They erode the landscape, carving valleys, wearing away rock, and stripping soil from the ground.
Glaciers also add to the landscape by depositing materials.
Photograph by B. Washburn, courtesy of Eugene Domack, Hamilton College. The wearing down of the landscape by glaciers is called glacial erosion. The glaciers are forces of nature. They can be thought of as a powerful river, picking up particles in their path, smoothing the land over which they travel, and dropping materials on their way. The glaciers erode because they move and carry debris at their base.