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Glacial polishing is the result of clasts embedded in glacial ice passing over bedrock and grinding down the top of the rock into a smoother surface. The small rocks entrained by plucking act like sandpaper to the downhill slope. [7] This creates an almost mirror like surface in the rock.
A glacial erratic is a glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word errare ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundreds of kilometres.
Roche moutonnée near Myot Hill, Scotland In glaciology, a roche moutonnée (or sheepback) is a rock formation created by the passing of a glacier.The passage of glacial ice over underlying bedrock often results in asymmetric erosional forms as a result of abrasion on the "stoss" (upstream) side of the rock, and plucking (i.e. pieces cracked off) on the "lee" (downstream) side.
Glacial abrasion is the surface wear achieved by individual clasts, or rocks of various sizes, contained within ice or by subglacial sediment as the glacier slides over bedrock. [9] Abrasion can crush smaller grains or particles and remove grains or multigrain fragments, but the removal of larger fragments is classified as plucking (or ...
Glacial striations are usually multiple, straight, and parallel, representing the movement of the glacier using rock fragments and sand grains, embedded in the base of the glacier, as cutting tools. Large amounts of coarse gravel and boulders carried along underneath the glacier provide the abrasive power to cut trough-like glacial grooves.
The two mechanisms of glacial abrasion are striation of the bedrock by coarse grains moved by the glacier, thus gouging the rock below, and polishing of the bedrock by smaller grains such as silts. Glacial plucking is the removal of large blocks from the bed of a glacier.
Terminal moraine of Wordie Glacier, Greenland Map of the Salpausselkä terminal moraines in Southern Finland. A terminal moraine, also called an end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance.
If the glacial action erodes through, a spillway (or col) forms; Horn: a sharp peak connecting multiple glacier intersections, made up of multiple arêtes. Valley step: an abrupt change in the longitudinal slope of a glacial valley; Hanging Valleys: Formed by glacial meltwater eroding the land partially, often accompanied by a waterfall. [2]