Knob-and-kettle topography, or 'hummocky terrain', seen here near Bearspaw along Highway 1A west of Calgary

This beautiful area of rolling hills and small lakes is one of the many end moraines created as a result of the stagnation (melting) of the great Laurentide Ice Sheet near the end of the Quaternary, 10 000 to 17 000 years ago.

The many hills and small lakes present were formed by a process whereby ice melts at different rates because of the thickness of the debris (insulation) covering the ice. If a layer of debris is thick enough, it will prevent solar radiation from reaching the ice, thus insulating it from further melting. On the other hand, if the debris cover is thin enough, then it will absorb solar radiation and melt the surrounding ice much faster than ice would normally melt on its own. As the ice in this area continued to melt at different rates, the rock and debris that insulated parts of the ice washed into the depressions produced by the faster melting ice. Once the ice had finally melted away, the debris that once insulated it formed the many rolling hills and the ice insulated by the debris formed the beautiful small lakes.

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Legend

	Holocene	Present - 10,000 years ago
	Quaternary	10,000 - 25,000 years ago
	Tertiary	25,000 - 65 million years ago
	Mesozoic	65 - 245 million years ago
	Paleozoic	245 - 670 million years ago