rock glacier

noun

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.

Origin of rock glacier

First recorded in 1900–05

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

For decades, the rock glacier slid downhill just a few inches a year, creating small cracks in the road that required only sporadic maintenance.
At Alaska’s most popular national park, climate change threatens the only road in and out | Nathaniel Herz | October 15, 2021 | Washington Post
The last half-mile of the Nisqually Glacier has the appearance more of a rock glacier than an ice glacier.
Your National Parks | Enos A. Mills
This slide had been temporarily changed into a rock glacier—a slow, down-sliding mass of confused broken rocks.
Watched by Wild Animals | Enos A. Mills

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