Glaciers Moraines, drumlins and environmental effects Kyle Rosbrook

A glacier is a large, persistent body of ice that originated on land. They move slowly due to the stress of weight, and friction causing the bottom to slowly melt and lubricate itself for motion, carving the landscape as they move and transporting rocks and debris thousands of kilometers. Earthquakes can also affect their movement. They contribute much responsibility to lake and river formation; and affect lake and ocean highs a great deal

99% of the worlds glaciers are found in the artic and ant-artic poles, however they can be found also on every continent except Australia, mainly in the mountain ranges. Glacial ice the largest reservoir of fresh water on earth. They may store water one season and release it another as runoff or melt-water, which is especially important when other sources may be scarce. If the largest glaciers were to melt, the Greenland Glaciers would raise sea level by 6meters globally, and Antarctic glaciers would raise sea level by 65meters globally.

Moraines

Moraines are large areas of sediment deposited directly by glacial movement Often it is made of Till, varied sediment collected in one place and carried, sometimes kilometers, and then left by glacial retreat or advancement when it melts out. Prospectors can find clues to see how glaciers have moved and direction. For example diamonds have been found in till which have been used to locate area’s where mines have been established.

Drumlins  are asymmetrical, canoe shaped hills with aerodynamic profiles made mainly of till. Their heights vary from 15 to 50 meters and they can reach a kilometer in length. The tilted side of the hill looks toward the direction from which the ice advanced, while the longer slope follows the ice's direction of movement. This drumlin is found in Saskatchewan as a result of glacial movement

Glacial movement can transport huge rocks and boulders thousands of kilometers. This one can be found in Oregon. These are called Erratics

Eskers….. In the bottom of the glacier there are often large, ice walled tunnels carved by sediment. These tunnels then carve long snakelike ridges into the earth, piling stratified sediment, sand and gravel into embankments. The are often several kilometers long and very uniform in shape, resembling railroad embankments. Kettle Lakes…. are glacial depressions produced when large ice blocks are stuck and in the process of receding. After they melt, the sediment is left with holes. The diameter of such depressions ranges from 5 m to 13 km, with depths of up to 45 meters. Most are circular in shape due to the melting blocks of ice becoming rounded. The lakes that often form in these depressions are known as "kettle lakes“.

FACT! The Matterhorn is one of the worlds most dangerous mountains. Carved by glaciers, and completely surrounded by them, this 4 faces beast has seen 500 climbers die trying to ascend it between The town of Zermatt which is closest, can only be reached by train across the treacherous glacial ice field. Zermatt is completely car free for this reason