::''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 {{glaciology-stub