rock glacier

American  

noun

1. a mass of rock resembling a valley glacier that moves or is moved down a slope by its own weight or by the action of frost and interstitial ice.

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Etymology

Origin of rock glacier

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

And Denali scientists have discovered that at Pretty Rocks, a 300-foot stretch sits atop what’s called a rock glacier — ice mixed in with a large amount of rocky debris.

From Washington Post • Oct. 15, 2021

For decades, the rock glacier slid downhill just a few inches a year, creating small cracks in the road that required only sporadic maintenance.

From Washington Post • Oct. 15, 2021

During the warmest stretch of the Holocene the scientists suspect that Teton Glacier persisted only as a rock glacier.

From Washington Times • Dec. 11, 2020

Larsen’s research reconstructing the Tetons’ glacial history builds on some of those findings because it shows that the Teton Glacier, at least, never disappeared entirely, but rather converted to a rock glacier.

From Washington Times • Dec. 11, 2020