Which of the following landforms is formed by the action of glaciers?

2016

Which of the following landforms is formed by the action of glaciers?

  1. A.

    Lapies

  2. B.

    'U' shaped valley

  3. C.

    'V' shaped valley

  4. D.

    Waterfall

Attempted by 4 students.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B

Glacial erosion is a mechanical process: a moving mass of ice, embedded with rock debris, scours and plucks the bedrock beneath and beside it as it flows downslope, producing distinctly rounded, broad, trough-shaped erosional landforms — unlike the narrower, sharper forms cut by flowing water.

A valley glacier moving through a pre-existing river valley widens and deepens the valley floor and steepens its sides through abrasion (embedded rock debris grinding against bedrock) and plucking (freeze-thaw action prying loose blocks of rock). This produces a broad, flat-floored, steep-sided trough with a distinctive rounded cross-section — the 'U' shaped valley.

  • Lapies — Lapies are grooved, fluted limestone surfaces produced by the chemical dissolution (solution weathering) of rock by acidic rainwater — a karst process, unrelated to the mechanical scouring of moving ice.

  • 'V' shaped valley — A 'V' shaped valley is cut mainly by a river's vertical downcutting into its bed, producing a narrow, steep-sided channel — a fluvial process, distinct from the broad lateral erosion of glacial ice.

  • Waterfall — A waterfall forms where a river's course meets an abrupt break of slope or a band of harder, more resistant rock, causing a sudden vertical drop — this results from differential fluvial erosion, not from glacial action.

Among the given landforms, only the 'U' shaped valley is produced by the direct erosional action of glaciers.

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