What am I?

 You can find me at high altitudes and high latitudes

 I need high snowfall in winter and cool temperatures in
summer
 I move slowly downhill
 I have sculpted mountains and carved out valleys
 I use the processes of erosion, transportation and deposition
to change the landscape
 I am a big river of ice
Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina.
An introduction to glacial processes
and landscapes

 What is glaciation?
 How are glaciers formed?
 How do glaciers shape the landscape?
 Upland features
 Lowland features

Hubbard Glacier, Alaska.

 What is glaciation?

 Glaciation is the study of ice and its impact on the environment.

 The Ice Age in Britain began approximately one million years ago
and ended about 20,000 years ago.
 Northern and Eastern parts of the British Isles were covered in
ice.
 Glaciers were formed which moved down valleys, carving out new
features.
How are glaciers formed?
 Glaciers are long standing masses of ice.
 They form in hollows (corries) on the colder, sheltered
side of a mountain
 Snow and ice gathers in the hollow and over time the
corrie gets larger.
 Inside the hollow the ice begins to move in a circular
motion.
 Eventually the ice will move out of the corries and
over the lip of the hollow.
 The glacier begins to move slowly down the mountain.
How do glaciers shape the landscape?

Main processes:
Abrasion- the fragments of rock transported by
the glacier grind along the valley bottom and
sides, wearing away the rock.
How do glaciers shape the landscape?

MAIN PROCESSES:

 Plucking- meltware at the base of the glacier freezes on the

rock surface. As the glacier moves forward it extracts the
pieces from the rock surface.
 Freeze thaw – is a type of weathering where water settles in
cracks in the rock surface, freezes and expands, pressurising
surrounding rocks. It then thaws and contracts, releasing the
pressure. This process loosens the surface layer of rock.
Upland features

 Corrie - an arm chair shaped hollow found in

the side of a mountain.
Upland features

 Arête – a narrow knife edge ridge separating

two corries.

Carn MÔr Dearg

Arête- Ben
Nevis
Upland features

 Pyramidal peaks – when three or more

corries form in the side of one mountain

The Matterhorn
Upland features

 Tarn – a lake found in a corrie.

Red Tarn, Helvellyn.

Glaciers

Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand.

Lake Fryxell formed from the Canada Glacier, Antarctica.
Vatnajokull Glacier, Iceland.
Lowland features

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/audio/g

Your task: listen to the sound clip and note

down new terminology.
New terminology

This can be done on a white board…….ask the class to feed their

answers back.

Hanging valleys waterfalls

Truncated spurs

Lowland Misfit streams

U
shaped features
valley Ribbon lakes
Rock
steps
Summary
 Today we covered the physical elements of glaciers
- what the are
- how they are formed
- the main processes
- upland features
-lowland features

Homework- find examples of the lowland features we listed on the board.

Please state the name of the feature, its location and include a picture.
Due : 20/09/09

Next lesson we will look at the human implications with a focus on the Lake
District.