Lesson 8:

Formation of

Terminal Moraine

What you should know by the end of this lesson:

Formation of a Terminal Moraine

Glacial Deposition

When writing about features of deposition explain:

How a glacier collects material (erosional processes)
How material is deposited (deposition process)
How it looks today, after glaciation

Glacial Till

This is Glacial Till, unsorted and unstratified (not sorted into layers) boulders, gravel and clay.

Features - drumlins, moraines, erratics

Fluvio-Glacial Deposits

These are deposited by meltwater rivers (fluvio glacial) leaving landforms made from sorted and stratified (layered) material.

Features - eskers, kame terraces

Glaciation Depositional Features

Types of Moraine

Moraine Worksheet

There are several different types of Moraine, it is important to understand which one we are discussing.

Digital Workbook and Paper Jotter

Collect your types of moraine diagram
Annotate your copy of this diagram with the type of moraine and correct definitions.

Formation of a Terminal Moraine

These features are straight forward and your task is simply to try and understand the processes which explain how they form

Digital Workbook and Paper Jotter

Draw the annotated diagram into your jotter
Write the full explanation to your notes below your diagram

Diagram

Explanation

Write about how glaciers pick up, transport and then lose energy to deposit

material

Then:

Terminal moraine marks the maximum extent the glacier has advanced (travelled)
End or front of the glacier is called the snout and is where this moraine is deposited.
(The glacier) Reached southwards to the point where the temperatures rose and the climate was warm enough for it to melt. The ice bulldozed loose soil and rock in front of it.
Moraine dropped here where the ice melted is jagged and angular in shape.
Ice melting resulted in these moraines building up in ridges of sand, gravel and boulders along where the ice stopped. They can extend for many kilometres.
Not good for farmland as they have thin soils and little water near the surface. They are often left as heathland or covered in trees.
A moraine- dammed lake (meltwater) can sometimes be trapped behind the terminal moraine, which may drain away in time.
Large and small pieces of rock are mixed together making this an unsorted moraine type.

Just for fun - Eskers

Erratics (you don't need to know this)

Erratic's are large blocks that have been moved from their bedrock location by a glacier. When they are deposited they are in contrast to the surrounding geology. Many are also precariously balanced!

The BRITICE map has mapped many of these - check it out!