How Glaciers Reshape the Land

Glaciers are powerful agents of erosion and deposition:

Erosion

Moving ice scours bedrock, carving deep valleys, fjords, and cirques. It plucks and transports boulders, grinding them into sediment.

Deposition

As ice melts, it drops its load, forming moraines (ridges at glacier margins), till plains (unsorted sediment sheets), drumlins, and outwash plains.

Resulting Landscapes

• Mountains: U-shaped valleys, cirques, arêtes, horns.
• Coasts: Fjords, moraine-dammed lakes.
• Plains: Till plains, kettle lakes, eskers.

Iconic Examples

• Grand Canyon (partly glacially influenced)
• Norwegian fjords
• Alpine moraines
• Midwestern US till plains

Glaciers sculpt some of Earth's most dramatic scenery.