glacial silt

Glacial silt is fine-grained sediment produced when glaciers grind rock into powder through their slow, massive movement.

This powdery material, sometimes called rock flour, gives glacial rivers and lakes their distinctive milky blue-green color.

When glacial meltwater carries silt into bodies of water, it creates the turquoise hues famous in places like the Canadian Rockies.

The material eventually settles to form fertile deposits in glacial valleys and outwash plains.