page_title: Tunnel valley
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Tunnel valley / Characteristics
caption_attribution_description: Glacial tunnelvalley; section at Noordbergum, the Netherlands
context_page_description: A tunnel valley is a U-shaped valley originally cut under the glacial ice near the margin of continental ice sheets such as that now covering Antarctica and formerly covering portions of all continents during past glacial ages. They can be as long as 100 km, 4 km wide, and 400 m deep.
  Tunnel valleys were formed by subglacial erosion by water and served as subglacial drainage pathways carrying large volumes of meltwater. Their cross-sections exhibit steep-sided flanks similar to fjord walls, and their flat bottoms are typical of subglacial glacial erosion. They presently appear as dry valleys, lakes, seabed depressions, and as areas filled with sediment. If they are filled with sediment, their lower layers are filled primarily with glacial, glaciofluvial or glaciolacustrine sediment, supplemented by upper layers of temperate infill. They can be found in areas formerly covered by glacial ice sheets including Africa, Asia, North America, Europe, Australia and offshore in the North Sea, the Atlantic and in waters near Antarctica.
caption: A figure in Dutch showing the cross-section of a tunnel valley which has been refilled after erosion into bedrock.
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