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Identifying moraines in Google Earth. Moraines. Characteristics Prominent cross-valley or parallel single or multiple ridges with positive relief .
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Moraines Characteristics • Prominent cross-valley or parallel single or multiple ridges with positive relief. • Linear, curved, sinuous or saw-toothed in plan. May occur as single moraines or in more complicated moraine systems. Moraines that are extensive in plan – usually appear hummocky. Continues/discontinues. Well-preserved/degraded. • Size of moraines can vary from <100 m to100s of Km long covering 1 Identification criteria • Shadowing due to change in height or relative relief. River deflection/abandoned channels. • Change in colour/texture because of different soil and vegetation covercompared to surrounding terrain. • “Elevated surfaces sticking out from their surrounding!” • Does the ridge look “out of place”? Where Mapping • Crest of ridge. • Break of slope of moraine. • If multiple ridges or hummocky character we call it a complex. It can’t be subdivided in the remote sensing based mapping
Process Identify currently glaciated area/region (Alpine areas, altitudes >1500m.a.sl) Identify the contemporary glacier snout (Glacier: snow and ice, crevasses, foliation) Move down valley, to the mouth where the valley floor opens up, digitize on-screen any moraine you can spot using the identification criteria!
To think about? Old Vs. Young moraines (assumptions): Younger = fresh, irregular texture, lot of boulders, greyish colour and no vegetation. Closer to contemp. ice margin. Older = smoother surface, larger, further from contemp. ice margin How does a glacier margin look like? Can we see a similar pattern in the moraines?