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What are the main (a) depositional and (b) erosional features of glaciated environments?

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Final answer:

In glaciated environments, depositional features include till, moraines, outwash plains, and drumlins, while erosional features consist of cirques, arêtes, U-shaped valleys, and fjords.

Step-by-step explanation:

The glaciated environments are characterized by distinctive depositional and erosional features resulting from glacial activity. The depositional features primarily include materials left behind when a glacier retreats, such as till, moraines, outwash plains, and drumlins, each representing a different aspect of sediment deposition by glacial action. Till is an unsorted mixture of rock and soil deposited directly by the melting ice, whereas moraines are accumulations of debris at the edges of glaciers, forming ridges. Outwash plains are created by meltwater rivers flowing away from the melting glacier, carrying and depositing sorted sediments. Drumlins are elongated hills formed under the moving ice, shaping the underlying till.

Erosional features, on the other hand, include landforms such as cirques, arêtes, and U-shaped valleys. Cirques are bowl-shaped depressions on mountainsides where alpine glaciers originated. Arêtes are sharp ridges that form between adjacent cirques. U-shaped valleys are the result of glacier movement transforming the original V-shaped river valleys. In addition to these, fjords are deep, glacially carved valleys that are now filled with seawater.

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