GLACIERSIn the following presentation you are going to see some actual

pictures of glaciers and landforms resulting from glacial movement.

Some key words we will learn:

Glacier Valleys

Fjords

Horns

Cirques

Hanging Valleys

Erratics

Moraines

Eskers and Drumlins

Striations

RIVER VALLEYS VS. GLACIAL VALLEYS

A glacier valley. Notice the ‘U’ shape. River valleys tend to be more ‘V’ shaped.

FJORDS A fjord is a

coastal glacial valley which reaches the sea, and thus becomes flooded with ocean water when the glacier retreats. While Norway is most famous for its fjords, fjords are also common right here in the United States, in Alaska.

HORNSHorns are

steeply carved sides of mountains into sheer surfaces and points. The most famous horn is the Matterhorn, in the Alps. Aretes are simply groups of these horns in a row.

CIRQUESCirques are

features where the side of the mountain has been scooped out, like a giant ice cream scoop has been taken to it. These cirques often feature a lake in them called a tarn.

HANGING VALLEYSHanging

Valleys are features where 2 or more glaciated or former valleys intersect at different elevations. There are often waterfalls from the higher to the lower valley.

ERRATICS Glacial Erratics

are large rocks carried by the Glacier, and dropped unceremoniously when the Glacier melts. These are much more noticeable because of their greater size in the case of Continental Glaciation, but Alpine Glaciers can carry them as well. The scooping out of rocks by splitting and pulling at it is called plucking.

MORAINES Lateral Moraines are material deposited laterally from the forward movement of the glacier. A medial moraine is a ridge of material marking the center of a former glacier. Terminal Moraines are piles of material dropped by the glacier at its end, and they mark the furthest advance of a glacier. A glacier in retreat, therefore, will show a series of recessional moraines, showing spots where its length stabilized for periods of time.

ESKERS AND DRUMLINSGlaciers can also form hills called eskers

and drumlins. Eskers are winding affairs from streams on or under a glacier.

Drumlins are teardrop shaped affairs. In fact, while almost all of you learned of Bunker Hill, what you may not know is that Bunker Hill is a drumlin created by continental glaciation!

ESKERS

Eskers, Drumlins, and Kettle Lakes

STRIATIONS Where Glaciers do not carve out, or carry away, they can instead wear away hard rock...polishing it, or causing cracks and grooves called striations.

Some key words we learned:FjordsHornsCirquesHanging ValleysErraticsMorainesEskers and DrumlinsStriations

There are many examples of glacial landforms found all over the world. Learn more about your area and find out what glaciers have affected your state.