Dead ice is ice which, though part of a
glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...
or
ice sheet
In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than . The only current ice sheets are in Antarctica and Greenland; during the Last Glacial Period at Las ...
, is no longer moving. When this melts it does so in situ, leaving behind a hummocky terrain known as dead-ice moraine which is produced by the deposition of
glacio-fluvial
In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviogl ...
sediments and
ablation till
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
. Such features include
kettle hole
A kettle (also known as a kettle lake, kettle hole, or pothole) is a depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating gla ...
s.
Landscapes forming
Veiki moraine
A Veiki moraine (Swedish: Veikimorän) is a type of moraine found in northern Sweden, Troms og Finnmark in Norway, and parts of Canada. This moraine is characterized by forming a hummocky landscape of irregular moraine plateaus with elevated rim ...
s in northern Sweden and Canada have been attributed to the ablation of extensive bodies of till-covered dead ice.
References
Glaciology
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