A kettle (also known as a kettle hole, kettlehole, or pothole) is a depression or hole in an

outwash plain An outwash plain, also called a sandur (plural: ''sandurs''), sandr or sandar, is a plain formed of glaciofluvial deposits due to meltwater outwash at the glacier terminus, terminus of a glacier. As it flows, the glacier grinds the underlying r ...

formed by retreating

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s or draining

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

waters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of

dead ice Dead ice is the ice in a part of a glacier or ice sheet that is no longer moving. As the ice melts, it leaves behind a hummocky terrain known as dead-ice moraine. Dead-ice moraine is produced by the accumulation of sediments carried by glaciers t ...

left behind by retreating glaciers, which become surrounded by

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

deposited by

meltwater Meltwater (or melt water) is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glaciers, glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelf, ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found during early spring (season), spring when snow packs a ...

streams as there is increased friction. The ice becomes buried in the sediment and when the ice melts, a depression is left called a kettle hole, creating a dimpled appearance on the outwash plain.

Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s often fill these kettles; these are called kettle hole lakes. Another source is the sudden drainage of an ice-dammed lake and when the block melts, the hole it leaves behind is a kettle. As the ice melts, ramparts can form around the edge of the kettle hole. The lakes that fill these holes are seldom more than deep and eventually fill with sediment. In acidic conditions, a kettle

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

may form but in alkaline conditions, it will be kettle peatland.

Overview

Kettles are fluvioglacial landforms occurring as the result of blocks of

ice calving Ice calving, also known as glacier calving or iceberg calving, is the breaking of ice chunks from the edge of a glacier.Essentials of Geology, 3rd edition, Stephen Marshak It is a form of ice ablation or ice disruption. It is the sudden release ...

from the front of a receding

and becoming partially to wholly buried by glacial outwash.

Glacial outwash An outwash plain, also called a sandur (plural: ''sandurs''), sandr or sandar, is a plain formed of glaciofluvial deposits due to meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier. As it flows, the glacier grinds the underlying rock surface and ...

is generated when streams of

flow away from the glacier and deposit sediment to form broad outwash plains called sandurs. When the ice blocks melt, kettle holes are left in the sandur. When the development of numerous kettle holes disrupt sandur surfaces, a jumbled array of ridges and mounds form, resembling

kame A kame, or ''knob'', is a glacial landform, an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and is then deposited on the land surface with further melting of the g ...

and kettle topography. Kettle holes can also occur in ridge shaped deposits of loose rock fragments called

till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

.Tarbuck, E and Lutgens, F: ''Earth'', page 351. Prentice Hall, 2002 Kettle holes can form as the result of floods caused by the sudden drainage of an ice-dammed lake. These floods, called

jökulhlaup A jökulhlaup ( ) (literally "glacial run") is a type of glacial outburst flood. It is an Icelandic term that has been adopted in glaciological terminology in many languages. It originally referred to the well-known subglacial outburst floo ...

s, often rapidly deposit large quantities of sediment onto the sandur surface. The kettle holes are formed by the melting blocks of sediment-rich ice that were transported and consequently buried by the jökulhlaups. It was found in field observations and laboratory simulations done by Maizels in 1992 that

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

s form around the edge of kettle holes generated by jökulhlaups. The development of distinct types of ramparts depends on the concentration of rock fragments contained in the melted ice block and on how deeply the block was buried by sediment. Most kettle holes are less than two kilometres in diameter, although some in the U.S. Midwest exceed ten kilometres.

Puslinch Lake Puslinch Lake is a kettle lake located in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest kettle lake in North America. The lake is "private", according to Puslinch Township Council, but some public access (beach and boat launch) was avail ...

in Ontario, Canada, is the largest kettle lake in Canada spanning . Fish Lake in the north-central Cascade Mountains of the U.S. state of Washington is . Kettle-glacial-lake-form-isunngua-greenland

Kettle-glacial-lake-form-isunngua-greenland

The depth of most kettles is less than ten meters. In most cases, kettle holes eventually fill with water, sediment, or vegetation. If the kettle is fed by surface or underground rivers or streams, it becomes a kettle lake. If the kettle receives its water from

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

, the groundwater table, or a combination of the two, it is termed a kettle pond or kettle wetland, if vegetated. Kettle ponds that are not affected by the groundwater table will usually become dry during the warm summer months, in which case they are deemed

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...

Bogs

If water in a kettle becomes

acidic An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid. The first category of acids are the ...

due to decomposing organic plant matter, it becomes a kettle

; or, if underlying soils are lime-based and neutralize the acidic conditions somewhat, it becomes a kettle

peatland A peatland is a type of wetland whose soils consist of Soil organic matter, organic matter from decaying plants, forming layers of peat. Peatlands arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, du ...

. Kettle bogs are

closed ecosystem Closed ecological systems or contained ecological systems (CES) are ecosystems that do not rely on matter exchange with any part outside the system. The term is most often used to describe small, man-made ecosystems. Such systems can potentially ...

s because they have no water source other than precipitation. Acidic kettle bogs and fresh water kettles are important ecological niches for some symbiotic species of flora and fauna. Kettle pond Hossa

The

Kettle Moraine Kettle Moraine is a large moraine in the state of Wisconsin, United States. It stretches from Walworth County in the south to Kewaunee County in the north. It has also been referred to as the ''Kettle Range'' and, in geological texts, as th ...

, a region of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

covering an area from Green Bay to south-central Wisconsin, has numerous kettles,

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

s and other glacial features. It has many kettle lakes, some of which are 100 to deep.

Examples

The

Prairie Pothole Region The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is an expansive area of the northern Great Plains that contains thousands of shallow wetlands known as potholes. These potholes are the result of glacier activity in the Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin gl ...

extends from northern

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada to

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, United States and includes thousands of small

slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

s and lakes. *Austria ** Meerauge, Bodental ** Zmulner See, Carinthia (Kärnten) *Canada **

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

*** Algonquin Park, Spruce Bog trail *** Bond Lake *** Heart Lake *** Kettle Lakes Provincial Park *** Lake Wilcox ***

Musselman Lake Musselman's Lake is a community settled adjacent to a kettle lake of the same name in the town of Whitchurch–Stouffville, Ontario, Canada. It is located about 6 km north-northwest of urban Stouffville, and is part of the Greater Toronto A ...

*** Preston Lake ***

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

***MacLaren Pond,

Fundy National Park Fundy National Park is a national park of Canada located on the Bay of Fundy, near the village of Alma, New Brunswick. It was created on April 10, 1946 and officially opened on July 29, 1950. The park showcases a rugged coastline which rises up ...

*Finland ** Syvyydenkaivo, Rokua National Park *Germany ** Eggstätter Seen, Bayern **

Müggelsee The Müggelsee (), also known as the Großer Müggelsee, is a natural lake in the eastern edge of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It is the largest of the Berlin lakes by area, with an area of , a length of The lake is in the Berlin dist ...

, Berlin ** Oberwaldbacher See, Bayern **

Osterseen Osterseen is a group of lakes in Bavaria, Germany, about 50 km (31 miles) south-south-west of Munich. At an elevation of 588 m (1,929 feet), its surface area is 223.55 ha (552.4 acres). Islands sorted by water body: Großer Ostersee (isl ...

, Bayern ** Schluisee, Bayern ** Seeoner Seen, Bayern ** Teupitzer See, Brandenburg ** Tüttensee, Bayern ** Ukleisee,

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

** Weisser See, Berlin *India **

Sela Pass The Sela Pass () ( more appropriately called ''Se La'', as La means Pass in Tibetan language) is a high-altitude mountain pass located on the border between the Tawang and West Kameng districts in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It has ...

, Arunachal Pradesh *New Zealand **

Lake Matheson Lake Matheson () is a small glacial lake in South West Coast Region, Westland, New Zealand, near the township of Fox Glacier (town), Fox Glacier. It was a traditional food-gathering place for local Māori people, Māori. An easy walking track ci ...

*United Kingdom **

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

***

Aqualate Mere Aqualate Mere, in Staffordshire, is the largest natural lake in the English Midlands and is managed as a national nature reserve (NNR) by Natural England. The Mere lies within the borough of Stafford in Staffordshire, England, some east of the ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

*** Barelees Pond,

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

***

Breckland Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conservation. As a la ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

called ''pingo ponds''. ***

Bomere Pool Bomere Pool is a large mere lying between the villages of Bayston Hill and Condover in the county of Shropshire, England, south of the county town of Shrewsbury. The pool is classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest as the most oli ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

*** Campfield Kettle Hole, Northumberland *** Hatchmere,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

*** Talkin Tarn,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

*** Tarn Wadling, Cumbria *** Wormingford Mere,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

*** Belston Loch *** Blae Loch ***

Helenton Loch Helenton Loch was situated in a low lying area between the farms and dwellings of Helentongate, Mains, and Burnbank in the Parish of Symington, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The loch was natural, sitting in a hollow, a kettle hole, created by glaciati ...

***

Loch Brown Loch Brown, also known in Scots as Loch Broun, Broon or Broom, was situated in a kettle hole in the mid-Ayrshire clayland near Crosshands. It is nowadays (2011) visible as a surface depression in pastureland, partially flooded, situated in a low- ...

***

Loch Fergus Loch Fergus (NS 3932 1823) is a freshwater post-glacial "Kettle Hole" sometimes recorded as Fergus Loch. It is quite visible and is situated in a low-lying area close to the B742 road between the farms and dwellings of Trees, Lochfergus and Bowma ...

***

Loch Morlich Loch Morlich (Scottish Gaelic, ''Loch Mhùrlaig'') is a freshwater loch in the Badenoch and Strathspey area of Highland (council area), Highland, Scotland near Aviemore. The loch is home to a watersports centre with kayaking, sailing, and windsurf ...

*United States **

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

*** Volo Bog **

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

*** Pinhook Bog **

*** Clear Lake **

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

***

Cliff Pond Cliff Pond is a kettle pond in Brewster, Massachusetts. It is the largest pond in Nickerson State Park and is quite popular with swimmers and fishermen in summer months. Cliff Pond was totally reclaimed in 1960 and, like many kettle ponds has ...

*** Fresh Pond *** Jamaica Pond *** Houghton's Pond *** Scargo Lake *** Spy Pond ***

Walden Pond Walden Pond is a historic pond in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United States. A good example of a kettle hole, it was formed by retreating glaciers 10,000–12,000 years ago. The pond is protected as part of Walden Pond State Reservation, a ...

Geology of Michigan Michigan consists of two peninsulas surrounded primarily by four of the Great Lakes and a variety of nearby islands. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula is bounded on the southwest by Wisconsin, and the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, ...

*** Heart Lake ***Tee Lake ***

Thumb Lake Thumb Lake, also known as Lake Louise by the "Lake Louise Camp" community, is a kettle lake located in Hudson Township, Charlevoix County, Michigan, United States. The epithet ''Thumb Lake'' derives from the lake's bathymetry. An islet protrud ...

*** Walled Lake **

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

*** Philbrick-Cricenti Bog *** Ponemah Bog *** Spruce Hole Bog **

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

*** Artist Lake *** Lake Success *** Mendon Ponds *** Ronkonkoma Lake *** Round Lake, Saratoga County **

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

*** Aurora Lake *** Brady Lake ***

Calamus Swamp Calamus Swamp is a public preserve located from Circleville, Ohio, Circleville in Pickaway County, Ohio, United States. It has a natural Kettle (geology), kettle lake/wetland and is owned by the Columbus Audubon, the local chapter of Nationa ...

***

Geauga Lake Geauga Lake was an amusement park in Bainbridge Township, Geauga County, Ohio, Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio, Aurora, Ohio. It was established in 1887, in what had been a local recreation area adjacent to Geauga Lake (lake), a lake of th ...

*** Lake Anna, Barberton Ohio ***Lake Kelso *** Stage's Pond State Nature Preserve *** Triangle Lake Bog, Ravenna **

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

*** Conneaut Lake **

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

*** Ell Pond **

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

***Fish Lake ***

Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, Island County, Washington (state), Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington stat ...

*** Elkhart Lake *** Mauthe Lake ***

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Kettle Mucubají Kettle Mucubají () is a glacial lake located in Sierra Nevada National Park (Venezuela), Sierra Nevada National Park, in the Mérida (state), Mérida State of Venezuela. The lake is 3625–3655 metres above sea level. Kettle Mucubají is one of ...

Overview

Bogs

Examples

See also

References

Further reading