Rock glacier

Rock glacier with multiple flow lobes, Chugach Mountains, Alaska.

Rock glaciers are distinctive geomorphological landforms of blocky detritus which may extend outward and downslope from talus cones or from glaciers or the terminal moraines of glaciers. Their growth and formation is subject to some debate with three main theories in prominence. The first suggests that rock glaciers have formed from cirque glaciers and contain a glacial ice core or interstitial ice between the rocks which causes the formation to move downslope. Secondly, a permafrost origin implies the features are related to permafrost action rather than glacial action. The third is a mass wasting or landslide origin which does not require the presence of ice and suggests a sudden catastrophic origin with little subsequent movement.

Rock glaciers may move or creep at a very slow rate in part dependent on the amount of ice present.

Possible Martian rock glacier features have been identified by the Mars Orbiter spacecraft.

References

• USGS Glossary of Glacier Terminology
• AGU - Terrestrial Models of Rock Glacier and Protalus Lobe Formation
• Rock glaciers and protalus landforms: Analogous forms and ice sources on Earth and Mars Journal of Geophysical Research V. 108, NO. E4, 8032, 2003