Glacial Milk
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
Glacial Milk
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Capture And Enhancement
Description
Glacial milk, or rock flour, consists of fine-grained, silt-sized particles of rock, generated by mechanical grinding of bedrock by glacial erosion or by artificial grinding. Because the material is very small, it becomes suspended in melt water making the water appear cloudy, which is sometimes known as glacial milk. This image was made of Fitzsimmons Creek in Whistler, British Columbia.
When the sediments enter a river, they turn the river's color grey, light brown, iridescent blue-green, or milky white. If the river flows into a glacial lake, the lake may appear turquoise in color as a result. When flows of the flour are extensive, a distinct layer of a different color flows into the lake and begins to dissipate and settle as the flow extends from the increase in water flow from the glacier during snow melts and heavy rain periods.
Typically, natural rock flour is formed during glacial migration, where the glacier grinds against the sides and bottom of the rock beneath it, but also is produced by freeze-and-thaw action, where the act of water freezing and expanding in cracks helps break up rock formations. Multiple cycles create a greater amount. The particles are ground up quartz and feldspar. Rock flour is carried out from the system via melt water streams, where the particles travel in suspension.
Image copyright 2014 Jon Burch Photography
Uploaded
September 25th, 2014
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