Unit 7
Unit 7
GLACIAL LANDFORMS
Structure____________________________________________________________________
7.1 Introduction Sediment Transport
Erosional Landforms
7.1 INTRODUCTION
You have read about geological work of glaciers in Unit 8 of BGYCT -131 and learnt about types
and morphology, erosional processes, glacial transport, deposition and erosional and depositional
landforms developed by glacial activities. You know that glacier is a mass of ice and snow that
moves under the influence of gravity and results in the creation of erosional and depositional
landforms. In Unit 5 you have read about landforms developed by the tectonic and volcanic
activities. We have also discussed about river channels, river profiles, river grading and
morphometry and some fluvial landforms in Unit 6. In this unit, we will discuss glacier and its
surface features, causes of glaciation, formation and types of glaciers, and erosional and
depositional landforms developed by glaciers. We will also discuss about significant features of
Periglacial landforms and also Quaternary glaciation.
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Fig. 7.1: A view of the Durung Drung Glacier, Penzi La, Zanskar, J & K.
You have studied about morphology of glaciers in the Course BGYCT-131 and
are now familiar with the terms bergschrund and crevasse. The crevasse or
crack is a significant feature on the surface of glacier body which is developed
as a consequence of differential movement of the body. The crack or crevasse
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in an arc shape developed at the head of glacier body separating the cirques of
glacier from the valley walls is known as bergschrund. You have also learnt
about different types of crevasse, i.e. longitudinal (which is more or less
parallel to the length of glacier body), transverse crevasse (which is more or
less transverse to glacier body), and chevron crevasse (running more or less
in zig-zag form). The crevasse also develops in the front/ snout and on the
sides / lateral margins of a glacier, which are known as radial and marginal
crevasse, respectively (Fig. 7.2). Splaying crevasses are a pattern of
crevasses. They develop when ice flow decelerates downslope and where the
glacier bed flattens or rises, and where the valley widens, on the inside of a
bend, and at the snout.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 7.2: a) Sketch of crevasses; and b) Panoramic view of a glacier valley,
Rongdo basin, Eastern Karakoram India. Note the glacial features and
landforms annotated with red arrows showing types of crevasses formed
on the surface of glaciers due to differential movement. (Courtesy: Anayat
Ahmad Quarshi; Source Google Earth Pro July 2017 scene)
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The end or terminal part of a glacier body is known as snout (Fig. 7.3) which
can be of various shapes and sizes. The snout can be broad occupying the
entire width of the valley in case of large sized glacier such as Siachen glacier
(Fig. 7.3). The snout that resembles an arc convex shape and wide than rest of
the body of glacier is termed as lobe shaped snout.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 7.3: a) Snout of a glacier in Rongdo basin eastern Karakorum, India. Also
seen is development of a glacial lake; and b) Broad snout of Siachen
glacier, Nubra Valley, Ladakh, J & K, India
Most of the cases, a cave is formed in the ice/snow in the snout of a glacier
and melt water flows out in the form of river, known as ice cave (Fig. 7.4). River
Ganga is the best example of river (melt water) flowing out of Gaumukh (ice
cave) from Gangotri glacier and Durung Drung glacier (Fig. 7.4).
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Fig. 7.4: A glacier cave located on Durung Drung Glacier, Zanskar, J & K, India.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 7.5: a) Schematic showing accumulation and ablation zones of a glacier; and
b) Panoramic view of a glacier valley in Rongdo basin, Eastern
Karakoram India. Different zones and features have been annotated with
red arrows. (Courtesy: Anayat Ahmad Quarshi, Source: Google Earth Pro)
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Fig. 7.7: Hanging glaciers located in the Chugach Mountains, near Cordova Peak,
Chugach National Forest, Alaska. (Source: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/
1216/glaciertypes/glaciertypes.html)
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the base known as regelation slip. As a consequence, there is very little or no
movement in cold glaciers because of the dry base of the glacier. On the other
hand, the glacier with a wet base, as a result of the presence of regelation slip
at the base, is known as a warm/ temperate glacier. The warm glacier has
movement/slippage.
7.5.3 On the Basis of Presence or Absence of Debris
Glaciers are also classified on the basis of presence or absence of debris on
the surface of the glacier body. The glacier that is covered with debris is known
as a dark/dirty/debris-covered glacier whereas the glacier devoid of any
debris on the surface is known as a clean glacier. Most of the glaciers in the
Himalaya are dirty/dark glaciers.
The snout/front of a glacier in some cases very rapidly advances, due to the
rapid transfer of mass (snow/ice) from accumulation to ablation zone, and
retreats causing fluctuation in the snout movement within a short duration of
time. A glacier with such character is known as a surge glacier. A group of
surging glaciers is present in Karakoram Himalaya, Ladakh (Fig. 7.9).
Fig. 7.9: Satellite pictures of the group of surging glaciers (Rimo, Chong, Kichik
and Aqtash) in Nubra Valley, Karakorum Himalaya, India. (Source: Google
Earth)
The glacier with a snout of much larger width than the glacier body is termed as
expanded foot snout. The expanded foot snout occupies wide open space
available in foot of the valley and is a result of rapid transfer of mass (snow/ice)
from accumulation to ablation zone of the glacier. Such type of snout is mostly
observed in surging glacier. A narrow or needle shaped snout is observed
in a glacier which is rapidly and constantly advancing.
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SAQ 1
a) Define glacier.
b) What are the necessary conditions required for the formation of glacier?
c) Define cryosphere. What are the main sources of fresh water to rivers?
d) Differentiate between a dirty glacier and a clean glacier.
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(a)
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(b)
Fig. 7.11: a) Schematic showing some of the erosional landforms in a glacial
landscape; and b) A cirque with degenerated glacier remains and arête
separating two adjacent cirques.
Icefall: A ridge-like feature, developed at the head of cirque where the glacier
debouches out of the cirque is known as icefall. The icefall is formed in
response to the underlying topography.
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Striations: The rock fragments and coarse sediments plucked by the glacier
from underlying bedrock, while moving down the valley slope, sticks to the
bottom or sole of the glacier. This material erodes the rock surface over which
the glacier moves to leave the marks in the form of grooves and thin fine lines
known as striations. The striations are conspicuous glacial feature to identify
the direction of movement of a glacier in the areas which are free of glaciers
present day.
Roche moutonnée: The glacier body in the valley overrides the large rock
outcrop. This movement of glacier smoothens the surface of the rock outcrop
with the upstream side rounded and polished and the downstream side eroded.
The rock outcrops exhibiting this feature are called roche moutonnée (Fig.
7.14).
Whaleback and glacier pavement: Constant erosion and polishing of rock
outcrop surface by the moving glacier body leads to the development of
polished oval-shaped small hillock with length greater than the breadth, called
whaleback. The polished bedrock surface, without any striations, is produced
by the overlying weight of the glacier and is known as glacier pavement.
Hanging valley: The main valley of the glacier deepens to the extent that the
tributary valley carrying the glacier hangs much above the main valley. Such
tributary valley is called hanging valley (Fig. 7.11a). There can also be a
situation where the tributary valley glacier is situated at a level much lower than
the main valley glacier. The tributary valley glacier, in such cases, is generally
dry and the main valley is occupied by a glacier. The tributary valley is known
as dry valley.
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(a)
(b)
Fig. 7.14: a) Sketch of a Roche moutonnée resembling sheep’s back; and b)
Roche moutonnée with striation, Machoi Glacier, Zoji La, Dras, J & K.
Mr. V.K. Raina, Deputy Director General (Retd.) Geological Survey of
India, a renowned glaciologist is seen in the picture.
(a)
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(b)
Fig. 7.15: a) Sketch of types of moraine deposits; and b) Lateral and terminal/end
moraine of past glaciations near Leh, Ladakh (J&K). (Courtesy: Anayat
Ahmad Quarshi).
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depression, by main or tributary glacier. The moraine-dammed lake is formed
as a result of the blockade of melt water/ river/ stream by a moraine (lateral or
terminal) of the retreating glacier. Water of the lake passes under the loose
sediments of a moraine.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 7.17: Photographs showing: a) erratic boulders transported by glaciers from
the adjacent areas and deposited on granite outcrop on the right bank
of Shyok river basin, eastern Karakoram, Ladakh, India; and b) Drumlin.
(Source: for a - Anayat Ahmad Quarshi)
The depression formed on the valley floor, due to scouring by moving glacier,
accumulates water from degenerating glacier to give rise to a sub-glacial
trough lake. The accumulation of water in pre-existing landform, such as
cirque, gives rise to ice scoured trough lake. The deposition of fine sediments
in quiet lake waters in glaciated mountains leads to the finely laminated
deposits known as glacial varve (Fig. 7.18).
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Palsa and Peat plateaux: Palsas are conical or dome shaped low peat
mounds with a height ranging from 1-10m and a diameter of 10-50m. Peat
plateaux are generally larger in size which are formed by coalescence of
palsas.
String bags: They are formed by alterations of thin, string like strips or ridges
of peat which may contain ice for certain part of a year.
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SAQ 2
a) The process of deglaciation of cirque that results in complete melting of
the glacier and formation of lake in the cirque is known as____________.
b) The polished bedrock surface, without any striations, is produced by the
___________ weight of glacier is called as_______________.
c) The moraine that is found at the edge of a glacier is known as__________
moraine.
d) The type of movement that occurs both in polar as well as temperate
glaciers is termed as ______________.
e) _______________ are the V-shaped vertical masses of ice that penetrate
the ground down up to the permafrost layer.
7.9 SUMMARY
Let us sum up what we have learnt in this unit. We have learnt that:
The Earth’s surface was covered by glaciers in the past as compared to the
present and glaciation period ended about 10,000 years ago. The causes of
glaciation can be identified by studying the climatic fluctuations.
The formation of glacier begins with the successive snow falls and the
snow overburden builds up resulting in the formation of glaciers. The
conversion of snow to glacier depends on temperature where summer
temperatures must be low such that the snow does not melt.
The classification of types of glacier is based on the distribution with respect
to altitude and latitude. The glaciers that exist at the altitudes of mountain
regions are known as Alpine or mountain or valley glaciers. And the glaciers
that exist covering large continents are known as continental glaciers.
Glacial activity results in the formation of erosional features in the highland
areas and depositional features in the low elevated regions. The glacial
erosion mostly occurs because of the extreme fluctuation in temperature
and results in the formation of erosional landforms. The excessive melt
water from retreating glacier helps in the formation of depositional
landforms.
Glaciers move from higher to lower elevation by virtue of gravitational force.
The glacier movement takes place by one or three process that act
collectively. They are i) internal deformation ii) basal Sliding iii) bed
deformation.
The sediment transported by a glacier is different from other transporting
agents such as water and air. A greater amount of debris is possibly
transported by water from underneath wet-base of glaciers. Erosion,
entrainment and transport form a continuous series that ends when the
debris reaches to an absolute destination.
Periglacial covers regions of high latitudes and below the latitudinal and
altitudinal tree lines and experience intense frost during winter and with no
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snowfall during summer period. Wide-ranging landforms are developed in
periglacial settings with the prevalence of ice in the soil.
The glaciations varying from continental glaciations to Alpine glaciers had
been prominently noticed from the geological records. Quaternary glaciation
is also known as Pleistocene glaciation is referred as a period of
comprehensive cycle of several glacial and interglacial conditions.
7.10 ACTIVITY
1) Refer to the Fig. 7.20, then mark and label the regions covered with Alpine
and continental glaciers in the below given world map.
2) Learners residing in high altitude areas can visit nearby areas and try to
identify glacial landforms and make a list of them. Those living in other
areas may try to find out if there is any rock record in their areas showing
glaciation event in geological past.
7.12 REFERENCES
Hugget, R. J. (2006). Fundamentals of Geomorphology. 2nd Edition. Taylor
and Francis, Delhi. 458p.
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https://www.tutor2u.net/geography/reference/glacial-landscapes-periglacial-
landforms
7.14 ANSWERS
Self Assessment Questions 1
a) Glacier is known as a mass of ice and snow that moves down the slope of a
hill/ mountain or spreads outward on a land surface or continent.
b) The necessary conditions required for the formation of glacier is that
summer temperatures should be low enough to prohibit snow to melt.
c) The part of earth, that is in frozen form, whether on land or oceans, is
collectively called as cryosphere. The main sources of fresh water to rivers
are the glacier/ snowpacks.
d) The glacier that is covered with debris is known as dark/dirty / debris-
covered glacier whereas the glacier devoid of any debris on the surface is
known as clean glacier.
Self Assessment Questions 2
a) Tarn-lake
b) Overlying; glacier pavement
c) End or terminal
d) Internal deformation
e) Ice wedges
Terminal Questions
1) Refer to section 7.3.
2) Refer to section 7.4.
3) Refer to subsection 7.6.2.
4) Refer to section 7.8.
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