Ballywillin Esker

Ballywillin Esker is a ridge made of glacial sand and gravel in central Ireland. It formed from sediment carried by meltwater beneath or within wasting glacial ice.

Meltwater streams flowing beneath retreating ice deposited sand and gravel in a long channel. When the ice disappeared, the sediment remained as a raised ridge called an esker.

It preserves evidence of the route taken by meltwater beneath an ice sheet. That makes it useful for reconstructing former glacial conditions and drainage patterns.

No. An esker is usually an unconsolidated ridge of sand and gravel deposited by glacial meltwater. Ballywillin Esker is notable specifically because it preserves this former subglacial stream course.