What does glacial abrasion mean?

Abrasion: The ice at the bottom of a glacier is not clean but usually has bits of rock, sediment, and debris. It is rough, like sandpaper. As a glacier flows downslope, it drags the rock, sediment, and debris in its basal ice over the bedrock beneath it, grinding it.

What is glacial quarrying in geography?

Plucking, also referred to as quarrying, is a glacial phenomenon that is responsible for the erosion and transportation of individual pieces of bedrock, especially large “joint blocks”. As a glacier moves down a valley, friction causes the basal ice of the glacier to melt and infiltrate joints (cracks) in the bedrock.

What are the two types of glacial erosion?

The two main types of erosion are:

• Abrasion – as the glacier moves downhill, rocks that have been frozen into the base and sides of the glacier scrape the rock beneath.
• Plucking – rocks become frozen into the bottom and sides of the glacier.

What is the difference between abrasion and attrition?

Abrasion – this is when pebbles grind along a rock platform, much like sandpaper. Over time the rock becomes smooth. Attrition – this is when rocks that the sea is carrying knock against each other. They break apart to become smaller and more rounded.

What is the difference between abrasion and erosion?

Erosion is chemical wear on our teeth from either the acids in our diet, or stomach acid. Abrasion is wear from a foreign element against tooth- often times toothbrushes and toothpaste.

What is abrasion geography?

Definition: Abrasion is a process of erosion which can happen in four different ways. Flowing water hits the channel walls and causes erosion. Pebbles or stones in the river also cause erosion when they hit the channel walls. The third type of abrasion is through the action of waves.

What does abrasion mean in geography?

Is abrasion a glacial erosion feature?

Glaciers erode the underlying rock by abrasion and plucking. Glacial meltwater seeps into cracks of the underlying rock, the water freezes and pushes pieces of rock outward.

What is abrasion in geography?

What two main types of glacial erosion are abrasion and?

Glaciers cause erosion in two main ways: plucking and abrasion.

• Plucking is the process by which rocks and other sediments are picked up by a glacier. They freeze to the bottom of the glacier and are carried away by the flowing ice.
• Abrasion is the process in which a glacier scrapes underlying rock.