10.3 Glaciers Flashcards
Arête (pronounced uh-rate)
A sharp ridge that separates glacial valleys.
Cirque
A bowl-shaped depression that forms at the head of an alpine glacier.
Crevasse
A deep fracture in the surface of glacier.
Drumlin
An elongated hill formed when a glacier moves over thick deposits of sediment.
Esker
A long, winding ridge of layered sediments that was deposited beneath, within, or on top of a melting glacier.
Fjord
A long, narrow inlet of the sea formed by a now-melted glacier.
Glacial ice
Ice in a glacier that is under pressure and capable of flowing by internal deformation in addition to simple downhill movement with the glacier.
Glacial striations
Scratches on bedrock formed by glacial abrasion.
Glacier
A large, moving mass of ice on land. Glaciers form by the accumulation and compaction of snow.
Ground moraine
Glacial till that covers the ground surface like a blanket.
Hanging valley
A smaller glacial U-shaped valley that enters a larger U-shaped valley at a height above the floor of the larger valley.
Horn
A pyramid-like mountain formed when glaciers erode the peak from multiple directions.
Ice sheet
A very large, thick mass of glacial ice that spreads out in all directions, Also called a continental glacier.
Internal flow
The deformation of glacial ice without breaking that allows the ice to deform as it moves downhill.
Kettle
A depression formed on Earth’s surface when large blocks of ice from a melting glacier are buried or surrounded by sediments. A body of water in a kettle is called a kettle lake or kettle pond.
