even though its accumulation zone is unchanged. Which explanation is most likely?

    • Ablation at the terminus has increased, for example through warmer summers
    • Accumulation has increased in the accumulation zone, which is pushing the ice downvalley faster
    • The glacier has become frozen to its bed, which stops the ice from moving forwards
    • The glacier has no ablation at all, so the terminus can only retreat through internal deformation

  12. Which concept links ice movement to the balance of inputs and outputs in a glacier system?

    • The glacial budget, which governs flow and the ice's response to accumulation and ablation
    • The sediment cell, which governs deposition and erosion along a stretch of the coastline
    • The sea-level curve, which governs the rate of erosion on exposed coastal cliffs
    • The aridity index, which governs the distribution of vegetation in drylands and deserts

  13. Which statement describes a glacier as a dynamic natural system?

    • Glaciers continually exchange energy and mass with their environment and respond to changes in climate
    • Glaciers have no feedback with the atmosphere or ocean, so their behaviour is entirely internal
    • Glaciers are closed systems with no energy input, so their mass can only decline over time
    • Glaciers are static features with no exchange of energy or mass with the atmosphere or the ground

  14. Which feedback is associated with glacier retreat through changes in surface reflectivity?

    • Carbon-sink feedback in which glaciers store more carbon in their ice and reduce the air's CO2 level
    • Hydrological feedback in which rivers dry up as the glaciers shrink, reducing the water supply to lowlands
    • Negative feedback in which retreating ice reflects more energy back to space and so cools the surface
    • Ice-albedo feedback, in which darker exposed surfaces absorb more energy and accelerate melting

  15. What is regelation in a glacier?

    • The melting of ice under pressure and its refreezing when the pressure falls
    • The frost weathering and erosion that occurs beneath a snow patch on a slope
    • The loss of ice by melting, sublimation and calving from the glacier surface
    • The gain of snow and ice each year through snowfall and avalanches onto the surface

  16. Which glacier zone experiences net melt in summer and lies below the equilibrium line?

    • The ablation zone
    • The accumulation zone, which is found above the equilibrium line where snow builds up
    • The moraine zone, which is the debris-covered ground beyond the snout of the glacier
    • The firn zone, which lies within the accumulation area as compacted granular snow

  17. A glacier has an accumulation area of 12 km2 and an ablation area of 8 km2. What percentage of the glacier surface is in the accumulation area?

    • 12 per cent, which is obtained by dividing the accumulation area by one hundred
    • 60 per cent
    • 150 per cent, which is obtained by dividing the accumulation area by the ablation area
    • 40 per cent, which is the share of the glacier surface occupied by the ablation area

  18. Which statement about the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) is correct?

    • The ELA is the same for all glaciers in the world, regardless of the local climate
    • A higher ELA indicates that a glacier is losing mass, because the accumulation zone has shrunk
    • A higher ELA indicates that a glacier is gaining mass, because the ablation zone has shrunk
    • The ELA is the altitude of the glacier's highest peak, which is fixed by the terrain

  19. What is firn on a glacier?

    • A layer of debris that is deposited at the glacier snout at the end of the melt season
    • A layer of volcanic ash that sits on the glacier surface after nearby eruptions
    • A type of meltwater channel that carries water beneath the ice to the snout
    • Granular snow that has survived one or more melt seasons and is compacting into ice

  20. Which glacier process is most associated with the formation of crevasses?

    • Plucking, which removes blocks from the bed but does not affect the surface cracks at all
    • Compressional flow, which squeezes ice and creates folds rather than open cracks
    • Extensional flow as the ice stretches over a steep slope or bedrock step
    • Internal deformation with no change in the surface of the ice in any part of the glacier

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