A kettle (also known as a kettle lake, kettle hole, or pothole) is a depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( 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 an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

waters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating glaciers, which become surrounded by

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...

deposited by

meltwater Meltwater is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found in the ablation zone of glaciers, where the rate of snow cover is reducing. Meltwater can be ...

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 an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

s often fill these kettles; these are called kettle hole lakes. Another source is the sudden drainage of an ice-dammed lake. 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 acid 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 muskeg; a ...

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 from the front of a receding glacier and becoming partially to wholly buried by glacial outwash. Glacial outwash 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.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 jökulhlaups, 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 ramparts 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 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, 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.

Bogs

If water in a kettle becomes acidic due to decomposing

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

plant matter, it becomes a kettle

; or, if underlying soils are lime-based and

neutralize Neutralization may refer to: * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction where a base and an acid react to form a salt * Neutralisation (immunology), pathogen neutralization caused by antibodies * Neutralisation (sociology) * Neutralizati ...

the acidic conditions somewhat, it becomes a kettle peatland. Kettle bogs are closed ecosystems 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, a region of Wisconsin 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), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...

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

Examples

The Prairie Pothole Region extends from northern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada to

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

, United States and includes thousands of small

slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

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

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

*** 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 *** Puslinch Lake **

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...

***MacLaren Pond, Fundy National Park *Finland ** Syvyydenkaivo, Rokua National Park *Germany ** Eggstätter Seen, Bayern ** Müggelsee, Berlin ** Oberwaldbacher See, Bayern ** Osterseen, Bayern ** Schluisee, Bayern ** Seeoner Seen, Bayern ** Teupitzer See, Brandenburg **

Tüttensee The Tüttensee (Lake Tütten) is a small lake in the Chiemgau region, the Bavarian Alpine foothills of the Traunstein district, within the municipalities of Grabenstätt and Vachendorf. With an area of and a maximum depth of , it is one of many ...

, Bayern ** Ukleisee, Schleswig-Holstein ** Weisser See, Berlin *India ** Sela Pass, Arunachal Pradesh *New Zealand **

Lake Matheson Lake Matheson ( mi, Te Ara Kairaumati) is a small glacial lake in South Westland, New Zealand, near the township of Fox Glacier. It was a traditional food-gathering place for local Māori. An easy walking track circles the lake, which is famou ...

*United Kingdom **England *** Aqualate Mere,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands ...

***

Barelees Pond __NOTOC__ Barelees Pond is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, England. The site is a kettle hole, a deep pond formed in the void remaining after a submerged glacial calf block melted. Barelees ...

, Northumberland *** Breckland, Norfolk/

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

called ''pingo ponds''. *** Bomere Pool,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

*** Campfield Kettle Hole, Northumberland ***

Hatchmere Hatchmere is a small mere and nature reserve in Delamere Forest, southeast of Frodsham, Cheshire, England. It is also the name of a hamlet near the village of Norley. Nature reserve Hatch Mere Nature Reserve covers . It lies within a Site of Sp ...

, Cheshire *** Talkin Tarn,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

*** Wormingford Mere,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

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

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 Morlich *United States **

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

***

Volo Bog Volo Bog State Natural Area is a nature reserve in Illinois, United States, preserving Volo Bog. The bog was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1973 as the only remaining open-water quaking bog in Illinois. The site also contains woodla ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

***

Pinhook Bog Pinhook Bog is a unique bog in Indiana that has been designated a National Natural Landmark. It is part of Indiana Dunes National Park, an area that many citizens, scientists, and politicians fought hard to preserve.Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2009). Th ...

*** Clear Lake **

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

*** Cliff Pond *** Fresh Pond *** Jamaica Pond ***

Houghton's Pond Houghton's Pond is a spring-fed kettle hole pond in Milton, Massachusetts, south of Boston. Like many ponds and lakes in the United States, it was formed by receding glaciers about 10,000 years ago. By the standard definition of lakes being bodie ...

***

Scargo Lake Scargo Lake is a fresh water kettle pond in Dennis, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. Legends about its formation There are many Native American Legends about the formation of Scargo Lake, and all are some variant of a tale of Princess Scargo. One stor ...

*** Spy Pond *** Walden Pond **

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

*** Heart Lake ***Tee Lake *** Thumb Lake *** Walled Lake **

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

*** Philbrick-Cricenti Bog ***

Ponemah Bog Ponemah may refer to: * Ponemah, Illinois * Ponemah, Minnesota *Ponemah, a complete physiologic data acquisition and analysis software platform used by physiologists, from Data Sciences International *Ponemah Bog, a wildlife refuge in Amherst, New ...

***

Spruce Hole Bog The Spruce Hole Bog, locally known as Spruce Hole, is a complete ecological community occupying a true kettle hole in the town of Durham, New Hampshire. According to the National Register of Natural Landmarks: "It illustrates characteristics of a ...

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

***

Artist Lake Artist Lake is a glacial kettle hole lake located in Middle Island, New York south of Middle Country Road ( Route 25) in central Long Island. Artist Lake holds a diverse warm water fish community including largemouth bass and pickerel. It is als ...

***

Lake Success Lake Success can refer to: *Lake Success (California), lake in California *Lake Success, New York, village in New York *''Lake Success'', a novel by American author Gary Shteyngart Gary Shteyngart (; born July 5, 1972) is a Soviet-born American ...

*** Mendon Ponds ***

Ronkonkoma Lake Lake Ronkonkoma is a freshwater lake in Suffolk County, New York. It is a kettle lake formed by retreating glaciers and is the largest freshwater lake on Long Island; it has a circumference of about and is across on average. The lake is owned ...

*** Round Lake, Saratoga County **

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

*** Brady Lake *** Calamus Swamp *** Lake Anna, Barberton Ohio ***

Lake Kelso Kelso Conservation Area is located near Milton, Ontario on the Niagara Escarpment and is owned and operated by Conservation Halton. This park has an area of 3.97 square kilometres and contains Lake Kelso which was built for flood control of Sixte ...

*** Stage's Pond State Nature Preserve ***

Triangle Lake Bog, Ravenna Triangle Lake Bog or Triangle Lake Bog State Nature Preserve is a state nature preserve in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is located in Rootstown Township, south of Ravenna. Flora It is home to a number of plants including the round-leaved sundew ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

*** Conneaut Lake **

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but i ...

*** Ell Pond ** Washington ***Fish Lake *** Whidbey Island ** Wisconsin *** Elkhart Lake *** Mauthe Lake *** Kettle Moraine *

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

** Kettle Mucubají

Overview

Bogs

Examples

See also

References

Further reading