Glacier Processes
This zone of a glacier gains more ice than it loses.
What is accumulation?
This is unsorted sediment dropped directly by glacier ice.
What is till?
This deep crack forms in glacier ice.
What is a crevasse?
This bowl-shaped hollow is where a glacier begins.
What is a cirque?
This U-shaped valley becomes flooded with ocean water.
What is a fjord?
This term means the loss of glacier ice by melting or evaporation.
What is ablation?
This is sorted sand and gravel deposited by meltwater.
What is stratified drift?
This rock was carried far from where it formed by a glacier.
What is a glacial erratic?
This sharp ridge forms between two cirques.
What is an arete?
This type of stream has many channels due to heavy sediment.
What is a braided stream?
This process happens when a glacier pulls rocks from the ground as it moves.
What is plucking?
This term refers to all sediment left by glaciers and meltwater.
What is glacial drift?
This long, winding ridge forms from a stream flowing under a glacier.
What is an esker?
This sharp peak forms when several cirques erode a mountain.
What is a horn?
This process causes granite to peel in sheets when pressure is released.
What is exfoliation?
This scraping action is caused by rocks embedded in glacier ice.
What is abrasion?
This flat area of sand and gravel forms in front of a glacier from meltwater.
What is an outwash plain?
This depression forms when a buried ice block melts.
What is a kettle?
This small lake forms inside a cirque.
What is a tarn?
This ground stays frozen for at least two years.
What is permafrost?
These scratches in bedrock show the direction a glacier moved.
What are striations?
This blanket of till is left behind as a glacier retreats.
What is a ground moraine?
This smooth, oval hill is shaped by glacier movement over till.
What is a drumlin?
This smaller valley sits high above the main valley and often has waterfalls.
What is a hanging valley?
This downward fold in rock layers describes Isle Royale’s structure.
What is a syncline?