Vocabulary 7-C
Glacier: a large mass of naturally formed ice on land that gradually moves downhill due to
gravity
Drumlin: a long, narrow, streamlined oval mound of unsorted sediment that is formed at the
bottom of glaciers (usually continental ones)
Glacial groove: a long narrow channel or furrow on bedrock formed by the gouging or sanding
actions of rocks and sediments frozen to the bottom of a glacier; show the direction of former
glacial movement
Moraine: a mound, ridge, or sheet of unsorted, unlayered sediment deposited directly from an
edge or the bottom of a glacier; types: lateral, medial, terminal, and end
U-shaped valley: the characteristic shape of a valley after it has been eroded by glaciers,
especially mountain glaciers; as compared to V-shaped valleys
Finger lake: a body of water that forms in a long, narrow, U-shaped valley often partly dammed
at one end by a mound of glacial moraine sediment; example: The Finger Lakes of central New
York
Glacial erratic: a boulder transported and deposited by a glacier having a lithology different
than the bedrock upon which it is sitting.
Kettle lake: a lake formed when a large block of ice buried in glacial sediment melts, leaving an
oval depression which becomes filled with water; very common in New York State
Esker: ridge formed from drift deposited in tunnels running through a glacier. Eskers are often
mined for gravel and sand.
Sediment: particles or materials formed by the weathering and erosion of rocks or organic
materials; materials transported by erosional systems