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Year 10
AQA

Glacial landforms resulting from erosion and deposition

I can understand the characteristics and formation of glacial landforms.

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New
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Year 10
AQA

Glacial landforms resulting from erosion and deposition

I can understand the characteristics and formation of glacial landforms.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Glacial landscapes exhibit several distinctive landforms.
  2. Distinctive landforms formed due to erosion including corries, aretes, pyramidal peaks, truncated spurs, glacial troughs
  3. Distinctive landforms formed due to processes of transportation and deposition include erratics, drumlins and moraine.

Keywords

  • Plucking - when a glacier pulls chunks of rock from the bedrock as it moves over it

  • Abrasion - when rocks and debris carried by a glacier scrape and wear away the surface beneath it

  • Glacial trough - a valley reshaped by glacial erosion into a U-shape

  • Moraine - accumulation of unsorted debris, such as soil and rock, deposited by a glacier

Common misconception

Glacial erosion is the only process that creates new landscapes.

Glacial erosion does create new landforms, but as glaciers transport and then deposit the eroded material, this also creates new landscapes.


To help you plan your year 10 geography lesson on: Glacial landforms resulting from erosion and deposition, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

It is important to understand the role of erosional processes - abrasion and plucking - in creating the glacial landforms. Previous knowledge of erosion, transportation and deposition (e.g. rivers, coasts) may help students in this lesson.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the processes to their definition.
Correct Answer:erosion,The wearing away of pieces of rock, soil or other solid materials
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The wearing away of pieces of rock, soil or other solid materials

Correct Answer:deposition,When material is deposited or left behind
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When material is deposited or left behind

Correct Answer:transportation,To move objects or people from one place to another
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To move objects or people from one place to another

Correct Answer:weathering,The breaking down of rocks in-situ
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The breaking down of rocks in-situ

Q2.
What is a glacier?
A large body of water that flows over land
Correct answer: A large mass of ice that moves slowly over land
A type of rock formed by volcanic activity
A landform created by wind erosion
Q3.
What is freeze-thaw weathering?
Correct answer: The break-up of rocks caused by water regularly freezing and thawing
The movement of rock from one place to another
A large mass of ice that moves slowly over land
Q4.
The last in the UK took place around 18 000 years ago. During this time, temperatures remained low throughout the year and ice sheets and glaciers covered the north of the UK.
Correct Answer: ice age
Q5.
Glacial erosion is very powerful and has a range of effects, including:
Correct answer: Deepening valleys
Creating wave cut platforms
Correct answer: Widening existing V-shaped river valleys into U-shaped valleys
Q6.
Glaciers move slowly, transporting material called glacial in different ways depending on its position within the ice.
Correct Answer: till

Exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Match the key words to their definitions.
Correct Answer:plucking,a glacier pulls chunks of rock from the bedrock as it moves over it
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a glacier pulls chunks of rock from the bedrock as it moves over it

Correct Answer:abrasion,rocks and debris carried by a glacier scrape and wear away rock
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rocks and debris carried by a glacier scrape and wear away rock

Correct Answer:glacial trough,a valley reshaped by glacial erosion into a U-shape
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a valley reshaped by glacial erosion into a U-shape

Correct Answer:moraine,an accumulation of unsorted debris, deposited by a glacier
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an accumulation of unsorted debris, deposited by a glacier

Q2.
A is a bowl-shaped hollow found on the upper slopes of glaciated valleys, often containing a small lake (tarn/cwm) after glaciation.
Correct Answer: corrie, cirque, cwm
Q3.
How does a corrie form?
1 - Snow collects in a sheltered hollow on the side of a mountain. The snow doesn't
2 - melt in the summer because it is high up, sheltered and cold. Every winter, more
3 - snow collects in the hollow. This is compacted to ice. The back wall of the
4 - corrie gets steeper due to freeze-thaw weathering and plucking. The base of
5 - the corrie becomes deeper due to abrasion. Rotational slip increase erosion at
6 - the base of the corrie. At the front of the corrie, erosion decreases
7 - and a rock lip forms. After the glacier has melted a lake forms in the hollow.
Q4.
Which of the following are glacial landforms created by deposition?
hanging valleys
Correct answer: drumlins
Correct answer: moraines
Correct answer: erratics
arête