Glacial erosion involves the removal and transport of bedrock or sediment by three main processes: quarrying (also known as plucking), abrasion, and melt water erosion .
What are the main features of glacial erosion?
U-shaped valleys, hanging valleys, cirques, horns, and aretes are features sculpted by ice. The eroded material is later deposited as large glacial erratics, in moraines, stratified drift, outwash plains, and drumlins.
What are the three types of glaciers?
- Ice Sheets. Ice sheets are continental-scale bodies of ice. ...
- Ice Fields and Ice Caps. Ice fields and ice caps are smaller than ice sheets (less than 50,000 sq. ...
- Cirque and Alpine Glaciers. ...
- Valley and Piedmont Glaciers. ...
- Tidewater and Freshwater Glaciers. ...
- Rock Glaciers.
What is an example of glacial erosion?
Glacial lakes are examples of ice erosion. They occur when a glacier carves its way into a place and then melts over time, filling up the space that it carved out with water. ... Yosemite Valley, an area in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, was carved out by ice erosion.
What are the two main types of glacial erosion?
- Abrasion – as the glacier moves downhill, rocks that have been frozen into the base and sides of the glacier scrape the rock beneath. ...
- Plucking – rocks become frozen into the bottom and sides of the glacier.
How long does glacial erosion take?
It ranges from tens of thousands to a few million years . This result implies that while the glacier will respond to short-term variations (10–100 years), it will take much longer (i.e., 10 kyr to 10 Myr) for glacial erosion to reequilibrate with rock uplift rates in response to changes in climate forcings.
What type of erosion is abrasion?
Abrasion is a process of erosion which occurs when material being transported wears away at a surface over time . It is the process of friction caused by scuffing, scratching, wearing down, marring, and rubbing away of materials. ... Objects transported in waves breaking on coastlines cause abrasion.
How does plucking Assist abrasion?
Abrasion. Plucking removes rocks and by itself creates changes in the landscape , but plucking also contributes to the second process of glacial erosion, known as abrasion. Abrasion is defined as the erosion that occurs when particles scrape against each other.
Where does glacial erosion occur?
Glaciers are sheets of solidly packed ice and snow that cover large areas of land. They are formed in areas where the general temperature is usually below freezing . This can be near the North and South poles, and also on very high ground, such as large mountains.
Is Arete erosion or deposition?
It is a small ridge of rock that is formed between the two valleys created the glacial erosion and is formed when two glacial cirques are eroded towards one another. The edges of arête are sharpened by freeze-thaw weathering while the slopes of the sides of arête are made steep through mass erosion of the exposed rock.
What are the 2 main types of glacier?
Glaciers are often called “rivers of ice.” Glaciers fall into two groups: alpine glaciers and ice sheets . Alpine glaciers form on mountainsides and move downward through valleys. Sometimes, alpine glaciers create or deepen valleys by pushing dirt, soil, and other materials out of their way.
What is the largest type of glacier?
The largest type of glacier is a continental ice sheet . The definition of an ice sheet is a glacier that covers an area of over 50,000km2. These glaciers are so thick they completely conceal topographical features like mountains and valleys.
What is the smallest type of glacier?
- Cirque. smallest type of glacier; forms in small bowl-like depressions in the mountains; also called alpine glaciers.
- Valley. ...
- Piedmont. ...
- Ice Fields. ...
- Ice Sheets. ...
- Outlet. ...
- Tidewater. ...
- Ice Streams.
What are three examples of erosion?
- Caves. Caves are carved out over thousands of years by flowing water, but that activity can be sped up by carbonic acid present in the water. ...
- River Banks. ...
- Cracks in Rocks. ...
- Gravitation Erosion. ...
- Coastal Erosion.
What are 4 things that can impact erosion?
Some of the natural factors impacting erosion in a landscape include climate, topography, vegetation, and tectonic activity . Climate is perhaps the most influential force impacting the effect of erosion on a landscape. Climate includes precipitation and wind.
What is the process of glacial erosion?
Processes of Glacial Erosion
Glacial erosion involves the removal and transport of bedrock or sediment by three main processes: quarrying (also known as plucking), abrasion, and melt water erosion .
