Frozen Tundra

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Frozen Tundra
Jolee Philley Josh Naset
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Tundra Landscape

• The tundra ground can only support hardy, low
  growing plants, such as mosses, heaths and
  lichens giving it a greenish brown appearance.
• The lack of soil in a tundra region may be due to
  erosion from wind and ice. During the Ice Ages
  more than 10,000 years ago, glaciers scraped any
  soil leaving only bare rock.
• Less than 18 inches of soil thaws during the
  summer.

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Where is the Tundra?

• Ice forms
• Pingos, hammocks or hummocks, and polygons.

Pingo is a small circular or oval hill formed
when a pool of water under the ground freezes and
pushes the soil up and out. Hammock is when
large blocks of ice meet and one goes over the
top of the other and they melt and the ground is
uneven. Polygon are cracks in the ground that
take on geometric shape.

• Located in Northern Europe, Siberia, Northern
  most part of North America, and a few places in
  the southern hemisphere.
• Plains are low, located about 1,000 feet above
  sea level.

Tundra
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Plants

• Seasonal frost heaves disrupts root systems
  preventing support for tall vegetation.
• Plants are small.
• They are near to the ground to avoid the strong
  wind and cold temperatures.
• Examples of vegetations are lichen and dwarf
  willow.

• Hairy stems help to keep some plants warm.
• Plants do not come alive until the summer when
  conditions are just right for growth.
• The growing season is short and can last up to 60
  days.
• Common plant colors are yellow, orange and red,
  this helps the plants absorb more heat from the
  sun.

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• The soil in the Artic has two layers, the active
  layer and the inactive layer.
• The active layer
• Ranges from ten inches to 3 feet.
• About 15 of it is well drained.
• The inactive layer
• Commonly called the permafrost layer.
• Stays frozen all year.
• Made of gravel, bedrock, clay or silt.
• Prevents the water captured in the active layer
  from draining.
• Poor in nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus.

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Aurora Borealis
The above pictures are the Aurora Borealis, more
commonly known as the Northern Lights. It
occurs when energy enters the earths atmosphere
and creates flashes of light. The next picture
is a ray traced JPG image of N. Lights.
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Tundra Climate

• It is the coldest and driest of all the biomes on
  Earth.
• In the winter the temperature can reach 50
  degrees F. The average temperature in the summer
  is 30-60 degrees F.
• The precipitation is less than 10 inches per
  year.
• There is very little evaporation, which results
  in moisture being absorbed into the ground,
  called permafrost.
• Average Artic temperature in the summer is 30-60
  degrees F.
• The strong winds can cause white outs, which
  can last for days.

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Animals

• Animals adapt to snowy conditions by hibernating,
  such as the artic ground squirrel.
• This means that they remain in a motionless
  state, with reduced body function and a lowered
  body temperature that may be close to freezing.
• Animals raise their young quickly in the short
  summer due to the cold winters.

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• Their fur has two layers.
• One is long and black protective hair on the
  outside.
• Soft warm underfur (which they shed in the
  summer) called the qiviut.
• Fur can reach lengths of one meter long!
• Herbivore (belongs to the deer family.
• Eat grass, lichen, and low shrubs.
• Stands 1.9-2.3 m, their tails 9-10 cm.
• They do not migrate.

Musk Oxen
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• Migratory
• Spends their summers in the Artic their winters
  in the forest at the tundras edge.
• Some travel over 1200 miles each year.
• Fur
• Winter coat is long and thick which protects them
  from freezing.
• Hooves
• Wide flat to allow them easier access over the
  snow ice.

Caribou
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Slide Show of the Artic

• The following is a slide show of the tundras
  landscape, animals and plants.

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Are you ready?

• SoHow does the climate effect the animals and
  the plants??
• I need some volunteers!