boulder clay

American  

noun

Geology.

1. a glacial deposit consisting chiefly of unstratified clay with embedded boulders.

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boulder clay British  

noun

1. an unstratified glacial deposit consisting of fine clay, boulders, and pebbles See also till 4

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Etymology

Origin of boulder clay

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

boulder clay

Happisburgh, home to about 1,100 people, is so susceptible to erosion because the cliffs are made from boulder clay which slumps when wet.

From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2022

Hence the boulder clay of the lowland districts is abundantly charged with boulders of schistose grit, slate, gneiss and granite derived from areas lying far to the north-west.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 8 "Dubner" to "Dyeing" by Various

The glacier that lodged it there, also rounded the granite dome in Central Park and scattered the rock-strewn boulder clay on Long Island.

From Earth and Sky Every Child Should Know Easy studies of the earth and the stars for any time and place by Rogers, Julia Ellen

Much boulder clay is of a bluish-grey colour where unexposed, but it becomes brown upon being weathered.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 3 "Borgia, Lucrezia" to "Bradford, John" by Various

The largest transported mass occurs at Linksfield, where a succession of limestones and shales rests on boulder clay and is covered by it, which from the fossils may be of Rhaetic or Lower Lias age.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3 "Electrostatics" to "Engis" by Various