Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How does ground moraine create a hummocky landscape?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
glacial landform
Eskers,
or narrow
ridges of
gravel and sand left by a retreating glacier,
wind through western
Nunavut, Canada, near the Thelon River.
Ground moraine creates a hummocky landscape through the deposition of a thin, continuous sheet of till across large areas beneath a continental ice sheet. This process results in a topography characterized by low relief, featuring an alternating pattern of small till mounds and depressions.1
These depressions are often occupied by swamps or lakes, which further define the uneven, hummocky appearance of the terrain. While the term "hummocky" is also used to describe thermokarst topography—which forms through the melting of ground ice in permafrost regions—the hummocky nature of ground moraine is specifically a result of the irregular distribution of glacial debris deposited directly by the ice.12