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Glacial Systems and Landscapes

Roches Moutonnées, Drumlins and Erratics

  • 3 things to know
  • Component 1

Overview

Recall questions on the stoss and lee sides of a roche moutonnée and what its asymmetry and surface features reveal about ice flow, on drumlins, their material, orientation, shape and groups, and on erratics as evidence of past ice movement.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What happens when ice flows over a resistant bedrock obstacle to form a roche moutonnée?

Key term

How can the asymmetry of a roche moutonnée be used to reconstruct past glacial conditions?

Key term

What term describes a group of drumlins occurring together, and why is this significant?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What happens when ice flows over a resistant bedrock obstacle to form a roche moutonnée?

    Model answer

    The ice is forced over the obstacle; abrasion smooths the upstream side while plucking steepens the downstream side.

  2. 2

    Describe the appearance and origin of the stoss side of a roche moutonnée.

    Model answer

    It is smooth and gently sloping, shaped by abrasion as debris-laden ice is pressed against the upstream face.

  3. 3

    What surface features on a roche moutonnée indicate the direction of former ice flow?

    Model answer

    Striations – parallel scratches on the stoss side aligned with ice movement.

  4. 4

    Explain how the lee side of a roche moutonnée becomes rough and jagged.

    Model answer

    Meltwater refreezes in joints on the downstream side; as ice moves away it plucks blocks, leaving a steep, irregular surface.

  5. 5

    How can the asymmetry of a roche moutonnée be used to reconstruct past glacial conditions?

    Model answer

    The smooth stoss side faces up-glacier and the rough lee side faces down-glacier, so the asymmetry indicates former ice flow direction.

  6. 6

    Define a drumlin.

    Model answer

    An elongated, streamlined hill of glacial till with a steep stoss end facing up-ice and a tapered lee end, formed beneath moving ice.

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