Glacier Page

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How Glaciers are formed

Glaciers are formed when large amounts of snowfall collect in a slight dip on a mountain side. The fresh snowfall compacts the already fallen snow into ice. This then moves downhill under the force of gravity. It causes erosion in three different ways: - Abrasion- this is when the glacier and the rocks it carries underneath it scrapes the underlying rock, scraping away the top layer of rock. - Plucking- this is when water gets in cracks and then freezes around the rock which is pulled away as the glacier moves downhill. - Freeze thaw- This is when water gets in cracks in rocks and then freezes, thus expanding and causing the cracks to expand as well. this ice will the melt and the crack fill with water again which will keep repeating. This will then crack off the rock into fragments over a period of time and the bits carried away by the glacier. This often happens in conditions when the temperature regularly fluctuates above and below freezing point.

Make sure you don't get squashed! Glaciers can move and sometime huge chunks of ice can fall.

Moraine Moraine is rocks, shingle and earth that has been carried by a glacier. There are two types of moraine, Terminal moraine and Recessional moraine. Terminal moraine is moraine that has been left at the furthest reach of the glacier. It is often made up of the material that the glacier pushes in front of it. Recessional moraines are formed where the glacier has retreated from the terminal moraine and then either reached its equilibrium or expanded forwards slightly.

This is the zone of ablotion (where the glacier melts back into water.

notice that the glacier is a dirty colour and not like an ice cube