Meandering and dry rock-cut meltwater channel at Cambus

meltwater channel erosion

meltwater channel recognition

meltwater channel systems

meltwater channel types

Rammer Cleugh - a classic meltwater channel

Cairngorm meltwater channels

Sissons (1958) on meltwater channels in East Lothian

Longyester meltwater channel system, with gravel workings

Meltwater Channel

Definition: channel cut by glacial meltwater under, along and in front of an ice margin.

Complex systems of glacial meltwater channels form a striking element in the scenery of East Lothian. The channels were cut beneath and beside ice sheets and glaciers moving across the Forth lowlands. As the ice thinned and the flanks and summits of the Lammermuir Hills emerged, huge volumes of meltwater were generated. New channels were cut and old ones reoccupied. Enormous quantities of sand and gravel were transported and then deposited to form a range of fluvioglacial landforms.