Continental
Glaciation in
Canada
Glacial grooves on East
Sister Island, Lake Erie,
Ontario.
Glacial topography:
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In areas eroded by glaciers during the last ice
age, the smooth preglacial surface has been
stripped of its thick soils.
The weaker parts of the granitic bedrock have
been excavated into countless lake basins, and
the resistant knobs scoured and polished.
Blocks and boulders of all sizes litter the
ground. A tundra-like vegetation of herbs and
shrubs occupies exposed surfaces and dense
windswept conifers, hug the hollows.
DURING CONTINENTAL GLACIATION:
AFTER CONTINENTAL GLACIATION:
Glacial Till: (unstratified)
Glacial Striations
Glacial erratic on till surface, northeastern Manitoba.
This is a large glacier-transported erratic block, sitting
on the till plain in northeastern Manitoba. The dimensions
of the block can be estimated from the person standing in
front.
Erratic, Yellowstone NP (Photo © Duncan Heron)
Glacial Erratic
Formation of
a Kettle Lake:
KETTLE LAKES:
KETTLE LAKES:
Terminal Moraine:
Recessional Moraine:
Roche Moutonnee
A roche moutonnée is a rock hill
shaped by the passage of ice to
give a smooth up-ice side and a
rough, plucked and cliff-girt
surface on the down-ice side.
The upstream surface is often
marked with striations.
What are Drumlins?
Drumlins indicate ice movment:
A drumlin near Morley Bow Valley, Alberta.
Drumlins are streamlined mounds of till that are associated with glacial
flow, and form at the base of moving glacier sheets.
The steep end faces the direction from which the glacier advanced.
As observed in the photo, the glacier moved from right to left.
This feature shown above is about 35 m high, and at least 250 m long.
Drumlin:
Drumlin:
Drumlin fields
(eggs in a
basket
topography)
OUTWASH
PLAIN –
is a plain (flat
land) formed
by meltwater
from glaciers
Outwash Plain:
HOW AN ESKER STARTS UNDER A GLACIER:
WHEN THE MELTWATER AND GLACIER IS GONE:
Sharp-crested esker, northwestern Manitoba.
In the centre of the foreground lies a slightly sinuous, tree-covered, sharpcrested esker that is composed of sand and gravel. It occurs among the
woodlands and fens that cover till plains in the boreal forest.
Esker:
Esker in N.W.T.:
Eskers and
Kettle Lakes: