How glaciers form and move
A glacier is any large mass of ice that moves slowly over land.There are two types of glaciers- continental glaciers and valley glaciers. A continental glacier is a glacier that covers most of a continent or large island. Continental glaciers can move over millions of square kilometers. Continental glaciers can move in all directions wherever they move from. Valley glaciers is a long narrow glacier that forms when snow and ice build up high in mountains. The sides of the mountains keep these glaciers from spreading apart in ever direction. Valley glaciers are smaller than continental glaciers but can still be up to ten kilometers long. Glaciers can only form when more snow falls then melts
How glaciers shape the land
The movement of as glacier starts to change the ground beneath it. Glaciers are one of the majors forces of erosion even though they move so slowly. The two processes by which which glaciers start to erode the land is plucking and abrasion. As a glacier starts flowing over earths surface it picks up rocks in a process called plucking. Beneath the glaciers the weight of the ice can break rocks apart. These rock fragments will start to freeze underneath the glacier. Plucking can also move huge boulders. Many rocks are still latched onto the glacier as it moves across the land. After a glacier melts, it deposits the sediment it eroded from the land, creating various landforms. The mixture of sediment that a glacier deposits onto the surface is a till. Till that is deposited on the edges of a glacier is a moraine. Retreating glaciers also form features known as kettles. A kettle is a small depression that forms when a chunk of ice is left in a glacial till.