Glaciation and Ice

Where do you find ice?

Places of high latitude

Places of high altitude

Ice sheets

A layer of ice covering an extensive tract of land for a long period of time

Found in the north and south poles and they are areas of high latitude

Alpine regions and glaciers

Glacial System

Input: zone of accumulation, picks up snow and debris

Storage: were ice and debris are stored in the middle of the glacier and locked there

Output: zone of ablation where meltwater is released

Glacial erosion

Glaciers have massive capacity to erode landscapes, due to their vast
size, weight and constant movement.

Glacial transport

supreglacial - debris going over the glacier down to the moraine pile at the bottom

englacial - through the glacier in the middle

subglacial- a passage along the bottom of the glacier

A Crevasse

A deep open crack in a glacier

Cirque Glaciers or Corries

They are small hollows of high, north facing slopes

Over time ice collects and glaciers develop and begin to move downslope in a rotational manner

Pyramidal Peaks, Horns and Aretes

When a cluster of cirques from around the slopes of a high peak then pyrimidal peaks and horns are able to form.

Along the edge separating two cirques, razor sharp aretes develop - matterhorn, switzerland

U shaped valleys

As glaciers move down valley they continue to reshape it. Valley glaciers are much bigger than cirque glaciers and carry much greater mass of ice. This enables them to erode through abrasion and plucking at a much faster rate. The resulting landform after glaciation is a deep and wide U-shaped valley, with truncated spurs.

Glacial Deposits

Moraine

Lateral moraine - moraine that is picked up via the side of the mountains

Recessional moraine - moraine that builds up at the bottom of a glacier

Eratics

Erratics are large boulders and rocks that are a different type of rock compared to the dominant geology of the area where they stand. They were deposited by previous glaciers.