Glaciated Landscapes

~ Landforms

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 Learning Objectives
By the end of this cycle I will be able to:
Learning objectives

• Recognise features of glacial erosion on a sketch

• Describe/explain the formation of features of glacial
erosion eg corrie, arete, pyramidal peak, u-shaped valley,
and hanging valley
• Recognise features of glacial deposition on a sketch
• Identify glacial features on OS maps

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Landforms created by glacial erosion
The landforms created by glacial erosion are:
Corries
Arêtes
Pyramidal peaks
Glacial troughs (U-shaped valley)
Truncated spurs
Hanging valleys

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How is a corrie formed?
Snow collects in a natural hollow on the side of a mountain.
Over time, further snow collects in the hollow. This extra
weight compresses the snow underneath, turning it into ice.

rock lip

The hollow is deepened and This overdeepening leads

widened by the corrie glacier
through the processes of
abrasion and plucking.
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to an ‘armchair’ shape
characteristic of a corrie
and causes a ‘rock lip’ to
be formed.
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Corrie formation

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Diagram of a corrie

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Explain the formation of a corrie

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Example of a corrie: Cwm Idwal

steep backwall

bowl-shaped corrie
tarn

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Drawing a fieldsketch of Cwm Idwal

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Fieldsketch of Cwm Idwal looking south-west

steep backwall

shattered rock

tarn

fence

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Landforms created by glacial erosion
The landforms created by glacial erosion are:
Corries
Arêtes
Pyramidal peaks
Glacial troughs (U-shaped valley)
Truncated spurs
Hanging valleys

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Formation of an arête
Arêtes are ‘knife-edged’ ridges formed between two corries.

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Formation of a pyramidal peak

Pyramidal peaks
are formed when
arête
three or more
corries cut
backwards into the
same mountain.
tarn
corrie

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Label the pyramidal peak diagram

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Landforms created by glacial erosion
The landforms created by glacial erosion are:
Corries
Arêtes
Pyramidal peaks
Glacial troughs (U-shaped valley)
Truncated spurs
Hanging valleys

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Formation of a glacial trough

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How and why do these valleys differ?

river valley glaciated valley

Unlike a river, a glacier fills the entire valley and so

has much more power to erode.
It does not have to wind around interlocking spurs
and can widen, deepen and straighten its valley.

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Characteristics of a glacial trough
What are the characteristics of a glacial trough?
steep valley sides misfit stream
hanging valley
Between truncated The river
spurs are hanging that flows
valleys which have through
not been eroded as the valley
deeply as the main after the
valley. ice age is
described
as a
Interlocking spurs are
misfit
truncated as the
stream.
glacier cuts straight
through the landscape. wide and flat valley floor
truncated spurs
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Hanging valley at Ogwen Falls, Snowdonia

Ogwen Falls, Snowdonia

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Nant Ffrancon Valley, Snowdonia
What evidence is there to suggest that this valley has
been shaped by ice?

Produce an annotated sketch to show that this is a

glaciated valley.
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 What landforms are created by glacial
Learning objectives

erosion?
What landforms are created by glacial
deposition?
How can glacial features be identified on
maps?

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Landforms created by glacial deposition

What landforms are created by glacial deposition?

Moraines
Drumlins
Erratics

Porsmork Valley, Iceland.

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What is moraine?
Moraine is a type of landform that is created when a glacier
deposits the material (till) that it has been transporting. It is
made up of unsorted angular rocks. There are several types of
moraine:

Lateral
Medial
Ground
Recessional
Terminal

Unsorted, angular rocks make up this moraine

found in the Porsmork Valley, SW Iceland.
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How is moraine deposited?

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Landforms created by glacial deposition

What landforms are created by glacial deposition?

Moraines
Drumlins
Erratics

Porsmork Valley, Iceland.

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How are drumlins formed?
Drumlins are formed of till. They are elongated features that can
reach a kilometre or more in length, 500m or so in width and over
50m in height.
There is still some
debate about how
drumlins are
formed, but the
most widely
accepted idea is
that they were
formed when the
ice became
overloaded with
sediment.
It is common to find several drumlins grouped together.
A collection of drumlins is called a swarm.
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Features of glacial deposition

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Do you know your moraines?

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Landforms created by glacial deposition

What landforms are created by glacial deposition?

Moraines
Drumlins
Erratics

Porsmork Valley, Iceland.

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What are erratics?
An erratic is a boulder that is different to the bedrock upon
which it is sitting. They have been transported and deposited
by a glacier. Therefore erratics are useful indicators of patterns
of former ice flow.

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Examination question

Study the photograph.

Is this the zone of
accumulation or ablation?
Give a reason for your
answer.
Describe the characteristics
of the material that has been
transported by this glacier.

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 What landforms are created by glacial
Learning objectives

erosion?
What landforms are created by glacial
deposition?
How can glacial features be identified on
maps?

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Formation of ribbon lakes
Llyn Ogwen (a ribbon lake Ribbon lakes are long,
in Snowdonia) narrow lakes found on
the valley floors of
glacial troughs. They
can be formed due to a
combination of erosion
and depositional
processes.
When a glacier moves along its valley, areas of softer rock may
be eroded more easily, or the glacier may be joined by a tributary
glacier to increase its power to erode. When the glacier retreats,
the deepened sections fill with meltwater and become lakes.
Deposition of moraine across the valley can also act as a dam,
trapping the meltwater and thereby creating a ribbon lake.

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How are ribbon lakes formed?

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Learning objectives

What landforms are created by glacial erosion?

What landforms are created by glacial deposition?
How can glacial features be identified on
maps?

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Identifying glacial troughs

glacial troughs Map of Snowdonia

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Identifying glacial features on maps

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Examination question

List three pieces of map

evidence to show that
this area was glaciated.

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Glaciation quiz

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Key ideas

Corries, arêtes, pyramidal peaks and glacial troughs

are created by glacial erosion.
Moraines, drumlins and erratics are the result of
glacial deposition.
Moraine is a type of landform that is created when a
glacier deposits the material (till) that it has been
transporting.
There are five main types of moraine.
Contour patterns on maps can give a clear
indication as to whether a landscape has been
glaciated.

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