Glacier Vocabulary!

Samantha Jackson

Terminal Moraine

Terminal moraine is the debris (leftovers) of the glacier. When a glacier travels it’s collects stones and small rocks and when the glacier melts, they are left behind.

Glacial Stream

When a glacier is melting, water will roll down the mountain just like any other stream you see but these are from glaciers.

Glacial Lake

The glacial streams have to end some where. They end in glacial lakes. When a glacier melts a lot all the water will collect up from the streams and become a lake. This was how the Zürisee was formed.

Lateral Moraine

Lateral moraine is the debris (leftovers) of the glacier but this time at the side.

Sediment

The sediment is the really broken down rocks. It’s so crushed it’s more like sand than rocks.

Crevasse

A crevasse is when the glacier splits. If the crevasse completely splits the glacier, the bottom half will start to move faster than the upper part and will create a bigger crack.

The Retreat

This glacier has definitely been retreating. You can see by the terminal moraine where the glacier used to be. You can also see from the glacial streams that the glacier is still melting.