4. The glacial dirt machine

Abstract

Glaciers and ice sheets create landscape change in three main ways: erosion, deposition, and deformation. The combination of these processes has given glaciers the reputation of being phenomenally efficient changers of landscapes. But in reality they modify the Earth’s surface only gradually, eroding and moving material in stages of various duration via a complex spatial and temporal mosaic of processes. ‘The glacial dirt machine’ considers these processes in turn. Erosion includes direct glacial erosion as well as glacifluvial or meltwater-related processes. A wide range of other geomorphological processes—paraglacial processes—are activated and indeed are at their most dynamic immediately after deglaciation.