Outwash Plain
U.S. Geological Survey photo by Bruce Molnia (fair use policy)
Glaciers release a great deal of water as they melt, usually in streams that exit from the snout carrying large quantities of fresh-ground rock. Where the ground is relatively flat, the sediment builds up in an outwash plain and the meltwater streams wander over it in a braided pattern, helpless to dig into the sedimentary abundance. This outwash plain is at the terminus of Brady Glacier in Alaska's Fairweather Range.
Another name for an outwash plain is sandur, from the Icelandic.
Fossils
Geologic Features and Processes
Glaciers and Ice
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