Ice-transported debris

Rocks and rock debris of all shapes and sizes (including tiny particles known as 'rock flour') are transported on the surface and at the base of glaciers. Glaciers can carry rocks long distances before depositing them. The rocky evidence that was left behind means we can tell the direction the ice moved and how far it travelled. For example, chunks of granite from Rannoch Moor now lie scattered over the Drumochter Hills to the east.

An earthy legacy

In Scotland, the glaciers deposited rock debris on the ground beneath, when their speed was reduced and as valleys widened.  These deposits are particularly significant because they are so widespread in the lowlands and upland valleys and provide the parent material for many of our soils, as in East Lothian and Strathmore. In places, the till was moulded and streamlined by the glaciers to form drumlins, as in the Tweed valley, around Glasgow and in the Solway lowlands.

Moraines

Where they halted, the glaciers deposited 'moraines'. Particularly fine examples are associated with the Loch Lomond Readvance glaciers, for example around the south end of Loch Lomond, near Buchlyvie, at Callander and in many Highland glens and corries. In places, 'hummocky' moraine in the form of hundreds of hillocks was deposited on valley floors, most notably in Glen Torridon.