What is a 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).
What is the geomorphological process of nivation?
Nivation is the set of 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.
Is nivation periglacial?
Periglacial Processes: Erosion As a result, three forms of processes tend to dominate in periglacial environments: nivation; eolian erosion and deposition; and fluvial erosion and deposition. Nivation is the localized form of erosion associated with isolated patches of snow that remain through the summer season.
What is a Pingo landform?
pingo, dome-shaped hill formed in a permafrost area when the pressure of freezing groundwater pushes up a layer of frozen ground. The most spectacular landforms associated with permafrost are pingos, small ice-cored… Open-system pingos are those that receive liquid water continuously from a groundwater aquifer.
What does Nivation mean in geography?
: erosion of rock or soil caused by the alternate thawing and freezing of meltwater beneath and at the margins of snowbanks.
What is the definition of Solifluction in geography?
Solifluction is a process where soil is saturated and starts flowing over a slope.
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.
Why is pingo important?
The Pingo Canadian Landmark protects a unique arctic landform: ice-cored hills called pingos. Rising out of the flat tundra, pingos provide a distinctive backdrop to the community of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. The Pingo Canadian Landmark features 8 of the 1350 pingos found in the region, including Ibyuk Pingo.
What is solifluction and permafrost?
Solifluction, flowage of water-saturated soil down a steep slope. Because permafrost is impermeable to water, soil overlying it may become oversaturated and slide downslope under the pull of gravity. Soil that has been opened and weakened by frost action is most susceptible.
What is the meaning of the 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. If the snow completely melts each summer the hollow is deepened; otherwise not (Thorn, 1976).
What happens when the snow melts in nivation hollow?
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 definition of nivation in Merriam Webster?
Definition of nivation. : erosion of rock or soil caused by the alternate thawing and freezing of meltwater beneath and at the margins of snowbanks. You must — there are over 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one that’s only in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.