Cirque

Steep-sided, bowl-shaped basin formed at the head of a glacial valley by frost wedging and scouring.

Glacial U-Shaped Valley

A valley formed by glacial erosion along a zone of weakness in the earth’s surface (eg., fault).

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.

Fiords

A glacial valley flooded by the sea to form a long, marrow, steep-sided inlet.

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.

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.

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.

Esker

A long, narrow, sinuous ridge of stratified sand and gravel deposited by a stream flowing within or beneath a glacier.

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.

Barasway

A lagoon or backwater behind a bar of sand and gravel built up by waves and currents.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A sea cave in fractured and jointed rocks near Facheux Bay, south coast of Newfoundland.

Sea Arch

An arch cut by wave erosion through a headland.

This sea arch, near Cap Perc, Miquelon, has probably evolved from a sea cave.

Sea Stack

A small, pillar-shaped, rock island formed by wave action. Sea stacks develop from a sea arch when the arch (top) collapses.

A well-developed sea stack in Carboniferous sandstone near Searston, Codroy Valley, western Newfoundland.