Glacial Erosion

Glacial erosion is the carving and shaping of the land beneath a moving glacier.

Plucking is the erosion and transport of large chunks of rocks by a moving glacier.

Plucking occurs when water melts below the glacier and seeps into cracks within the underlying bedrock. This water freezes and melts, weakening the bonds holding pieces of bedrock in place, allowing the glacier to pluck them.

<p>The landscape in the path of a moving glacier is subjected to glacial erosion, which carves and shapes the land.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Glaciers typically move very slowly, often only a few centimeters per day.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A cirque is a round hollow with steep sides that resembles an amphitheater. It is formed through the erosion of a mountain by a glacier.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A tarn is a small mountain lake of trapped water. It is formed when a cirque traps water.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A glacial horn is a sharp, angular peak formed when several glaciers erode a mountain in different directions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>An arête is a sharp, narrow mountain ridge formed when two glaciers erode opposite sides of a mountain.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A roche moutonnee is a mass of rocks carved by a passing glacier. It has a smooth, rounded side caused by abrasion and a steep, ragged side where rocks were plucked from the surface.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Plucking and abrasion</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The erosion and transport of large chunks of rocks that stick to and get picked up by the glacier</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The erosion that occurs when particles scrape against each other</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Long scratches that form in the direction of glacial movement</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A round hollow with steep sides created when a glacier erodes into a mountain</p> Signup and view all the answers