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How do glaciers create erosional and depositional landforms?
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glacial landform
Eskers,
or narrow
ridges of
gravel and sand left by a retreating glacier,
wind through western
Nunavut, Canada, near the Thelon River.
Glaciers reshape the Earth's surface through two primary processes: erosion and deposition.
Erosional Landforms
Glacial erosion occurs as ice moves across the landscape, acting as a powerful agent of abrasion and plucking. As glaciers flow, they incorporate rock debris into their base, which then acts as a tool to grind and polish the underlying bedrock.1
- Alpine Features: In mountainous regions, glaciers carve out amphitheatre-shaped hollows called cirques. When these basins fill with water, they form tarns. Glaciers also transform narrow, V-shaped river valleys into broad U-shaped valleys. Where multiple glaciers erode a mountain from different sides, they create sharp, knife-edge ridges known as arĂȘtes and pointed peaks called horns.1
- Large-Scale Erosion: Glaciers can carve deep troughs, such as fjords, and have been responsible for the formation of major basins like the Great Lakes.2
Depositional Landforms
Deposition occurs when glaciers lose their ability to transport debris, often as the ice melts.
- Till Deposits: Material deposited directly by ice is called till. This includes morainesâridges of debris formed at the margins of glaciersâand drumlins, which are streamlined, elongated mounds of sediment aligned with the direction of ice flow.342
- Meltwater Deposits: Glacial meltwater also transports and sorts sediment, creating stratified deposits. A prominent example is the esker, a sinuous ridge formed by streams flowing in tunnels beneath the ice.25