Glacial erosion and landforms

• What is abrasion in glacial erosion?

  The erosion where ice grinds over and scours a landscape
• How does abrasion occur?

  Freeze thaw creates rock fragments which become trapped under the ice and dragged along with the movement of a glacier
• What are strirations?

  Scratches caused by large rocks carried beneath the ice
• What is plucking/quarrying?

  The erosion where meltwater freezes around and removes loose rock fragments from the bedrock
• What is crush?

  Cracks in the bedrock caused by the pressure exerted by the thick ice
• What is a cirque/corrie glacier?

  Small masses of ice that occupy hollows in mountains, which often overspill to feed valley glaciers
• What is a valley glacier?

  Larger masses of ice that usually follow former river courses
• What is a corrie?

  A hollow on a mountainside, with a steep back wall and a raised rock lip at the front of the hollow
• What is an arete?

  The narrow ridge that forms between two corries
• What is a pyramidal peak?

  A pointed mountain peak where three or more corries erode back to back
• What is a glacial trough?

  A deep U-shaped valley carved by a glacier, with steep sides and a flat bottom
• What is a hanging valley?

  A smaller valley which cannot erode down as far as a larger valley, creating an overhang
• What are truncated spurs?

  When a river valley is occupied by ice, the more powerful glacier truncates the rocky spurs as it moves downslope, leaving behind steep cliffs