Glaciation

• Plucking - Friction is caused by the movement of the glacier against the ground which then melts the ice on the glaciers base. Freeze Thaw Action can then occur breaking pieces off pieces of the ground. Then as the glacier moves it plucks the material and carries it away.
• Abrasion - When pieces of material are plucked from the ground they can become embedded in the base of the glacier. As the glacier moves these pieces are dragged all the ground creating striations.
• Supragalcial - The material on top off the glacier
• Englacial - Material transported within the glacier and its cracks
• Subgalcial - Material transported along by the glacier dragging it between its base and the ground
• Features of Gacial Erosion :

  1. Arete
  2. Cirque
  3. Pryamidal Peak
  4. Tarn
  5. Paternsoter Lake
  6. Truncated Spur
  7. Hanging Valley
  8. Glaciated Valley
• Cirque - A basin shaped hollow with 3 steep sides and it where a glacier is born. When snow collects in a high up mountain hollow and repeated snow falls, it begins to compact forming ice. A glacier is born. Due to plucking, abrasion and freeze thaw action the hollow grows deeper. When the glacier is big enough it flows of the edge of the cirque and starts to move downhill.

  E.G - The devils punchbowl Co.Kerry
• Drumlin - These are oval shaped hills that are made of boulder clay. Glacial ice deposits the boulder clay and then retreats. It then advances again and smooth the boulder clay into a round oval shaped hills. The steep slope of the drumlin is the direction the glacier was advancing in and the gentle slope is the direction the ice was moving in.