Glacial erosion: definition, types and examples

The glacial erosion is the erosion of the soil caused by the movement of large masses of ice.

Glaciers are considered highly important natural erosive agents. They form in areas where the amount of snow that accumulates during the winter is always greater than the snow that melts during the summer. The accumulated snow is compacting and recrystallizing, finally giving rise 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. The ice of the glacier accumulates until it reaches 50 meters thick. Once this limit is exceeded, the ice begins to flow in a uniform way, conditioned by friction, the speed of movement according to the slope and the force of gravity. During the advance of the glacier, it is shaping the terrain and displacing all kinds of rocks that it finds in its path. In turn, the rocks that are already immersed in the bottom of the glacier act as abrasive particles, that is, they act by sanding and polishing the surface of the terrain on which it moves. This abrasion process can occur through the action of tearing, abrading or polishing the ground by friction or friction.

During the process of glacial erosion, it is common for ice to break up rocks and infiltrate between the resulting cracks, resulting in very sharp rock fragments. We are then talking about the gelling process . In addition, the constant flow of ice on the rocks produces characteristic striations in the terrain, thus forming striated or polished soils.

Finally, when it reaches the end of its route, the glacier loses its transport capacity as it melts and turns into water ( ablation process ). In this last stage, of the glacial erosion process, the different materials that were transported mixed and with angular forms settle, some larger than others.

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

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

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

• Mountain glacier : smaller glaciers surrounded by mountainous relief. They have three parts: glacier cirque (ice accumulation zone), glacier tongue and U-shaped valley.
• Ice Cap – Huge layers of ice that can cover a mountain range or volcano.
• Continental ice cap glacier: they are the largest glaciers, made up of immense masses of ice that cover large areas, having a thinner thickness on their margins.

Here are some examples of the different types of glaciers today:

• Antarctica and Greenland are the only continental cap-type glaciers that we can find today.
• As for the mountain glaciers, the Perito Moreno Glacier located in the Cordillera de los Andes Patagónicos stands out, whose constant advance causes the increase in the level of the waters of Lake Argentino to which it descends.
• As an example of an ice cap, we find the ice masses that cover much of the archipelago of the Norwegian islands of Svalbard .
• On the other hand, glacial erosion is also responsible for the formation of the fjords. They appear in areas where the sea enters a glacial valley. In the Norwegian city of Bergen, we can find impressive fjords that years ago, some glacier was dedicated to sculpting.

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