Glaciers-How do they move?

Discovery Education Video in Class
​How do Glaciers move? Click HERE and HERE
Continental Glaciers...Click HERE
Alpine Glaciers...Click HERE

HOW DO GLACIERS ERODE ROCK?AS THEY FLOW ACROSS A LANDSCAPE GLACIERS PICK UP EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATH, FROM SAND GRAINS TO GIANT BOULDERS.
 These rocks and sediment get frozen into the bottom of the glacier and carried along with it as it moves.   The rocks stuck in the bottom of the glacier get dragged over the bedrock by the forward motion of the glacier. 
AS THEY GET DRAGGED OVER THE BEDROCK, THE PARTICLES CARRIED IN THE GLACIER ACT AS CUTTING TOOLS ERODING THE BEDROCK IT FLOWS OVER.  THE GRINDING ACTION OF THE ROCKS IN THE GLACIER CHANGES THE BEDROCK IN 3 IMPORTANT WAYS:
Notice the smooth polished bedrock with the parallel striations

1. They polish the bedrock making it smooth.
2. They carve characteristic U-shaped valleys
3. They cut long parallel grooves in the bedrock called striations.  These are important because the can indicate the direction the glacier was traveling.

The rocks carried inside the glacier go through abrasion as they are dragged over the bedrock.  
UNLIKE RIVER ABRASION, GLACIAL ABRASION MAKES THE ROCKS BECOME SHARP AND JAGGED.