Kettle lakes are caused by?

• A. Tectonic subsidence creating basins
• B. Volcanic craters filling
• C. Melted ice blocks that were left after the glacier retreated
• D. Wind-blown dunes

Answer: (C)

Kettle lakes form when chunks of ice become buried in glacial sediments as a glacier advances and then retreats. When the climate warms, these buried blocks melt, leaving depressions in the till or outwash. These depressions then fill with water, creating kettle lakes. This explains why these lakes are often irregular, shallow bodies found in regions previously covered by glaciers.

The other scenarios would produce different features: basins formed by tectonic subsidence arise from crustal movement rather than melting ice; a volcanic crater would become a crater lake after volcanic activity fills; and dune lakes form from groundwater interactions with wind-blown dunes, not from melting ice blocks left by retreating glaciers.