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8th grade - chapter 7
Glaciers, Deserts and Winds
25
Science
Not Applicable
07/24/2005

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Cards

Term
Ice Age
Definition
a period of time when much of Earth's land was covered in glaciers
Term
glacier
Definition
a large mass of slow moving ice and snow - moves because of its weight
Term
Valley glaciers
Definition
are ice masses that slowly advance down valleys that were originally occupied by streams -found in mountainous regions with low temperatures -most common type of glacier
Term
ice sheet
Definition
form in the polar regions and are huge sheets of ice and snow covering many millions of miles can also be called continental ice sheets
Term
Cirque
Definition
bowl-shaped depression created as a glacier carves a mountian -found at the head of a valley glacier
Term
aretes
Definition
sharp narrow ridge found between 2 cirques
Term
stratified drift
Definition
sediment laid down by glacial meltwater
Term
horn
Definition
a sharp mountian peak [pyramid-looking] created by 3 or more cirques
Term
Till
Definition
a mixture of rocks and soil deposited by a glacier
Term
moraine
Definition
a ridge of till deposited by a retreating glacier
Term
outwash
Definition
flat, fan-shaped areas in front of glaciers formed by sediments deposited by glacier meltwater
Term
esker
Definition
a winding ridge of sand and gravel formed by streams flowing beneath a glacier
Term
outwash plain
Definition
FLAT,FAN-SHAPED area in front of glaciers formed by sediments deposited by glacier meltwater
Term
erratics
Definition
large boulders that have been transported by a glacier
Term
kettles
Definition
a circular hole -caused when a large block of ice was buried by deposits, ice melts and leaves a hole- hole then fills with water
Term
plucking
Definition
ice melts and flows into cracks; water refreezes and expands fracturing rocks
Term
abrasion
Definition
wearing away of rock by glacial ice and rock carried by wind and water
Term
snowline
Definition
lowest elevation in an area that remains covered in snow all year
Term
glacial trough
Definition
once narrow V-shaped valley is changed into a U-shaped valley after a glacier moves down the valley
Term
Alluvial fans
Definition
a fan-shaped deposit of sediments formed at the point where a river leaves the mountains and runs out onto a plain
Term
playa lake
Definition
a flat area on the floor of an undreained desert basin that fills and becomes a lake after a heavy rain
Term
deflation
Definition
the lifting and removal of loose particles like clay and silt
Term
desert pavement
Definition
a stony surface layer that is left after all the sand and silt is moved by deflation
Term
loess
Definition
deposits of wind-blown dust (fine particles of sand and silt)
Term
dune
Definition
a mound or ridge of wind-deposited sand
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