Tuesday 28 March 2017

Roche Moutonee in Windgap Cove

I spotted this roche moutonee from Steeple. It shows the direction of ice movement during the Ice Age. Ice flowed from the top of the corrie on the right hand side and was able to wear this hard rock into a ramp. At the bottom of a glacier the ice melts because there is a massive pressure. In ice the water molecules are spread out. We know this because ice is less dense and floats on water. But pressure forces the water molecules close together making them back into the liquid water configuration. Look at the phase diagram for water half way down this page https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast29jun_1m It looks as though ice at 0 degrees Celsius will be melted if the pressure increases above 10 atmospheres. Anyway, the melt water trickles down the far side of the rock where it gets into gaps, is no longer under direct pressure so that it freezes and expands, shattering the rock. As the glacier moves on, the ice is dragged along taking the shattered rock with it. Hence the broken crag on the downstream side.