GLACIER BASICS
This is a large, slow-moving mass of ice formed from compacted snow.
What is a glacier?
The breaking off of ice from a glacier into the ocean or a lake.
What is calving?
Cracks that form on the surface of a glacier.
What are crevasses?
A bowl-shaped depression formed at the head of a glacier.
What is a cirque?
Unsorted sediment deposited directly by a glacier.
What is till?
A long, narrow glacier that flows down a mountain valley.
What is a valley glacier?
The grinding and scraping of rock by a glacier as it moves.
What is abrasion?
The upper part of a glacier where snowfall exceeds melting.
What is the zone of accumulation?
A sharp ridge formed between two cirques.
What are arêtes?
Any landform made from till deposited by a glacier.
What is a moraine?
A time period when large portions of Earth were covered by ice.
What is an ice age?
The process where glaciers pull chunks of rock out of the ground.
What is plucking?
The lower part of a glacier where melting exceeds snowfall.
What is the zone of wastage?
A sharp, pyramid-shaped peak formed by several cirques.
What are horns?
A ridge of till deposited at the furthest advance of a glacier.
What is a terminal moraine?
The boundary on a glacier that separates melting ice from accumulating snow.
What is the snowline?
The ability of ice to bend and flow under pressure.
What is plasticity?
The area of a glacier where ice is brittle and cracks easily.
What is the zone of fracture?
A deep, U-shaped valley carved by a glacier.
What is a glacial trough?
A long, winding ridge of sediment deposited by meltwater streams.
What is an esker?
Large masses of ice that cover vast areas of land, such as Antarctica.
What are ice sheets?
The overall process by which glaciers form and shape the land.
What is glaciation?
Large pieces of ice that break off glaciers and float in water.
What are icebergs?
A valley left above a main glacial trough, often with a waterfall.
What are hanging valleys?
A large rock carried and deposited by a glacier far from its source.
What are erratics?