Glacier erosion: definition, types and examples

The Glacier erosion is the soil erosion caused by the movement of Great Ice Masses.

Glaciers are considered erosive natural agents of great importance. They are formed in areas where the amount of snow that accumulates during winter is always superior to snow that meets during the summer. The accumulated snow is compacting and recrystallizing, finally leading to a thick mass of ice. The process of growth and establishment of the glacier is known as Glaciation.

One of the main characteristics of a glacier is its movement. Glacier ice is accumulating until it reaches 50 meters thick. Once that limit is exceeded, the ice begins to flow uniformly, conditioned by friction, the speed of displacement according to the slope and the force of gravity. During the advance of the glacier, it is modeling the terrain and displacing all kinds of rocks that it finds in its path. In turn, the rocks that are already immersed at the bottom of the glacier act as abrasive particles, that is, they act sanding and polishing the surface of the land on which they move. This process of abrasion It can occur through the action of starting, wearing or polishing the terrain by friction or friction.

During the glacier erosion process, it is common for ice to cause rock breakage and infiltrate among the resulting cracks, giving rise to very angular rock fragments. We talk about the process of Gelifraction. In addition, the constant flow of ice on the rocks is producing characteristic strions in the field, thus forming striated or pulled soils.

Finally, when it reaches the end of its route, the glacier loses transport capacity by melting and becoming water (ablation process). In this last stage, the different materials that were transported and with angular shapes, some larger than others are sediment of the glacier erosion process.

The speed at which a terrain is eroded because of a glacier is variable, depending on 4 main factors:

1. The speed of glacier displacement.
2. The ice thickness.
3. The shape and abundance of the rock fragments contained in the ice.
4. The erosionability of the surface below the glacier.

We now know the different types of glaciers according to their morphology that we can find in nature:

• Mountain glacier: smaller glaciers surrounded by mountain relief. They present three parts: glacier circus (ice accumulation zone), Glacier tongue and U Valley in the form of an U.
• Glacier cap: Huge layers of ice that can cover a mountain range or a volcano.
• Continental cap glacier: They are the largest glaciers, consisting of immense ice masses that cover large surfaces, having a thinner thickness on their margins.

Next, we show some examples of the different types of glaciers today:

• Antarctica and Greenland They are the only continental cap glaciers that we can find today.
• As for mountain glaciers, the Perito Moreno glacier Located in the Patagonian Andes mountain range, whose constant advance causes the increase in the level of the Argentine lake waters to which it descends.
• As an example of glacier cap, we find the Ice masses that cover much of the archipelago of the Norwegian Svalbard Islands.
• On the other hand, glacier erosion is also responsible for the formation of The fjords. They appear in areas where the sea enters a glacier valley. In the Norwegian city of Bergen, we can find impressive fjords that a glacier was dedicated to sculpt.

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