Home Copyright About GEOPIX Contact GEOPIX Catalogue Downloads Online Store Website Back
Glacial Deposition

Vast quantities of material resulting from erosion are laid down, by glacial deposition, as a veneer of superficial deposits covering the newly eroded land surface, influencing present day scenery, farming, land use and drainage (including, perhaps, for your school/college playing fields)

Glaciers are

  • cold
  • rigid (though able to flow)
  • able to fill the whole valley
 Spitsbergen

Glaciers are therefore able to carry vast quantities of material of all shapes and sizes.

Material carried by a glacier is

  • unsorted
  • unstratified
  • angular
  • striated
  • smoothed
 Franz Joseph

When the glacier melts, this material is deposited and left where it is until transported further by:
  • meltwater
  • later river erosion.
 Iceland



MATERIAL CARRIED ON THE ICE

lateral moraine
Lateral moraine 		medial moraine
Medial moraine


MATERIAL DEPOSITED BY THE ICE

till/drift
Till 		terminal moraine
Terminal moraine

drumlins
Drumlin 		erratics
Erratic


MATERIAL DEPOSITED BY THE ICE AND RE-WORKED BY MELTWATER

outwash sand and gravel Outwash


MATERIAL DEPOSITED BY MELT-WATER WITHIN THE ICE

esker Esker


Geopix Study Topic "Glacial Deposition"
  • gives a full image of each of these, and other, examples;
  • describes the features of the main depositional landforms;
  • explains how each landform is related to glacial processes;
  • suggests how to answer exam questions on this topic.

The Study Topic contains the following pages:

summary summary summary summary
summary summary summary summary
summary summary summary summary
summary summary summary summary
summary
'Glacial Deposition' is part of the Glaciation Guide CD.

To order this CD go to the Geopix Online Store