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Climatic Geomorphology
Fluvioglacial deposits can be classified according to the sedimentation environment:
deposits due to ice melt channels, and deposits in confined waters, such as lakes and seas.
Also a classification can be established according to their position in relation to the ice
mass (Table 5.1). The proglacial sedimentary deposits occur at a certain distance from the
ice margin, generating smoothed morphologies, and the sedimentary structures are not
deformed. The deposits located in contact with the ice show distorted structures and their
morphologies are produced by the ice mass or by a later settling in relation to the melting
of buried ice. They are, in addition, classified according to the prevailing sediment and the
form of the accumulation.
Eskers (osar in Scandinavia) are ridges composed of stratified deposits with rounded
gravels and sands with some blocks. Their direction is parallel to the regional flow of the
ice. They are sinuous or straight, sometimes discontinuous, with sharpened or flattened
(a)
I(SE
(b)
Figure 5.16. Origin of kames. (a) Crevasses open until the ice-rock interface and development of a
cavity in which sediments accumulate. (b) Supraglacial and endoglacial cavities produce similar forms
(modified from Price, 1973).
Climatic Geomorphology
Fluvioglacial deposits can be classified according to the sedimentation environment:
deposits due to ice melt channels, and deposits in confined waters, such as lakes and seas.
Also a classification can be established according to their position in relation to the ice
mass (Table 5.1). The proglacial sedimentary deposits occur at a certain distance from the
ice margin, generating smoothed morphologies, and the sedimentary structures are not
deformed. The deposits located in contact with the ice show distorted structures and their
morphologies are produced by the ice mass or by a later settling in relation to the melting
of buried ice. They are, in addition, classified according to the prevailing sediment and the
form of the accumulation.
Eskers (osar in Scandinavia) are ridges composed of stratified deposits with rounded
gravels and sands with some blocks. Their direction is parallel to the regional flow of the
ice. They are sinuous or straight, sometimes discontinuous, with sharpened or flattened
(a)
I(SE
(b)
Figure 5.16. Origin of kames. (a) Crevasses open until the ice-rock interface and development of a
cavity in which sediments accumulate. (b) Supraglacial and endoglacial cavities produce similar forms
(modified from Price, 1973).