Glacier

• a thick ice mass that originates on land from

the accumulation, compaction, and
recrystallization of snow.
• Agent of weathering, erosion, and deposition
– acquire, transport and deposit sediment
• Occupy ~10% of land area
• “Interrupts” hydrologic cycle by “locking up”
water
 GLACIERS

• Types of Glaciers
-Valley (alpine)
-Continental (Greenland, Antarctica)
 Glacier Types

1. Valley (Alpine)
• Found in mountainous areas
• Smaller than ice sheets
• Lengths greater than widths
• Only cover a small region
• Transform V-shaped valleys into U -shaped valleys
• Makes the land more rugged
Valley (Alpine) Glacier Glaciers
U-Shape made by a Valley Glacier
 Glacier Types
2. Ice sheets (Continental glacier)
• Large scale – cover 10% of Earth’s land
• Found in polar regions
– Greenland – 1.7 million km2
– Antarctica – 13.9 million km2
Makes the land flatter
A continental glacier (Antarctica)
Buried snow changes to ice
 ICE AGE
The Ice Age

• A. When it occurred - 1,000,000 years ago, and still in it!

• B. Extent - Intersection of Ohio and Mississippi rivers
and as far east as NY
• C. North America’s 3 major centers
– 1. Labrador center - east
– 2. Keewatin - central
– 3. Cordilleran - west
• D. Cycle - Advanced and receded 4x’s; 11,000 years
ago was last advance
North American Glaciation
Upper Midwest Glaciation
 .
Causes of Glacial Climates
– A. Four facts to consider
• 1. I million years ago, Ice Age began, including 4 major
advances of the ice sheets.
• 2. Warm interglacial periods came between.
• 3. Other ice ages have occurred in the past 600 million
years.
• 4. In last age, glaciers advanced and receded in North and
South hemispheres at the same time.
 .
-B. Possible causes
• 1. Energy from sun changes.
• 2. Volcanic activity and dust in atmosphere.
• 3. During mountain building more land was above snow
line. (More land under ice, might change the climate)
• 4. Continents in older formations may have prevented hot
and cold water currents from mixing.
• 5. Changes in earth’s tilt or orbital shape.
 MOVEMENT
Glacier Movement
• How Glaciers Move
A. Process of movement
1. Weight (gravity) pulls ice down
2. Melting at bottom aids lubrication
B. Speed
1. Movement
» From a few cm to 3000 cm /day
» Faster in the middle.
 TRANSPORT
Glaciers Transport Loose Rock
• A. Range of particle size
• Fine powder to giant boulders
B. Plucked from the bedrock over
which is flowing or carrying what has
fallen on top of the ice sheet
 DEPOSITION
Deposits By Glaciers
• Drift – ALL deposits of glaciers
– 1. Till - unsorted (under the glacier &/or in front)
– 2. Outwash - sorted by size (left in front of glacier) by
meltwater rivers
TILL (Unsorted debris)
Glacial landforms.
 Results of GLACIATION
A. Moraines – formations of deposited particles
once glacier recedes
• 1. Ground moraines - in glacier before
deposited
• 2. Lateral moraines - deposited on sides of
glaciers
• 3. Medial moraines -deposited on the sides of
two converging glaciers,
resulting between the two
• 4. End moraines - deposited at the ice front
A MORAINE
 .
B. Outwash plains
• Formation and description - broad flat areas in front of
glaciers (usually prairies or farmland today)

C. Eskers
• Formation and description - long winding ridges where
material was deposited in tunnels within glacier
– Examples - Maine and New York
OUTWASH PLAIN
OUTWASH PLAIN to farmland
ESKER
D. Drumlins
– 1. Formation and description - long smooth
canoe - shaped hills made of till produced
when advancing glaciers have run over earlier
glacial moraines
– 2. Examples - Southeastern Wisconsin, South
of Lake Ontario, Boston, Massachusetts, and
Minnesota
DRUMLINS
 .
• Kames, Kettles, and Deltas
– E. Kames
• 1. Formation and description
– Small cone shaped hills of sand and gravel from streams on
top of glaciers
– F. Kettles
• 1. Formation and description
– Circular hollows on terminal moraines and outwash plains
formed from large blocks of ice settling out and melting
– G. Deltas
• 1. Formation and description
– When glacial streams empty into lakes
KAMES
 KETTLE LAKES
• B. Kettle lakes
– 1. Formation
• Water from ice melt left behind in kettles
– 2. Examples
• Zillions of them in Minnesota and Wisconsin, not to
mention the Great Lakes
A Kettle Lake.
Glaciers carve out the Great Lakes