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Earth and Space Science / Unit 5: Weathering, Erosion and Earth's History

5.4 Glaciers

3 practice questionsNot yet reviewed

Notes

A glacier is a large mass of ice that moves slowly under its own weight.

  • Valley glaciers carve U-shaped valleys; continental ice sheets (Greenland, Antarctica) cover huge areas.
  • Glaciers erode by plucking and abrasion, leaving scratches (striations).
  • They deposit unsorted sediment called till, forming ridges called moraines.
  • Water erodes V-shaped valleys; glaciers make U-shaped valleys.

Practice

A U-shaped valley was most likely formed by:
Unsorted mixed sediment dropped directly by ice is called:
Which landform is a ridge of glacial deposits?

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