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morainiques

Morainiques is a term used in glaciology, primarily in French-language sources, to describe morainic features and deposits produced by glacier activity. In English-language literature, the corresponding adjective is morainic, and the landscapes are typically discussed as moraines and related sediments. The concept encompasses landforms formed by the deposition and shaping of glacial debris (till) at and beneath the margins of ice sheets and alpine glaciers.

Formation and characteristics: Morainiques comprise unsorted or poorly sorted sediments carried by ice or meltwater and

Distribution and significance: Morainiques occur wherever glaciers have advanced and retreated during the Quaternary, including regions

See also: Moraine; Glacial geology; Quaternary science.

deposited
as
the
glacier
retreats.
Terminal
moraines
record
maximum
advance;
lateral
moraines
form
along
the
sides
of
a
glacier;
medial
moraines
occur
where
two
glaciers
merge;
ground
moraines
blanket
the
underlying
bedrock.
Associated
features
include
outwash
plains,
kames,
and
hummocky
terrain.
Deposits
range
from
clay
and
silt
to
gravel
and
boulders.
of
North
America,
Europe,
the
Andes,
the
Himalayas,
Greenland,
and
parts
of
Oceania.
Study
of
these
features
helps
reconstruct
past
climate
changes,
glacier
dynamics,
and
landscape
evolution,
and
informs
models
of
sediment
transport
and
postglacial
rebound.