7.4 Glacers

(imported from quizlet)

continental glacier

huge sheets of ice that cover entire land masses under the force of gravity

valley glacier

glaciers that form in high elevations in mountain valleys under the force of gravity

u-shaped valley

shape of the valley walls from glacial erosion

erratics

large deposited fragments that can be transported hundreds of miles inside or on top of the glacier

drumlins

streamlined oval shaped mounds of unsorted sediment (shows directionality)

eskers

a long winding ridge of sands and gravels (shows directionality)

terminal moraine

a mound of till deposited along the leading edge of a glacier

glacial grooves

long parallel scratches formed by sediment embedded in a glacier that has passed over the surface (shows directionality)

kettle lake

depression left in the ground that is filled with glaicial melt water (ex: Lake Ronkonkoma)

outwash plain

broad glacial feature of smaller sediment carried from the melting water of a retreating glacier (ex: Long Island's south shore)