The document describes glacial and glaciofluvial deposits found in Alberta, Canada, including till, varves, eskers, and kame deltas. Varves are annual layers deposited in glacial lakes, with finer layers in winter and coarser in summer. Varves in the image were deposited in Glacial Lake Leduc and allow dating the lake. As the lake deepened over time, the varves became thinner and better defined as the sediment source moved farther. Glaciofluvial features like eskers and outwash plains can impact human activities by providing resources or affecting drainage.

1. Draw a River Regime for a mountain glacier in the Canadian Rockies

2. How would Glacial and Glaciofluvial deposits differ?Glacial Till

3. Fluvioglacial outwash deposit

5. Glacial lake varves, north side of the Athabasca River, Alberta, 1966.This photograph shows glacial lake varves lying on glacial till. The till is composed of rocks in a gravel, silt, clay, and sand matrix. It was deposited at the base of the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the Wisconsinan (23 000 to 10 000 years before present). Once the glacier had retreated (melted) to a point further east, glacial Lake Leduc occupied this section of the valley, and the varves were deposited in this lake. Glacial Lake Leduc is part of a sequence of lakes that covered north central Alberta. The varves represent a year of the lake’s history: a pale coloured layer of silty sand deposited in summer, and a dark clay layer deposited in winter. During the summer, more water and sediments flowed into the glacial lake; therefore, the coarse, heavy material, like sand and silt, was deposited on the lake bottom. During the winter, the lake was covered with ice and little, or no, sediment flowed into the lake, allowing clay, very fine silt, and organic particles to settle to the bottom. Varves afford geologists an opportunity to calculate the age of the lake, similar to counting the rings of a tree trunk. At the bottom of the lakebed, near the till, the varves are faint and wide; near the top, they are defined and thin. This difference is related to the depth of the glacial lake. As the lake became deeper, the sediment source grew further away; therefore, less sediment settled during each season.Varves, AlbertaAthabasca River

7. Kame Deltas

8. Kettle holes

9. Sandur

10. Eskers

11. Varves

13. Annotate the Image with full explanations of how Varves, Kames, eskers and outwash plains form.

14. Research: How could Fluvio glacial features affect human activity?