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A meltwater channel (or sometimes a glacial meltwater channel) is a channel cut into ice, bedrock or unconsolidated deposits by the flow of water derived from the melting of a glacier or ice-sheet. [1] The channel may form on the surface of, within, beneath, along the margins of or downstream from the ice mass.
Meltwater is a major contributor to many glacial stream’s annual water budget. [7] The amount of meltwater a glacial stream receives is dependent on the size of the watershed it is located in; larger watersheds tend to have greater accumulations of snow, and therefore high measurements of meltwater and annual discharge. [3]
If the glacial action erodes through, a spillway (or col) forms; Horn: a sharp peak connecting multiple glacier intersections, made up of multiple arêtes. Valley step: an abrupt change in the longitudinal slope of a glacial valley; Hanging Valleys: Formed by glacial meltwater eroding the land partially, often accompanied by a waterfall. [2]
Instead, glacial meltwater is diverted laterally along the ice margin and deposits sediments between the glacier and valley wall. [25] As the glacier retreats, the process may repeat creating a stepped slope or terrace referred to as a kame terrace. In a singular form, this landform may also be referred to as a kame moraine. [30]
A subglacial meltwater channel is a channel beneath an ice mass, such as ice sheets and valley glaciers, roughly parallel to the main ice flow direction.These meltwater channels can have different sizes, ranging from very small channels of a metre deep and wide to big valleys which can be up to a kilometre wide.
Subglacial streams are conduits of glacial meltwater that flow at the base of glaciers and ice caps. [1] Meltwater from the glacial surface travels downward throughout the glacier, forming an englacial drainage system consisting of a network of passages that eventually reach the bedrock below, where they form subglacial streams. [1]
Meltwater is often found during early spring when snow packs and frozen rivers melt with rising temperatures, and in the ablation zone of glaciers where the rate of snow cover is reducing. Meltwater can be produced during volcanic eruptions, in a similar way in which the more dangerous lahars form. It can also be produced by the heat generated ...
Glacial striations are usually multiple, straight, and parallel, representing the movement of the glacier using rock fragments and sand grains, embedded in the base of the glacier, as cutting tools. Large amounts of coarse gravel and boulders carried along underneath the glacier provide the abrasive power to cut trough-like glacial grooves .