Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
10
GLACIAL AND GLACIOFLUVIAL
LANDSCAPES
Sheets, caps, and rivers of ice flow over frozen landscapes; seasonal meltwater courses over landscapes at the edges of
ice bodies. This chapter covers:
ice and where it is found
glaciated valleys and other landforms created by ice erosion
drumlins and other landforms created by ice deposition
eskers and other landforms created by meltwater
ice-conditioned landforms
humans and icy landscapes
Meltwater in action: glacial superfloods
The Altai Mountains in southern Russia consist of huge intermontane basins and high mountain ranges, some over
4,000 m. During the Pleistocene, the basins were filled by lakes wherever glaciers grew large enough to act as dams.
Research in this remote area has revealed a fascinating geomorphic history (Rudoy 1998). The glacier-dammed
lakes regularly burst out to generate glacial superfloods that have left behind exotic relief forms and deposits - giant
current ripple-marks, swells and terraces, spillways, outburst and oversplash gorges, dry waterfalls, and so on. These
features are 'diluvial' in origin, meaning they were produced by a large flood. They are allied to the Channeled Scabland
