37. Landforms and Landscapes of Continental Ice Sheets and Mountain Glaciers

Photo 65: I visited Moraine Lake, Alberta, which has interesting land forms due to glacial deposition. 2011-06-20

Glacial Deposits

Glaciers form landform and landscapes. One of the ways is through deposition. Water under the glacier transports sands and gravel, wind above the glacial terrain transports sand and clay, and the glacier itself makes ice-deposits. These deposits are called till. Rock-deposition that is carried at the base of a glacier is called basal (lodgement) till and rocks carried on top is ablation till. That these rock deposits can be significant is visible in photo 65, at Moraine Lake, close to Lake Louise. The rock pile in the photo is mostly due to ablation till, because the source of the rocks is the landslide visible on the right side of the photo. The lake in the foreground is the former location of the glacier.

Photo 66: Medial Moraine. 2011-05-18

Moraines

Photo 66 shows a medial moraine of the Athabasca glacier, formed in 1908, as this receding glacier came temporarily to a stand-still. Medial moraines are also called recessional moraines. Due to the glaciers continual deposition and the glacier’s stand-still, a little wall of rocks and sand is formed. A glacier has one terminal moraine, a line of rock deposits marking the farthest point of the glacier. As a glacier recedes, it may leave a layer of deposits on the receding surface, called ground moraine. Photo 67 shows rock worn out by the Athabasca glacier as well as ground moraine deposits. 

Photo 67: Glacial friction erosion as well as ground moraine deposits at Athabasca Glacier. 2011-05-18

Photo 68 shows the southern lateral moraine of the former side of the Athabasca glacier. 

Photo 68: Lateral Moraine. 2011-05-18

Photo 69 shows the northern lateral moraine of the Athabasca glacier, up to about the height of my left hand, and above it neighboring Dome glacier coming over top of the moraine, with its southern lateral moraine slightly visible as the black rocks on top of the ice cap.

Photo 69: Lateral Moraine. 2011-05-18