A
terminal moraine, also called
end moraine, is a
moraine that forms at the
snout of a
glacier, marking its maximum advance. terminal moraines are created at the edge of the greatest extent of the glacier. At this point, the debris that has been accumulated by plucking and abrasion, that has been pushed by the front edge of the ice is driven no farther, but instead is dumped in a heap. Because the glacier acts very much like a
conveyor belt, the longer it stays in one place, the greater the amount of material that will be deposited. The moraine is left as the marking point of the terminal extent of the ice.