25/08/2010

GLACIAL DEPOSITIONAL
ENVIRONMENT
by

AP Dr Chow Weng Sum

Glacial Formation & Growth

• Glacier – a moving body of ice that forms
on land from the accumulation and
compaction of snow - moves downslope
under influence of gravity
• Glaciers typically form at or above the
snowline –i.e. the lowest topographic limit
of year-round snow cover
• Snow that falls below the snowline
typically melts in summer

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Glacial Budget
• Budget consists of difference between the
glacier’s annual gain of snow & ice and its
annual loss (or ablation) of snow & ice by
melting & sublimation
• If budget is positive, glacier increases in
thickness and area; its outer margin (terminus)
advances downslope in confined glaciers and
outwards in unconfined glaciers
• If budget is negative,glacier decreases in size &
terminus retreats (by melting)
• If budget is balanced, terminus remain stationary

Glacier budget
• All glaciers have: zone of accumulation
: zone of ablation
: equilibrium line
Position of equilibrium line changes every year,
depending on budget
Zone of accumulation can be identified by a
blanket of snow that survives summer melting, is
nourished by snowfall and sometimes from
nearby avalanches
Zone of ablation is caused by summertime melting
of snow in middle and low altitudes; in high
altitudes, sublimation causes ablation

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GLACIAL MOVEMENT

Glacier Flow
• Accumulation zone: as snow is compacted
it flows at an angle downward toward the
glacier’s bed
• Ablation zone: ice flows at an angle
upward toward the surface and outward
toward the glacier’s edges

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Snowfall vs Melting & Evaporation (Ablation)

From Steven Dutch, University of Wisconsin Green Bay,

http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/EarthSC202Notes/GLACIAL.HTM

Glacial Flow
• Glaciers flow by: a) Internal deformation
b) Basal sliding
Internal deformation: pressure from overlying snow
& ice deforms a glacier’s ice crystals, fracturing
them along planes of weakness, changing their
shapes, and causing them to slip past one
another
Basal sliding: In warmer glaciers, thawing occurs
at the bases, producing a film of water that
enables the glacier to slide across its bed
Ice flows when a glacier’s thickness exceeds about
60m

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Velocity of glacial Flow

• Cold-based non sliding ice sheets
advances at only a few metres per year
• Warm-based alpine glaciers on steep
slopes can flow 300m or more annually
• Some glaciers periodically ‘surge’ or
accelerate in brief episodes lasting several
months to a few years at speeds of up to
100 times the normal velocity
• Periods of surge are separated by longer
periods (10 to 100 years) of normal flow

Types of glaciers
CONFINED GLACIERS
• Alpine glaciers are confined by surrounding
bedrock highlands
• a) Cirque glaciers- which create & occupy semi-
circular basins or mountainsides, usually at head
of valleys
• b) Valley glaciers- flow through and modify pre-
existing stream valleys
• c) Ice caps – formed at tops of mountains
UNCONFINED GLACIERS
• The only unconfined form of glacier is a
continental ice sheet- covering the continent

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CIRQUE GLACIER

CIRQUE(Amphitheatre-like valley formed at head of valley)

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GLACIAL VALLEY

Glacial Erosion
• Abrasion- occurs when rock fragments
embedded in the base of a glacier scrape the
surface of the underlying bedrock- giving rise to
striations or grooves on the polished bedrock.
• The abrading stones themselves become
abraded and eventually become pulverised into
a silky rock powder called glacial flour

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GLACIAL STRIATIONS

Glacial grooves- Kelly's island, Ohio:

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Polished rock surface due to glacial

abrasion in Aland

Polished floor of former glacier in Eckeroe

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Polished bedrock, Eckeroe

Glacial deposits
• Glacial deposits are typically poorly sorted, often
ranging in size from fine clays to house-sized
boulders

• a) Glacial erratic : an exceptionally large,

glacially transported boulder that has been
eroded from one type of bedrock and then
transported atop another

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ERRATIC (A boulder that differs from the surrounding rock and is

believed to have been brought from a distance by glacial action )

Glacial deposits
• b) Glacial till- glacial drift deposited directly from
glacial ice ; till is exclusively deposited in the
ablation zone; it is generally unstratified, and
commonly consists of large rock fragments
surrounded by a finer-grained matrix of sand, silt
and clay

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GLACIAL TILL

GLACIAL TILL

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Glacial landform
• Glacial moraine: glacial till often forms a
moraine, a landform that typically accumulates
at the margin of a glacier.
• Moraines occur as bands of hills marking the
various advances and retreats of a glacier

Glacial moraine:

Figure 8.29 From Boggs (2006), Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, 4th ed., p. 279

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GLACIAL MORAINE

ICEBERGS IN ANTARTICA

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Glaciomarine sedimentation:

Figure 8.30 From Boggs (2006), Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, 4th ed., p. 280

THANK YOU

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