Urstromtal

An urstromtal (plural: Urstromtäler) is a type of broad glacial valley, for example, in northern Central Europe, that appeared during the ice ages, or individual glacial periods of an ice age, at the edge of the Scandinavian ice sheet and was formed by meltwaters that flowed more or less parallel to the ice margin. Urstromtäler are an element of the glacial series. The term is German and means "ancient stream valley". Although often translated as "glacial valley", it should not be confused with a valley carved out by a glacier. More accurately some sources call them "meltwater valleys"[1][2] or "ice-marginal valleys".[3]

  1. ^ Böse, Margot (2005). The Last Glaciation and Geomorphology in: Koster, E. (ed.): The Physical Geography of Western Europe, Oxford University Press, p. 61
  2. ^ Selected Soil Associations, Berlin Digital Environmental Atlas, accessed on 23 Dec 2011
  3. ^ Jürgen Ehlers, Philip Leonard Gibbard (ed.) (2004). Quaternary glaciations: extent and chronology, Part 3, Elsevier, London, Oxford, San Diego, Amsterdam. p. 139. ISBN 0-444-51462-7