::''This page is about the
geomorphological feature. For other uses of the term see
Nordic skating or
Csilla (
Star Wars planet).''
An iceway is a linear channel eroded through bedrock by the passage of glacial ice. The term was coined by
geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...
Ronald Kay Gresswell in a paper in 1964 in relation to the origins of the
Dee and
Mersey estuaries on the boundary of northwest
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and northeast
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. Gresswell identified several such sub-parallel features running in a northwest to southeast direction from
Liverpool Bay
Liverpool Bay is a bay of the Irish Sea between northeast Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside to the east of the Irish Sea. The bay is a classic example of a region of freshwater influence. Liverpool Bay has historically suffered from redu ...
through
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...
into
Cheshire. The Dee estuary and its landward continuation south of
Chester as far as
Farndon along with the Mersey estuary are the two largest iceways discerned in this region. Further iceways were identified underlying the lower
Gowy valley and the Alt-Ditton depression east of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
. Each of these have also been referred to as
tunnel valley
A tunnel valley is a U-shaped valley originally cut under the glacial ice near the margin of continental ice sheets such as that now covering Antarctica and formerly covering portions of all continents during past glacial ages. They can be as l ...
s.
[R K Gresswell, 1964 Origins of the Dee and Mersey Estuaries]
References
Glaciology
Glacial landforms
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