Glacial processes and glacial landforms

• What processes shape the land through glaciers?

  Erosion, transportation, weathering, deposition
• What is abrasion in glacial erosion?

  Rocks scrape against bedrock as glaciers move
• What are striations?

  Scratches left by rocks on bedrock
• What is plucking in glacial erosion?

  Rocks are frozen and pulled from the ground
• How does freeze-thaw weathering occur?

  Water freezes and expands in rock cracks
• What happens to rocks during freeze-thaw weathering?

  Cracks enlarge and pieces break off over time
• What is a corrie?

  An armchair hollow on a mountain's side
• What is the French term for a corrie?

  Circ
• How does a corrie form?

  Snow collects in a sheltered hollow on a slope
• Why does snow not melt in summer in a corrie?

  It is high up, sheltered, and cold
• What happens to snow in a corrie over winter?

  It becomes compacted into ice
• What is rotational slip in glacial movement?

  Glacier moves out of the hollow in a circle
• What is a corrie lake or tarn?

  A lake formed in a corrie after melting
• What are arêtes?

  Narrow ridges formed by two eroding quarries
• What are pyramidal peaks?

  Pointed peaks left by eroding quarries
• How do glaciers usually move downhill?

  Following the path of least resistance
• What is a U-shaped glacial trough?

  A valley shaped by glacial erosion
• What are hanging valleys?

  Old tributaries left suspended after glacial melting
• What is a moraine?

  Material carried or moved by a glacier
• What are the three types of moraine?

  Lateral, medial, terminal
• What is glacial till?

  Material deposited by glaciers
• What are erratics?

  Rocks deposited by glaciers from different areas
• What are drumlins?

  Mounds of deposited moraine shaped by glaciers
• What is glacial drift?

  Material moved by glacial meltwater
• What is glacial outwash?

  Sand and gravel deposited by running meltwater
• How are particles sorted during glacial outwash?

  Heavier particles are deposited closer to the glacier
• Where are lighter particles deposited during glacial outwash?

  Further away from the glacier in outwash plains