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What are the main glacial processes?
Glaciers shape the land through processes of erosion , weathering , transportation and deposition , creating distinct landforms.
What are 3 features of glacial erosion?
As the glaciers expand, due to their accumulating weight of snow and ice they crush and abrade and scour surfaces such as rocks and bedrock. The resulting erosional landforms include striations, cirques, glacial horns, arêtes, trim lines, U-shaped valleys, roches moutonnées, overdeepenings and hanging valleys.
What happens glacial erosion?
Glaciers erode the underlying rock by abrasion and plucking. Glacial meltwater seeps into cracks of the underlying rock, the water freezes and pushes pieces of rock outward. The rock is then plucked out and carried away by the flowing ice of the moving glacier (Figure below).
How do glaciers cause weathering and erosion?
A glacier’s weight, combined with its gradual movement, can drastically reshape the landscape over hundreds or even thousands of years. The ice erodes the land surface and carries the broken rocks and soil debris far from their original places, resulting in some interesting glacial landforms.
What is the difference between glaciers and glacial erosion?
Let’s review…. Glaciers can be thought of as moving mountains of ice. As they move over the landscape, they cause glacial erosion, which is defined as the carving and shaping of the land beneath a moving glacier. There are two main processes of glacial erosion.
How does plucking contribute to glacial erosion?
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.
How do Glaciers erode rocks?
Erosion of rock beneath a glacier is primarily achieved by rock and mineral fragments embedded in the ice. Abrasion rate vs ice-debris concentration. Basal debris concentration asion too little debris too much debris – ice slows maximum abrasion rate.
What landforms are formed when glaciers scrape and pluck?
The scraping and plucking of glacial erosion creates a number of distinct landforms and features. If the glacier erodes into a mountain, it can create a cirque, which is a round hollow with steep sides. It’s as if the glacier scoops out the side of the mountain like an ice cream scooper.