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In geology
Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
, a proglacial lake is a lake formed either by the dam
Dam

A dam is a barrier that Reservoirs surface water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates, levees, and Dike are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions....
ming action of a moraine
Moraine

A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past ice age....
 or ice dam
Ice dam

An ice dam occurs when water builds up behind a blockage of ice. Ice dams can occur in various ways....
 during the retreat of a melting glacier, or one formed by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet
Ice sheet

An ice sheet is a mass of glacier ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 square kilometer . The only current ice sheets are in Antarctica and Greenland; during the last glacial period at Last Glacial Maximum the Laurentide ice sheet covered much of Canada and North America, the Wisconsin glaciation ice sheet covered n...
 due to isostatic depression
Isostatic depression

Isostatic Depression is the term used by geologists for the sinking of large parts of the earth's crust into the asthenosphere. The sinking is caused by a heavy weight placed on the earth's surface....
 of the crust around the ice. At the end of the last ice age
Ice age

The general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers....
 approximately 10,000 years ago, large proglacial lakes were a widespread feature in the northern hemisphere.

In some cases, such lakes gradually evaporated during the warming period after the Quaternary
Quaternary

The Quaternary Period is the Geologic Time Scale period after the Neogene Period, spanning 1.805 +/- 0.005 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary includes two geologic epochs: the Pleistocene and the Holocene epoch ....
 ice age.






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In geology
Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
, a proglacial lake is a lake formed either by the dam
Dam

A dam is a barrier that Reservoirs surface water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates, levees, and Dike are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions....
ming action of a moraine
Moraine

A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past ice age....
 or ice dam
Ice dam

An ice dam occurs when water builds up behind a blockage of ice. Ice dams can occur in various ways....
 during the retreat of a melting glacier, or one formed by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet
Ice sheet

An ice sheet is a mass of glacier ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 square kilometer . The only current ice sheets are in Antarctica and Greenland; during the last glacial period at Last Glacial Maximum the Laurentide ice sheet covered much of Canada and North America, the Wisconsin glaciation ice sheet covered n...
 due to isostatic depression
Isostatic depression

Isostatic Depression is the term used by geologists for the sinking of large parts of the earth's crust into the asthenosphere. The sinking is caused by a heavy weight placed on the earth's surface....
 of the crust around the ice. At the end of the last ice age
Ice age

The general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers....
 approximately 10,000 years ago, large proglacial lakes were a widespread feature in the northern hemisphere.

In some cases, such lakes gradually evaporated during the warming period after the Quaternary
Quaternary

The Quaternary Period is the Geologic Time Scale period after the Neogene Period, spanning 1.805 +/- 0.005 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary includes two geologic epochs: the Pleistocene and the Holocene epoch ....
 ice age. In other cases, such as Glacial Lake Missoula
Glacial Lake Missoula

Glacial Lake Missoula was a prehistoric proglacial lake in western Montana that existed periodically at the end of the last ice age between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago....
 and Glacial Lake Wisconsin
Glacial Lake Wisconsin

Glacial Lake Wisconsin was a prehistoric proglacial lake that existed from approximately 19,000 to 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, in the central part of present-day Wisconsin in the United States....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, the sudden rupturing the supporting dam allowed rapid catastrophic floods, resulting in the formation of gorges and other structures downstream from the former lake.

In Great Britain
Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
, Lake Lapworth
Lake Lapworth

Lake Lapworth existed in England in the Ice Age when ice from Wales and the north blocked the River Dee, Wales outlet which flowed past where Chester is now....
, Lake Harrison
Lake Harrison

Lake Harrison is the name given to a huge lake that in parts of the Ice Age covered much of the Midlands in England around Warwick and Birmingham and Leicester....
 and Lake Pickering
Lake Pickering

Lake Pickering was an extensive proglacial lake of the Wisconsin glaciation. It filled the Vale of Pickering between the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Wolds, when the ice blocked the drainage, which had hitherto flowed north-eastwards past the site of Filey towards the Northern North Sea basin....
 are examples of proglacial lakes. Ironbridge Gorge
Ironbridge Gorge

The Ironbridge Gorge is a deep gorge formed by the River Severn in Shropshire, England.Originally called the Severn Gorge, the gorge now takes its name from its famous The Iron Bridge, the first iron bridge of its kind in the world, and a monument to the industry that began there....
 is an overspill channel created when the waters of Lake Lapworth rose high enough to breach the lowest point in the southern watershed.

See also


  • List of prehistoric lakes
    List of prehistoric lakes

    This a partial list of prehistoric lakes. Although the form of the names below differ, the lists are alphabetized by the identifying name of the lake ....
  • Pluvial lake
    Pluvial lake

    A pluvial lake is a lake that experiences significant increase in depth and extent as a result of increased Precipitation_ and reduced evaporation....
  • Proglacial lakes of Minnesota
    Proglacial lakes of Minnesota

    The proglacial lakes of Minnesota were lakes created in what is now the U.S. state of Minnesota in central North America in the waning years of the last glacial period....