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Cirque
Steep-sided, bowl-shaped basin formed at the head of a glacial valley
by frost wedging and scouring.
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Abandoned cirques are found on the west coast of the province, and
active cirque glaciers exist in the Torngat Mountains. This example is
from the Rocky Mountains.
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Glacial U-Shaped Valley
A valley formed by glacial erosion along a zone of weakness in the
earth's surface (eg., fault).
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A meandering river in a steep-sided, straight valley. Valleys like
this one near Nain, Labrador, were major outlets of glaciers from the
interior toward the coast.
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Fiords
A glacial valley flooded by the sea to form a long, marrow, steep-sided inlet.
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Fiords, such as this one on the south coast of Newfoundland, are long,
narrow arm of the sea with steep-sides. They are formed by flooding of
a valley by the sea.
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Meandering River
A meander is a broad, looping bend in a river. Oxbow lakes form when
one of these loops is completely closed off and the river cuts across
the narrow neck of land between the two stretches leaving a backwater.
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A river winding (meandering) from side to side in wide loops as it
flows across flat country. Many features typical of meandering rivers
are seen in this photo of the Sebaskachu River, Labrador, including
erosion on the outside of the bends (out-banks) and deposition on the
inside of the beds (point bars). Note the oxbow lake in the centre
foreground of this picture.
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Esker
A long, narrow, sinuous ridge of stratified sand and gravel deposited
by a stream flowing within or beneath a glacier.
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Here is an esker stretching across a modern lake in central Labrador.
Eskers commonly have sharp crests, although this one has a flat top.
It has been eroded by the glacier after it was deposited. Eskers are
good sources of sand and gravel, and have been used as transportation
routes, e.g., roads and railways). They are common features in
Newfoundland and Labrador.
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Barasway
A lagoon or backwater behind a bar of sand and gravel built up by waves
and currents.
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Bars of sand and gravel with a barasway behind them. The bar has been
breached by a river on the left side Barasways, such as this one on
the coast of central Labrador, are common around the coast of the
province.
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Gravel Beach
Also called shingle beach. Coarse, loose, well-rounded, and water-worn
cobble and pebble gravel forming a narrow beach, and commonly having
step slopes on its seaward sides.
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This beach, at Placentia, Avalon Peninsula, consisting of coarse
gravel and cobbles formed by wave action and long-shore currents, is
an excellent example of a gravel beach.
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Raised Beach
A former gravel beach left stranded above the modern sea level due to
falling relative sea level produced by glacial rebound. The weight of
the ice sheet depressed the land surface which rebounded once the ice
sheet load was removed.
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A series of raised beaches shows that the land has risen a
considerable amount in this area, near Spotted Islands on the coast
of central Labrador.
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Sea Cave
A cave formed by wave erosion. Fracturing and jointing makes it easier for
the sea to erode rocks. Sea caves are often the beginning of sea arches and
sea stacks.
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A sea cave in fractured and jointed rocks near Facheux Bay, south coast
of Newfoundland.
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Sea Arch
An arch cut by wave erosion through a headland.
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This sea arch, near Cap Perc, Miquelon, has probably evolved from a
sea cave.
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Sea Stack
A small, pillar-shaped, rock island formed by wave action. Sea stacks
develop from a sea arch when the arch (top) collapses.
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A well-developed sea stack in Carboniferous sandstone near Searston,
Codroy Valley, western Newfoundland.
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