A kame is a geological feature, an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed chiefly of poorly sorted sand and gravel deposited by a sub-glacial stream as an alluvial fan or delta. It can have an irregular shape. Kames are often associated with kettles, and this is referred to as kame and kettle topography.
Kames are sometimes compared to drumlins, but their formation is distinctively different. A drumlin is not originally shaped by meltwater, but by the ice itself and has a quite regular shape. It occurs in fine grained material, such as clay or shale, not in sands and gravels. And drumlins usually have concentric layers of material, as the ice successively plasters new layers in its movement.
The Fonthill kame is located on the Niagara peninsula in Ontario, Canada. It is 6 km. east to west, and 3 km. north to south. It slopes gradually on the west side, more steeply on the south and east and merges with the Short Hills area of the Niagara Escarpment on the north. It is mined for sand and gravel and has excellent soil for tender fruit orchards. Its highest point is 290 m above sea level. Almost half of its area consists of the community of Fonthill, a part of the town of Pelham, Ontario.
