glacial flour
Ice-ground stone dust
Glacial flour is fine rock powder produced when glaciers grind against bedrock, pulverizing stone into particles finer than sand.
Suspended in meltwater, it gives glacial lakes and streams their distinctive milky turquoise color.
Also called rock flour.
The river ran grey with glacial flour.
Waterborne earth particles
- clayMoldable earth for ceramics
- powderFine dry particles
- dustFine settled particles
- particlesMinute pieces of matter
grains · pulverized · granules · fine · colloid · mineral · loess · ground
Whitish and cloudy
- suspensionTemporary halt or exclusion
- cloudyObscured by atmosphere
- opaqueImpassable to light
- chalkyPale and dusty-textured
plume · colloidal · murky · whitewater · diffuse · mineral-rich · aquamarine · turquoise
Glacier-deposited debris pile
- erosionGradual wearing away
- abrasionShallow surface wound
- grindingMolar action sometimes
- pluckingRemoving by tugging
striations · cirque · ice age · glaciation · retreat · advance · bedrock · erratics
Particles settling in liquid
- alluviumWater-deposited loose sediment
- fluvialRelating to rivers
- deltaicOf river-mouth landforms
- stratifiedArranged in stacked layers
drift · lakebed · riverbed · accumulation · layering · settling
silt
Waterborne earth particles
particles · grains · pulverized · granules · fine · colloid · mineral · loess · ground · suspended
milky
Whitish and cloudy
- suspensionTemporary halt or exclusion
- cloudyObscured by atmosphere
- opaqueImpassable to light
chalky · plume · colloidal · murky · whitewater · diffuse · mineral-rich · aquamarine · turquoise · runoff
moraine
Glacier-deposited debris pile
plucking · striations · cirque · ice age · glaciation · retreat · advance · bedrock · erratics · fjord
sediment
Particles settling in liquid
stratified · drift · lakebed · riverbed · accumulation · layering · settling
mountain
Tall natural landmass
- summitPeak or diplomatic gathering
- tundraFrigid treeless biome
- snowlinePermanent accumulation boundary
firn · icefield · crevasse · icefall · cordillera · peaks · valley · headwaters · snowmelt