Kettle Holes

A kettle hole in Iceland

Feature Fact File: Kettle holes and lakes

What are kettle holes?

    Kettle holes are depression in the ground that have very steep sides. They can fill up with water to form lakes or ponds.

How do kettles form?

    Kettle holes form when a chunk of ice that is separated from the glacier is buried by sand. They are very large pieces of ice, so they form a depression where they sit. Eventually, the ice melts, leaving behind a hole.

How a kettle hole forms.

Where do kettles form?

    Kettles form in the outwash plain of a glacier.

Have a fantastic day!


Image Citations:

Ingólfsson, Ólafur. Kettle Hole in sandur sediments, in front of the 1890 Brúarjökull surge moraine. Digital image. Ólafur Ingólfsson. N.p., 2004. Web. 26 May 2013. <https://notendur.hi.is/oi/Eyjabakkajokull%20photos/Kettle%20hole.JPG>.

Kettle Hole Formation. Digital image. Cairngorm Landscapes. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.landforms.eu/cairngorms/images/kettle-hole.gif>.