Lithosphere Flashcards
The snout
The front of the glacier
Plucking
The base of a glacier melts because of pressure and friction due to the immense weight, this allows water to flow in the gaps, when it freezes, the rocks are pulled out by the movement of the glacier
Freeze thaw
Water in cracks in the rocks freezes and expands. When the ice thaws more water gets in the cracks. When the cycle repeats many times eventually the rocks are broken.
Headwall
The back of a Corrie
Where are Corries found
North facing slopes as these are in the shade and therefore cold for longer periods of a time
What is the back of the Corrie known as
The headwall
Abrasion
The process of plucked rocks in the glacier grinding the mountainside, wearing away the rock
Freeze thaw
Rock is loosened from the back and sides of the Corrie when water from molten ice and snow collects in cracks and freezes then expands forcing the rock to crack leaving scree.
Scree
Angular pieces of rock
Bergschrund
The gap between the back wall of the Corrie and the ice caused by the movement of the ice downhill
Where is erosion strongest in a Corrie
At the base as there is the most ice forcing the rocks on the underside of the glacier
Tarn
A lake formed at the base of a Corrie, held by a moraine dam
Moraine dam
Crated by the deposition of the sum of the material from the lateral, medial and englacial moraine when the glacier melts
Example of a Corrie
Corrie Brochan in the Cairngorms
What does a Corrie look like on an OS map
Horseshoe shaped contour lines
