Moraines


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Moraines

Moraines: A cirque is an armchair-like depression caused by the erosive action of a      glacier. When ice accumulates in hallows high up on mountain slopes, the alternate freezing and thawing of the glacier ice causes the rock below to expand and contract till it finally breaks down. In this manner, the ice deepens the hallow, now the weathered rock debris also acts as an agent of erosion. Cirques can be as big as a square kilometre in area. When the ice melts, the cirque becomes a lake called a tarn. Moraines- glaciers transport eroded rock debris with them as they move, and deposit them on the floor of valleys and the slopes of mountains. Such formations are called moraines. 

 
 
 


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