Moraine Valley facts for kids
Moraine Valley is a special valley located on Signy Island, which is part of the South Orkney Islands near Antarctica. It's a long valley, about 1.4 kilometers (0.87 miles) in length. This valley is filled with rocks, dirt, and other materials left behind by ancient glaciers. During the summer, a stream flows through the valley, fed by melting ice from the slopes at its southern end.
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Exploring Moraine Valley
Moraine Valley is found on the eastern side of Signy Island. It stretches north and drains into an area called Elephant Flats. This valley was first explored and named by a group called the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1947. They mapped the area and gave it its name because of the "morainic" debris they found there.
What is a Moraine?
A moraine is like a pile of rocks, sand, and dirt that a glacier leaves behind as it moves or melts. Imagine a giant, slow-moving river of ice. As it slides across the land, it picks up and pushes along all sorts of material. When the glacier melts or retreats, it drops all this material, forming hills, ridges, or, in this case, filling a valley. So, Moraine Valley is a valley shaped and filled by these ancient icy travelers.
Orwell Lake: A Glacier's Legacy
Inside Moraine Valley, you'll find a small body of water called Orwell Lake. This lake is located southeast of a larger ice formation known as Orwell Glacier.
How Orwell Lake Formed
Orwell Lake is quite new! It has appeared because the Orwell Glacier has been melting and shrinking over recent years. As the glacier ice melts, the water collects in hollows, forming lakes like Orwell Lake. It's a clear sign of how the landscape in Antarctica is changing.
Naming Orwell Lake
Orwell Lake was officially named in 1981 by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee. This committee is responsible for naming places in the British Antarctic Territory. They named the lake in connection with the nearby Orwell Glacier, making it easier for scientists and explorers to identify and study the area.
