science

Upsala Glacier

Upsala Glacier is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Upsala Glacier rather than just read about it. In short: The Upsala Glacier is a large valley glacier on the eastern side of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Its higher portion lies in a disputed territory between Chile and Argentina.

Key takeaways

Upsala Glacier belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Upsala Glacier to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Upsala Glacier from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Upsala Glacier is a large valley glacier on the eastern side of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Its higher portion lies in a disputed territory between Chile and Argentina. While the glacier flows from north to south it has three lesser eastflowing tributary glacier: Bertacchi, Cono and Murallón. Each year, over 700,000 tourists visit Los Glaciares National Park, where this glacier is located, but most go to Perito Moreno glacier as it has easier accessibility. The name of this glacier comes from the old spelling with one p of Uppsala University, which sponsored the first glaciological studies in the area. The university is located in Uppsala, Sweden. Uppsala glacier is one of the most famous in this region. Although it is dwarfed in popularity in terms of number of visitors from nearby Perito Moreno, it is still an important part of the local tourism infrastructure in the Argentinian Patagonia region. It is one of the most popular day tours from the nearby city of El Calafate, Argentina. People can take 4x4 vehicles as well as hike to get nearby this glacier and have vantage point views of this region. The glacier terminus is at Upsala channel of Lago Argentino. The Upsala Glacier is well known for its rapid retreat; retreat has been ongoing since the glacier was first documented in 1810. It is still the third largest glacier in this icefield. Upsala Glacier exhibited almost continual recession up until 1999. The acceleration in ice motion during the two decades preceding 1999 may have been augmented by the release of backstress when the glacier retreated beyond the islands in Brazo Upsala. In 2008, another period of even faster retreat started, reported as being about 10 times faster than the period recorded in the eight years prior. As of 2018 Upsala Glacier has retreated to such degree that it no longer constrain its tributary Bertacchi Glacier. Likely this makes Bertacchi Glacier have higher flow rates reflected with a subsequent stretching and thinning out of parts of the glacier as well. At parts the velocity of flow is also thought to have increased in Bertacchi Glacier as result of the near-separation from Upsala Glacier. It is also worth noting that this glacier is very well known due to its large effects from climate change and how it has some of the most impacts in the world from increasing temperatures as well as changes in precipitation.

See also List of glaciers Retreat of glaciers since 1850

External links Greenpeace campaign film showing the retreat since 1928. NASA article on the features of the Upsala Glacier.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Upsala Glacier

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Upsala Glacier claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Upsala Glacier before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Upsala Glacier ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Upsala Glacier

In research: Upsala Glacier appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Upsala Glacier in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Upsala Glacier is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Argentina geography stubs, Chile geography stubs, Glacier stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Upsala Glacier outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Upsala Glacier in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Upsala Glacier means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Upsala Glacier out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Upsala Glacier in simple terms?

The Upsala Glacier is a large valley glacier on the eastern side of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Its higher portion lies in a disputed territory between Chile and Argentina.

Why does Upsala Glacier matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Upsala Glacier?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Upsala Glacier.