Veiki moraine facts for kids

A Veiki moraine (called Veikimorän in Swedish) is a special kind of landform made by glaciers. You can find these bumpy hills and ridges in northern Sweden, parts of Norway (in a region called Troms og Finnmark), and also in Canada.

These moraines look like a landscape with many irregular, flat-topped hills (called plateaus) that have raised edges. Between these hills, you often find small ponds.

What is a Veiki Moraine?

A moraine is a pile of rocks, sand, and dirt left behind by a melting glacier. Imagine a giant bulldozer pushing earth around; that's a bit like what a glacier does! Veiki moraines are unique because of their bumpy, uneven shape. They have flat areas that look like tables, surrounded by higher edges, with ponds nestled in between.

Who Discovered Veiki Moraines?

The idea of the Veiki moraine was first described in 1952 by a scientist named Gunnar Hoppe. He named them after a place in Sweden called Veiki, which has two farms. This spot is about 10 kilometers north of the towns Gällivare and Malmberget.

Are There Similar Landforms?

Yes! In Finnish Lapland, which is east of where Veiki moraines are found, there's a similar but smaller type of moraine. It's known as a Pulju moraine and was first described in 1967.

How Do Veiki Moraines Form?

Veiki moraines tell us about the last movements of a giant ice sheet before it melted away. Their unique shape comes from a process involving "dead-ice."

The Role of Dead-Ice

Dead-ice is a term for large chunks of glacier ice that have broken off and stopped moving. As this dead-ice slowly melts, it leaves behind the dirt and rocks it was carrying.

Glacial Lagoons and Sedimentation

As the dead-ice melted, it created spaces where water collected, forming what scientists call glacial lagoons. These lagoons were like temporary lakes. Over time, fine sand and mud (called sediment) settled at the bottom of these lagoons. This process happened during warmer periods within an ice age, known as interstadials.

Surviving the Ice Age

For the Veiki moraines in Sweden, scientists believe these lagoons formed and filled with sediment early in the Weichsel glaciation. This was the last major ice age in Europe. What's amazing is that these landforms have largely survived later glacier movements. This means they are a "relict" landform – a leftover feature from a past time that has managed to stay mostly the same.