Glacial landscapes: ice movement and inherited landforms
Explain erosion and deposition, read relief and distinguish modern ice measurements from inherited landscapes.
Link movement to erosion
Glacier ice can deform and, under suitable conditions, slide over its bed. Rock fragments can abrade bedrock; quarrying or plucking can remove fractured blocks.
Erosion modifies valleys through time. A broad glacial trough reflects many processes and phases; a photograph alone cannot give the age of its formation.
Worked example
A fictional profile has a 300 m valley floor and 900 m sides over 2 km horizontally. Vertical difference is 600 m; slope comparisons need matched horizontal distances.
Common mistake: Ice erosion and frost weathering are different processes.
Explain landform sequences
Erosion in an upland hollow can develop a corrie; adjacent hollows can sharpen ridges. Valley glaciers widen and deepen existing valleys, leaving hanging tributary valleys where erosion differs.
Deposited till is unsorted material; meltwater can sort and redeposit sediment. Moraines record accumulated debris, while several processes can produce depositional landforms.
Worked example
A fictional glacier margin retreats 600 m in 30 years: an average 20 m/year. Retreat distance does not measure loss of ice thickness or mass.
Common mistake: A retreat rate cannot supply an entire glacier mass balance.
Evaluate upland uses
Tourism, farming, forestry and quarrying use glaciated uplands in different ways. Paths and transport concentrate visitors; erosion, disturbance and conflict depend on location and intensity.
Management can channel access, repair paths and limit sensitive-area use. Its success needs ecological and user evidence.
Worked example
A fictional path survey records 120 damaged metres out of 800 m before repair and 60 afterwards: 15% and 7.5%. The damaged proportion halved in that surveyed route.
Common mistake: One repaired path does not establish recovery of an entire upland area.
Try a different resource
Landscape cross sections
The profile joins six measured points with straight segments. Horizontal units are kilometres and vertical units are metres. The drawn slope angle is exaggerated by these different scales.
Scroll the diagram sideways to see the full resource.
| Distance (km) | Height (m) |
|---|---|
| 0 | 20 |
| 1 | 320 |
| 2 | 620 |
| 3 | 920 |
| 4 | 620 |
| 5 | 20 |
Resource description
0 km along the transect: 20 m above datum; 1 km along the transect: 320 m above datum; 2 km along the transect: 620 m above datum; 3 km along the transect: 920 m above datum; 4 km along the transect: 620 m above datum; 5 km along the transect: 20 m above datum
Write an explanation
Check your answer
- Build process sequences, not a list of names.
- Use relief or sediment evidence to support interpretation.
- Distinguish erosion, transport and deposition.
- Select a taught UK landform example; the US glacier record is a measurement comparison.
Practise and review a written answer
Case studies
These pages provide selected evidence. Check the whole case requirement with your teacher.
Read further
- www.aqa.org.uk — source or course reference
- www.aqa.org.uk — source or course reference
- qualifications.pearson.com — source or course reference
- www.sqa.org.uk — source or course reference
- www.sqa.org.uk — source or course reference
- qualifications.pearson.com — source or course reference
- www.ocr.org.uk — source or course reference
- www.eduqas.co.uk — source or course reference
Glacier change and measurement · Matching evidence to a claim
Course links
AQA GCSE Geography · National 5 Geography · Higher Geography · Pearson Edexcel GCSE Geography A · OCR A-level Geography · Eduqas A-level Geography
Next topics
Coasts: sediment, change and management · Rivers and flooding
Selected teaching sequence with fictional worked data. The linked case records supply bounded evidence; they do not satisfy every course case requirement.
Scottish links identify reusable parts of the topic. Scottish landforms, soil, weather and disease requirements need additional course-specific teaching.