Glacier Glossary

Glacial features and the processes of glaciers

By Andrew Alden, About.com Guide

See More About:

The links go to pictures and more information about these glacial features.

Arete—Jagged ridge where cirques intersect.

Bergschrund—Crevasse at the top of a valley glacier.

Cirque—Rounded valley scooped out by glaciers.

Cirque Glacier—Small glacier in a cirque.

Drumlin—Sandy hillock of subglacial origin.

Erratic Boulder—Big stone left out of place by glaciers.

Esker—Sandy trace of a subglacial stream.

Fjord—Drowned glacial valley.

Glacial Grooves and Polish—Ice-age marks left on solid rock.

Hanging Glacier—Small ice flow clinging to steep slopes.

Horn—Rugged peak deeply sculpted by glaciers.

Iceberg—Large floating chunk of glacier ice.

Ice Cave—Tunnel carved by meltwater beneath a glacier.

Icefall—Glacial analog of a waterfall.

Ice Field—Upland expanse of ice and snow.

Jökulhlaup—Glacial outburst flood.

Kettle—Hole in the ground once filled with ice.

Lateral Moraine—Sediment piled along a glacier's flank.

Medial Moraine—Sediment streaks down a glacier's back.

Outwash Plain—Also known as a sandur.

Piedmont Glacier—Lobe of ice spreading on flat ground.

Roche Moutonnée—Knob of bedrock sculpted by flowing glaciers.

Rock Flour—The fine-ground grit of glacial streams and sediment.

Rock Glacier—Rocky cousin of ice glaciers.

Serac—Tall ice peaks on a glacier's surface.

Terminal Moraine—Dirt pile at a glacier's snout.

Valley Glacier—A glacier in the mountains.

Andrew Alden
Geology Guide