Includes all erosional landforms such as cirque, arete, horns, fjord, hanging valley, roche moutonnèe, crag and tail

1. DR. HARI SINGH GOUR VISHWAVIDYALAYA, (A CENTRAL UNIVERSITY), SAGAR M.P.
DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED GEOLOGY
PRESENTATION ON GLACIAL EROSION PROCESSES AND
LANDFORMS
GUIDED BY: PRESENTED BY:
PROF. PRADEEP KUMAR KATHAL SHUBHRA VERMA
M.TECH 1ST SEM
REG. NO Y21251045

2. CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• FORMATION OF GLACIERS
• GLACIAL MOVEMENT
• TYPES OF GLACIAL FLOW
• GLACIAL EROSIONAL PROCESSES
• GLACIAL EROSIONAL LANDFORMS
• REFERENCES

3. INTRODUCTION
• A glacier is a body of ice, consisting
mainly of recrystallized snow,
flowing on a land surface (Flint and
Longwell, 1961).”
• Glacier are formed over many years
from packed snow in areas where
snow accumulation exceeds melting
and sublimation. A glacier is always
moving, but when its forward edge
melts faster than the ice behind it
advances, the glacier shrinks
backward and this line is called
“snow line”.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil
e:Glacial_ice_formation_LMB.png
http://go-11.blogspot.com/2011/12/altitude-
latitude-snow-line-and-tree.html

4. GLACIAL MOVEMENT
• A glacier moves as a solid rather than as a liquid.
• The center of a glacier moves more rapidly than the sides and the surface more
rapidly than the bottom, because the sides and bottom are held back by
friction.
• The rate of flow depends largely on:
 The volume of ice in movement, the slope of the ground over
which it is moving.
 The slope of the upper surface of the ice,
 The amount of water the ice contains,
 The amount of debris it carries,
 The temperature, and
 The friction it encounters.

5. TYPES OF GLACIAL FLOWS
GLACIAL FLOWS
GRAVITY DRIVEN MOVEMENT PLASTIC FLOW
https://www.antarcticglaciers.org/glacier-processes/glacier-flow-
2/glacier-flow/
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/FACULTY/POPP/Nov09
_Ch_18.pdf

6. GLACIAL EROSIONAL PROCESSES
Glacial Erosional
Processes
Plucking or
quarrying
Rasping
Avalanching
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/earthscience/chapter/glacial-
erosion-and-deposition/

7. GLACIAL EROSIONAL LANDFORMS
• Cirque- Cirques are concave, circular
basins carved by the base of a glacier as it
erodes the landscape.
• Arete- Two adjacent cirques make up an
arete.
• Horn- A peak formed where three or more
aretes meet.
• Glacial trough- Long, U-shaped valleys
that were carved out by glaciers that have
since receded or disappeared.
• Hanging Valley- A tributary to a main
valley which has been deeply scoured by
glacial ice, leaving the tributary valley
“hanging” above the main valley.
https://www.pmfias.com/glacial-landforms-erosional-depositional-cirque-
arete-fjord-esker-drumlin-moraine/

8. • Col- It is a depression formed along the arete at a place where the headwalls of two
opposed cirques intersect each other
• Truncated Spurs- The sharp and cute bends which occur along the course of
stream-valleys are straightened up by glacial abrasion and in the process, it cuts
projecting spurs producing blunt triangular facets, known as truncated-spars or
facetted-spurs.
Glacial boulders -The rock fragments entrapped in the glacial ice, get abraded,
rounded and their surface polished and striated during the glacier movement.
Glacial Scars-These are small-scale erosional features produced by the abrasive action
of the glacier.
https://mammothmemory.net/geography/geography-
vocabulary/glacial-landscapes/truncated-spur.html

9. • Roches Moutonnée- When a little hill of rock or small elevation is encountered on the way of the
glacier, it is not usually worn away completed. The side facing the direction of glacier movement
becomes gentle, smooth and striated, while the opposite side remains, rough and steep.
• Fjords -These are deep glacial troughs which have been eroded below sea-level or are submerged to a
depth below sea-level.
https://www.antarcticglaciers.org/glacial-geology/glacial-landforms/glacial-
erosional-landforms/roches-moutonnees/
https://alchetron.com/Roche-moutonnée
http://asapeducate.weebly.com/earth-science-terms/fjord http://asapeducate.weebly.com/earth-science-
terms/fjord

10. • Crag and tail -When very hard rocks like
igneous bodies or volcanic plugs are
encountered on the path of the moving ice
sheet, they stand as pillars and resist the flow
of the ice and retard its erosive action on the
rocks behind the obstructions.
https://www.coolgeography.co.uk/A-
level/AQA/Year%2012/Cold%20environs/Glacial%20Landforms/Landf
orms.htm
https://www.examrace.com/Study-Material/Geography/Goh-Cheng-Leong/Goh-
Cheng-Leong-Chapter-6-YouTube-Lecture-Handouts.html

11. Landforms during preglacial
period
Landforms during glacial
period
https://www.facebook.com/GeoFeatures/photos/the-evolution-of-some-alpine-glacial-landforms-a-a-landscape-
before-an-ice-age-b/938807269884361/
https://www.facebook.com/GeoFeatures/photos/the-evolution-of-some-alpine-glacial-landforms-a-a-
landscape-before-an-ice-age-b/938807269884361/

12. Landforms during preglacial period
https://www.facebook.com/GeoFeatures/photos/the-evolution-of-some-alpine-glacial-landforms-a-a-landscape-before-an-
ice-age-b/938807269884361/

13. REFERENCES
 BOOKS
1. Thornburry, W.D. (1958). Principles of Geomorphology, 4th edition,
John Wiley &Sons. pp- 355-373.
2. Spotila , J.A. (2013). Treatise on Geomorphology.
 URLs
1. https://eartheclipse.com/geology/processes-features-glacial-
erosion.html
2. https://www.antarcticglaciers.org/glacier-processes/glacier-flow-
2/glacier-flow/

14. THANK YOU