Landforms of Continental Glaciation

A receding continetal glacier exposes a variety of depositional and erosional landforms shown in Figure 19.18. Refer to this diagram as you read about the various landforms created by continental glaciers.

Figure 19.18 Glacial landforms created by the effects of continental glaciation. (Source Wikipedia, © Hans Hillewaert / CC BY-SA 4.0 Modified from the original and published here under CC BY-SA 4.0 license.)

A moraine is a glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated debris. Moraines often take the form of a belt of low hills composed of till. Those forming at the leading edge of the glacier end moraine can be found. A terminal moraine is an end moraine that marks the furthest advance of the ice sheet. A recessional moraine and end moraine deposited when the ice sheet pauses during retreat.

Figure 19.19 Terminus of Wordie Glacier in northeast Greenland with small terminal moraine. Source: NASA)

  Often, uplands will cause an ice sheet to separate into lobes. Interlobate moraines form between lobes of the ice sheet. Ground moraine is till deposited beneath a steadily retreating glacierthat was lodged beneath the glacier and generally found behind the terminal moraine. Ground moraine. Wetland areas are often created in ground moraine which is a convenient way of identifying them from a topographic map.

Figure 19.20 Outwash plain, Copper River region, Alaska (Courtesy USGS DDS21 Click image to enlarge)

An outwash plain forms ahead of the terminal moraine as melt water from the snout of a glacier deposits stratified drift. The outwash plain is a relatively flat surface that may be pock marked with depressions called kettles. If numerous kettles are present the surface is called a pitted outwash plain.

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