In geology, a proglacial lake is a lake formed by the damming action of a moraine or ice dam during the retreat of a melting glacier. At the end of the last ice age approximately 10,000 years ago, large proglacial lakes were a widespread feature in the northern hemisphere.
In some cases, such lakes gradually evaporated during the warming period after the ice age. In other cases, such as Glacial Lake Missoula and Glacial Lake Wisconsin in the United States, the sudden rupturing the supporting dam allowed a rapid catastrophic floods, resulting in the formation of gorges and other structures downstream from the former lake.
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