Geography Notes: Glaciers 1.

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FORMATION OF GLACIERS CONTINENTAL GLACIER Temperature must cold enough for snow accumulation Accumulation > Melt, air must have sufficient moisture Firn: semisolid crystallized slush formed from periodic freezing and thawing Firn becomes more compacted forming into solid glacial ice Flow is down the mountain, and smaller tributary glaciers join with larger ones to create low, river valley Gravity forces the glacier to advance Accumulation > Ablation ( reduction of ice through melting and evaporation) Melting of ice water can also cause the ice to slide in the lower layers of glacier Due to friction, the bottom and side layers of move the slowest while the top and middle sections are fastest, hence the curved snout (front) These very thick and large ice sheets spread across relatively flat lowland regions Originally an alpine glacier without confines of river valleys and push the continental glacier forward Ice sheets deposits much debris from origin and leave rich soil deposits and lakes Can dig out huge depressions and alter the natural drainage pattern of a region During last ice age in North America, the weight of ice sheets pushed down the continent (isostatic sinking) and when the ice retreats, (isostatic rebound) occurs changing the landscape Glacier melt water enters cracks in the rock surface and freezes as rock particles The attached rocks get ripped off and carried away from the moving glaciers The freeze water expands as many of the crack enlarge and more susceptible to breaking The rock and debris attach to the moving glacial ice scrapes, gouges and polishes rock surfaces Abrasive material creates: rock flour a powdery fine, rock material Drift is any material deposited by the glacier o Till: refers to the deposits left by glacial ice melting, it is unsorted and unstratified o Fluvial/Outwash: refers to deposits left by melt water it is sorted and stratified, heaviest material first deposited Glaciation erodes the pre-existing v-shaped valleys into U-shaped ones, deepening and widening them Following the paths of pre-existing stream valleys

ALPINE GLACIER

PLUCKING ABRASION GLACIAL DEPOSITION

U-SHAPED VALLEY

Geography Notes: Glaciers 1.4

TRUNCATED SPUR HANGING VALLEY CIRQUE COL HORN ARETE STRIATIONS GLACIAL DEPOSITION provide the least resistance Blunt-edged ridge jutting from side of the glacial trough or valley As the glacier forms around sharp curves, spurs are created and extend into the valley Drops steeply from high elevations, feeding into deeper main valley Originally filled with ice with main valley glacier but when melted away creates the steep sides of the valley, spectacular waterfalls are created When the valley fills with salt water, creates a steepsided inlet Occurs when the ice has left the valley and sea water submerges the trough of the valley floor Original point of the glacier Is a hillside hallow created by plucking and abrasion Occurs when the glacier head erodes backwards, creating a depression and a tarn (small lake) found at bottom of cirque Lakes occur at different levels of the valley where the glacier has eroded rock areas of different strengths When glacier retreats, the depressions fill with water A mountain pass, occurs when two cirques erode the wall (arte) between them (Kicking Horse) The common back wall between to glaciers of a mountain ridge maybe eroded through plucking and frost wedging of cirques The glacial troughs also merge to create between both valleys The sharp peak where multiple cirques erode from more than one side Convergences of a group of cirques around a high mountain A sharp ridge created by action of 2 cirques eroding the mountain beside them Form when two glaciers in parallel valleys narrows the ridge in between The deep long scratches on bed rock surfaces from scraping and abrading of rock fragments attached to the advancing glacier Usually from Alpine glaciers Usually occurs from continental glaciers when melted, leaves behind large volume of sediments Drift: Any material left behind from glacier Glacial deposits do not undergo much chemical weathering prior to deposition so able to distinguish

FJORD

STAIRCASE(PATERNOSTE R) LAKE

Geography Notes: Glaciers 1.4

TILL ERRACTIC PRO-GLACIAL LAKE RIBBON/FINGER LAKES differences Unsorted and unstratified deposited from the glacial ice Consists of many shapes and sizes because ice cannot sort the sediments Sorted and stratified material left behind from glacial melt water Heaviest sediments deposited first , often consist of sand and silt Small-hill like deposits of debris left behind by continental glaciers Steep side shows the direction of ice sheet advance will longer slope shows direction of ice movement Large boulders deposited far away carried by the glaciers Differs from the underlying bedrock surface Lake formed from the continues ablation of the glacial, formed at the terminal moraine Narrow, deep lakes that are cold year round fed by glacial melt water A stratified ridge of glacial deposit left by the meltwater Meltwater can carry under the glacial ice and carry debris to snout of glacier Can form through the stagnant glacial ice and found usually at the ground level Kames: hills o Stratified sediments deposited by as outwash into low hills Kettles: depression o Occurs when a large block of ice is buried in the drift and melts, leaving a depression in the sediment Kettle Lakes: o Occurs when block of glacial ice gets left behind in depression, and when melted, creates a kettle lake An accumulation of boulders, stones or other debris deposited from the glacier End Moraines: mark the former position of the glacier snout o Terminal: mark the farthest position of the glacier o Recessional: occurs at every point during the retreat of the glacier Ground Moraines: deposited during retreat in the form of hills and plains Lateral Moraines: ridges deposited run parallel on the sides of the valley. Consist of material left from the valley walls Medial Moraines: appear as the ridge in between two alpine glaciers forming together. Sediment is squeezed

FLUVIAL GLACIAL/OUTWASH

DRUMLIN

ESKER

KAMES/KETTLES

MORAINES

Geography Notes: Glaciers 1.4

CREVASSES BENEFITS OF GLACIATION between Deep cracks when the glacier advances over uneven surfaces Often over rock surfaces Large chunks of ice that break off from the glacier when overcoming a steep slope or major drop off Usually break off into the ocean Bedrock facing the glacier tends to be polished smooth while the downward is steep and jagged by glacial plucking action Created when the glacier advances over a plug of very hard material that protects the less resistant rock on the down side of glacier and debris left creates the tail Leaves behind large deposit of fresh water for human and animal use Water can be used for hydro electric power and alternate water source Tourist attraction and recreational use (skiing) Gravel and debris deposits can be used for road construction Rich deposited material from glaciations can be ideal for farming and grazing Waterways for transporting goods

ICE FALLS ROUCHE MOUNTONNE (SHEEP ROCK) CRAG AND TAIL