Kame Terrace Landscape

This type of landscape is composed of kame terraces along the sides of a glacial valley or at the edge of a highland. When a glacier retreats, the meltwater along both sides of the glacial valley creates streams, and the flowing water accumulates layers of glaciofluvial deposits between the valley wall and the glacier. When the entire glacier has melted, the front of the deposit (the contact surface of the glacier) collapses due to the absence of glacier ice as a support, forming a scarp. This feature is similar to a river terrace and thus is called a kame terrace. Kame terraces look like elongated strips and lie along both sides of the glacial valley. They gradually become flatter down the valley and eventually link up with the outwash fan.