Abstract
We develop an empirically-based model of the evolution of large roches moutonnees, based on features in eastern Scotland with lee side cliffs up to 160 m high. Block removal by ice begins some way down the lee slope of a hill or spur at a point where cavities start to form at the ice/rock interface. With time, block removal produces a cliff which retreats upglacier, producing a characteristic staircase morphology to the cliff in response to limiting crack length and the presence of pre-existing joints in the rock. The link between plucking and subglacial meltwater help to explain the distribution of roches moutonnees along the axis of the Dee valley, the location of a major ice stream within the former Scottish ice sheet. A narrow ice-marginal zone of plucking may migrate across the landscape as ice sheets wax and wane. -from Authors
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 253-264 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Geografiska Annaler, Series A |
| Volume | 74 A |
| Issue number | 2-3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1992 |
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