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Tuesday, 25 August 2020

Glacial landforms and the glacial timescale


With regard to nothing in particular, I came across this very appealing diagram in an article about the glacial landforms and landscapes of Norway.  It's created by Clas Hätterstrand, and shows the timescales over which glacial landscapes and landforms are created.  We can argue with the details, but the general principles seem to be sound.  The highest-order landscapes are at the top, and the lowest-order (cracks, striae etc) are at the bottom.  The lowest-order features may be created in less than a week, given the right conditions, but the highest-order features like fjords and outlet glacier troughs take many thousands of years to form, across several glacial episodes.  Somewhere in the middle of the diagram we flip from the features that might have been  created in the Late Devensian Glaciation into features which are inherited and which get extended / refreshed every time a new glacial episode comes along.....

1 comment:

TONY HINCHLIFFE said...

Have you got any hunches about how the river - cliff at Bradford on Avon was formed? Also, the terrace - like higher ground between the fringe of Bradford and Westwood, above the canal to the west of the B3109 at approx ST824602. Do you see any hints of glaciation anywhere else close to Bradford? e.g. Iford area in the Frome valley? I think you may have thought there may turn out to be a moraine thereabouts.