Glaciers Notes

Continental Glacier

An ice sheet that covers a significant portion of a continent.

Alpine (Valley) Glacier

Glaciers that form in high mountains and travel through valleys.

U-shaped valleys

Valleys that have been carved out by glaciers, resulting in a U-shaped cross-section.

Finger lakes

Lakes formed by the melting of glaciers in U-shaped valleys, caused by deposits of gravel that dammed streams and created depressions.

Striations

Parallel scratches found on rocks, created by the movement of glaciers.

Glacial grooves

Larger particles that scratch the bedrock, leaving grooves behind.

Cirques

Bowl-shaped depressions formed by the erosion of glaciers.

Aretes

Sharp and narrow ridges formed when two cirques meet.

Horns

Landforms created when glaciers surround a mountain from three or more sides, resulting in a sharp peak.

Moraines

Sediment deposited at the bottom of a glacier.

Eskers

Winding ridges of sediment formed by the deposition of glacial meltwater.

Drumlins

Elongated landforms created by the movement of glaciers.

Erratics

Large boulders found in locations where they did not originate.

Outwash plains

Flat plains formed in front of melting glaciers.

Kettle lakes

Lakes formed when blocks of ice get trapped in sediment and eventually melt.