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GLACIAL DEPOSITIONAL PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
Glacial depositional
processes and landforms
Paepin Goff
Texas State University, USA
Glacial landforms are primarily the result of ero-
sion during glacial advances and deposition dur-
ing glacial retreat. The glacial landforms that exist
today are the product of both current glaciers and
past glaciations. Climatic conditions allowing for
the existence of glaciers are found in polar and
alpine regions where low temperatures and high
levels of precipitation prevail.
In polar and alpine regions, the amount of
snow accumulation outpaces ablation, or snow
loss from melting, evaporation, wind erosion,
and calving (see Figure 1). The difference
between accumulation and ablation is the mass
 balance of a glacier, which is used as a mea-
surement of glacier health. According to the
2011 United Nations Educational, Scientific,
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Glossary
of Mass Balance and Related Terms, annual mass
balance is monitored on more than 100 glaciers
(UNESCO 2011), and monitoring efforts are
expanding.
A glacier has a positive mass balance when it
experiences more accumulation than ablation,
which means the glacier will grow. In contrast, a
glacier has a negative mass balance when it experi-
ences less accumulation than ablation, meaning
the glacier will recede (see Figure 2). A glacier
that experiences equal amounts of accumulation
and precipitation is said to be in equilibrium.
Glaciers with mass balances that average posi-
tive over time are said to be actively advancing. As
net accumulation builds annually, the snow com-
presses under its own weight. Fluffy surface snow
will compress into a dense layer of snow called
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firn, which has small air pockets. Increased com-
pression creates an even denser snowpack layer
called glacial ice, which forces air into tiny bubbles
trapped in the ice.
The same mechanisms that allow for the
creation of a glacier contribute to glacial flow, or
movement, including:
• ice properties (weight, thickness, steepness,
temperature, density),
• topographic relief,
• bedrock properties (yielding potential, tem-
perature, mineral compositions),
• subglacial hydrology,
• terminal environment,
• mass balance.
These factors contribute to glacial flow at the
internal, basal, and subglacial levels.
Glacial spreading is known as internal defor- 
mation, or creep, and is the result of ice crystal
changes as a glacier compacts. Flow at the
bottom of a glacier is called basal sliding, which
occurs when water collects between the ice and
the bedrock layer. Bedrock deformation contributes
to flow at the subglacial level, which happens
when soft sediments yield to glacial weight and
movement. Subsurface hydrology also plays a
role in glacial flow by weakening the bedrock.
Multiple types of glaciers contribute to glacial
landforms including alpine, or mountain valley
glaciers, and continental glaciers, or ice sheets. In
general, features created by alpine glaciers are
smaller and more distinct than those created
by continental glaciers owing to differences in
glacial flow behaviors. Alpine glaciers, subject to
the natural features of mountain regions, flow
down valleys from high to low elevation. In
contrast, continental glaciers flow outward from
their centers and extend over large areas of flat
land from the poles.

 
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GLACIAL DEPOSITIONAL PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS

 

Figure 1 Columbia Glacier calving, Prince William Sound, AK, USA, 2005. A dramatic iceberg calving from
Columbia Glacier in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The iceberg has just broken free from under the water and
shot to the surface, spinning towards the ice face. The ice cliff here is about 70 m (229.7 feet) tall. Icebergs are
calved as stress fractures in the glacier merge, eventually resulting in a piece of ice cracking off and falling into
the water. The stress fractures are caused by the glacier flowing over uneven stretches of ground on its way to
the water. Photo by Shad O’Neel, June 17, 2005. Reproduced from USGS.

Depositional landforms by glacial ice is called glacial till, which ranges in

During periods of glacial retreat, when ablation
outpaces snow accumulation, glacial drift is
left behind, resulting in depositional landforms.
Glacial deposition occurs when debris is released
from a glacier during transport. The debris, called
glacial drift, can range in size from fine sediment
particles to large boulders and can be deposited
during glacial advance or retreat and during
periods of stagnation. Debris deposited directly
size from particles of clay to large boulders.
Moraines are a distinctive landform made up
of sediment deposited by a glacier. Several types
of moraines exist in glaciated and previously
glaciated landscapes: terminal moraines, reces-
sional moraines, lateral moraines, medial
moraines, ground moraines, and supraglacial
moraines.
At a glacier’s maximum extent, or terminus,
are terminal moraines, which vary in size depend-
ing on how long a glacier stays in one place.

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GLACIAL DEPOSITIONAL PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
Figure 2 Mendenhall Glacier, 2014. Comparison of satellite images of Mendenhall Glacier (left: Landsat 5,
August 17, 1984; right: Landsat 8, May 16, 2014). Mendenhall Glacier extends from the Juneau Icefield in Alaska
and is currently in a state of recession with a negative mass balance. Reproduced from USGS.
These formations, also known as end moraines, are
directly related to glacial speed and the surround-
ing environment. The longer a glacier remains
 at its furthest extent, the more sediment builds
at the snout, resulting in larger moraines. If a
glacier pauses during retreat, it creates recessional
moraines, which are located behind the terminal
moraine. If the glacier pauses several times, it
will leave behind multiple recessional moraines.
On the sides of a glacier, lateral moraines form
perpendicular to the terminus as debris is scraped
away from the surrounding path and deposited
on the margins. Glaciers typically have two
lateral moraines parallel to one another, which
are similar in size. When two lateral moraines are
pushed together by glaciers, the debris combines
to form one line between the two ice streams.
This process creates a debris ridge between
the two glaciers, called a medial moraine (see
Figure 3). As the glacier progresses and joins to
form one large glacier, the material that forms a
medial moraine is carried to its eventual resting
place at the terminus, where it is combined
with the terminal moraine. If a medial moraine
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persists through the life span of a glacier, it will
remain as a rocky ridge after the glacier melts.
Ground moraines, also known as till plains, are
landscapes of glacial deposits that resemble any- 
thing from rolling hills to flat plains. In contrast
to recessional moraines, which form as a glacier
pauses during recession, these landforms are the
product of a quickly retreating glacier that does
not pause long enough to deposit organized
ridges of material. Instead, a fast-moving glacier
in retreat deposits material haphazardly across the
ground. The resulting landscape is an unsorted
mixture of unconsolidated sediments and rocks
that covers the area where a glacier previously
existed.
The nature of moraine creation lends itself to
the scientific study of glacial history. Investiga-
tions of terminal moraines give clues about a
glacier’s origin, path of movement, speed, and
life span. Multiple terminal moraines in the
same location provide evidence for multiple
glaciations, which plays a large role in paleo-
climate reconstructions. Recessional moraines
offer insight regarding environmental conditions,
which is helpful in understanding the life span

 
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GLACIAL DEPOSITIONAL PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS

 

Figure 3 Medial moraine, Alaska. In this photo, merging glaciers form a medial moraine between two ice
streams. Lateral moraines can be seen on the outer sides of the glaciers. Photo by Don Becker, August 26, 2008.
Reproduced from USGS.

of a glacier and its retreat. Lateral moraines lend
themselves to the study of an alpine glacier’s path
from the high elevation of the valley head to the
lower elevation below. Ground moraines, which
often contain other features such as kettles and
kames, illustrate processes that may have played
a role in glacier flow and retreat. All of the
combined information provides scientists with
data that can be used to model past, present, and
future glacier growth and recession.
Glacial retreat leaves behind another type of
plain called a sandur, or outwash plain. These
glaciofluvial features are the result of sediment
overflow at the terminus of a glacier carried
beyond the end moraine by meltwater. The drift
in an outwash plain is typically stratified, or sorted
by size, with the largest materials remaining
close to the terminus of the glacier and the finest
sediments deposited farther out. When outwash
material is deposited in a ridge-like path, rather
than a plain, it is called a valley train.
In the outwash plains, tributary meltwater
streams break off into smaller branches, which
then split and rejoin in weaving patterns called
braided streams. These streams are the result of
sediment overload combined with a steep stream
slope, variations in stream flow, erosional poten-
tial of substrate material, and lateral pressure
gradients. Braided channels are the result of
pressurized meltwater flow – pressurized flow

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Figure 4 Pothole lakes, 2001. This natural-color
Landsat 7 image shows blue and green pothole lakes
in northern Siberia, adjacent to the Ob Gulf (image
right). Occasionally, chunks of ice break off from a
 glacier and are buried by glacial debris. As these ice
blocks melt, they leave behind a depression in the
ground called a kettle. Photo by Jesse Allen, NASA
Earth Observatory, September 10, 2001. Reproduced
from USGS.
and higher amounts of discharge result in a high
braiding intensity (Catania and Paola 2001).
Braided streams contribute to distinct features in
an outwash plain called outwash fans, which are
the poorly sorted outspreading of sediments.
As a glacier recedes, ice calves off the terminus
and is left in the outwash plains. These blocks
of ice remain frozen in the ground and are
covered by outwash sediment. When the ice
finally melts, it can leave behind one of two
formations. The first likely formation is called a
kettle, which is a pond-like hole in the outwash
plain, often filled with water (see Figure 4). The
second likely formation is called a kame, which
is an irregular hill or mound of sediment left
behind in an outwash plain.
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When streams flow through glacial ice and
deposit material in a lake or pond at the terminus
of a glacier, the water flow creates a landform
called a kame delta. Although this landform exists
while a glacier is still active, glacial melt can
act to either collapse the delta through melt
or deposit additional material. The material
in a kame delta is characterized by a distinct
stratigraphy owing to the sorting action of the
stream during transport.
While outwash material exists beyond the
terminus of a glacier, similar features exist within
and beneath the glacier itself. Eskers, or ridges of
glaciofluvial sediment, form near the terminus.
Some eskers form underneath a glacier from
deposits in meltwater-carved tunnels. Other
eskers form on glacial surfaces or in crevasses
in the ice. The main esker channel is referred
to as the tributary esker, which allows branching
eskers to form in the direction of glacial move-
ment. These landforms often wind across several 
kilometers, but some extend across hundreds
of miles. In the United States, esker systems in
Maine extend for over 160 km. In Canada, the
Thelon Esker stretches across 800 km.
Beneath a glacier, meltwater also contributes
to the creation of tunnel valleys, which resemble
steep-sided U-shaped subglacial pathways run-
ning parallel to one another in the direction of
glacial flow. These long subglacial drainage path-
ways near the margins of large ice sheets serve
as drainage pathways for large meltwater streams,
which have a large impact on glacial flow at the
subglacial level.
At the supraglacial level, meltwater drains
through the ice, creating waterfalls within a
glacier called moulins. These channels transport
water to the basal level, affecting subglacial
water pressure and velocity and thereby affecting
glacial flow. On glaciers with moulins, melt-
water is delivered to the basal level at discrete
points, which increases the glacial sliding speed

 
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GLACIAL DEPOSITIONAL PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS

across a surface (Gulley et al. 2012). However, the direction of ice movement (see Figure 5).
because access to the basal level of a glacier is The origin of these landforms is the subject of
naturally restricted by ice, a limited number of scientific debate, but most research points to
direct observations of subglacial water pressure their formation as a result of subglacial melt-
leave much to be studied in the way of glacial water transporting sediment into ice cavities.
hydrology. Erosional hypotheses suggest that meltwater and
If meltwater cannot drain, or if it accumulates outwash from fast-moving glaciers carve away
faster than it drains, it will collect in pools. weak subglacial material, leaving behind strong
Surface water from ablation, or surface melt, sediment deposits in the form of drumlins.
will collect in crevasses and melt ponds, while Depositional hypotheses, on the other hand, sug-
subglacial streams will collect in basal lakes. If gest that the increased deposition evidenced by
these pools of water overflow, the result will be drumlins occurs when changes in ice pressure
a glacial outburst flood, also known as a jökulhlaup, build mounds under the ice, creating a positive
an Icelandic term that translates to “glacier run.” feedback loop of deposition and ice deformation.
These floods release large amounts of meltwater Today, there is only one active drumlin field
and debris across a large area of land. Given in the world, which is the subject of multiple
their potential for destruction, international
monitoring efforts focus on the prevention of
harm to people who live in communities where
glacial outburst floods are possible.
 Meltwater also deposits sedimentary material 
into tunnel valleys, which carry and store large
amounts of meltwater, making them effective
aquifers. Similar to U-shaped valleys, tunnel
valleys are wide and steep with flat bottoms. The
sediment layers of a tunnel valley are made up of
glaciofluvial material deposited during the cre-
ation of the original formation and subsequent
sedimentary infill. The geological composition
of tunnel valleys allows for the study of glacial
history through investigations of sediment, valley
size, and terminal location.
During the life span of a glacier, debris can be
transported across a large area. Alpine glaciers can
Figure 5 Drumlin field in Northern Canada, 2014.
transport plucked debris in addition to material
This image shows a drumlin field in the Nunavut
delivered to the glacier’s surface through rock- Territory of Canada, about 27 km (17 miles) south-
slides. Large boulders are often left behind as a west from the Amundsen Gulf. The drumlins and
glacier moves and melts. These rocks, known as surrounding area seen here are thought to have
erratics, are distinct from surrounding native rocks formed below the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the
in size and type. last Ice Age. Photo by Jesse Allen and Robert Sim-
Drumlins, or streamlined teardrop-shaped mon, NASA Earth Observatory, June 21, 2014.
till deposits, often exist in clusters following Reproduced from USGS.

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GLACIAL E ROSIONAL PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
investigations. The Múlajökull glacier in central
Ireland, which left behind over 100 drumlins,
was the subject of geomorphological studies in
2014 using aerial photographs and remote sens-
ing data (Jónsson et al. 2014). The researchers’
data suggested that the drumlins formed mostly
by subglacial erosion and bed deformation, in
alignment with depositional hypotheses.
Wbieg0719
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SEE ALSO: Glacial erosional processes and
Wbieg0397
landforms; Glaciations; Glacier changes; Glacier
Wbieg0665 lake outburst floods; Glacier mass balance;
Wbieg0470 Glaciers; Mountain geomorphology;
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References
Catania, Ginny, and Chris Paola. 2001. “Braiding
under Glass.” Geology, 29(3): 259–262.
 Gulley, J.D., M. Grabiec, J.B. Martin et al. 2012.
“The Effect of Discrete Recharge by Moulins and
Heterogeneity in Flow-Path Efficiency at Glacier
Beds on Subglacial Hydrology.” Journal of Glaciol-
ogy, 58(211): 926–940.
Sverrir Aðalsteinn Jónsson, Anders Schomacker, Ívar
Örn Benediktsson et al. 2014. “The Drumlin
Field and the Geomorphology of the Múlajökull
Surge-Type Glacier, Central Iceland.” Geomorphol-
ogy, 207: 213–220.
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific,
and Cultural Organization). 2011. Glossary of
Glacier Mass Balance and Related Terms. http://
unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001925/
192525e.pdf (accessed May 16, 2016).
Further reading
Cuffey, Kurt M., and W.S.B. Paterson, eds. 2010. The
Physics of Glaciers, 4th edn. Burlington, MA: Aca-
demic Press.
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Hooke, Roger LeB., ed. 2005. Principles of Glacier
Mechanics, 2nd edn. New York: Cambridge Uni-
versity Press.
IPCC (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization). 2013: Climate Change
2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of
Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by
T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner et al. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ruddiman, William F., ed. 2007. Earth’s Climate: Past
and Future, 2nd edn. New York: W.H. Freeman.
Glacial erosional processes
and landforms
Robin Blomdin
Stockholm University, Sweden

Jonathan Harbor
Purdue University, USA
Glaciers are one of the most effective agents of
erosion in the earth-surface system, and pro-
duce landforms spanning scales of millimeters
to kilometers in size. Over geological time,
glacial erosion wears down topography and plays
an active role in the evolution of mountain
ranges and continental landscapes in alpine and
high-latitude settings. Glacial erosional land-
forms vary widely in both their size (Figure 1)
and the time taken for their formation (Figure 2).
On timescales of one or more glacial cycles (sev-
eral hundred thousand years), erosion by glaciers
in mountainous areas produces classic features of
large-scale glacial relief, such as glacial valleys,
troughs, fjords, overdeepenings, and cirques. On
timescales of thousands of years a glacier can
produce medium-scale features such as roches
moutonnées and rock steps. Glaciers also erode