[es-ker] 
| a serpentine ridge of gravelly and sandy drift, believed to have been formed by streams under or in glacial ice. |
| es·ker (ěs'kər) n. A long, narrow ridge of coarse gravel deposited by a stream flowing in or under a decaying glacial ice sheet. Also called os3. [Irish Gaelic eiscir, from Old Irish escir.] |
| esker (ěs'kər) Pronunciation Key
A long, narrow, steep-sided ridge of coarse sand and gravel deposited by a stream flowing in or under a melting sheet of glacial ice. Eskers range in height from 3 m (9.8 ft) to more than 200 m (656 ft) and in length from less than 100 m (328 ft) to more than 500 km (310 mi). |
esker
a long, narrow, winding ridge composed of stratified sand and gravel deposited by a subglacial or englacial meltwater stream. Eskers may range from 16 to 160 feet (5 to 50 m) in height, from 160 to 1,600 feet (500 m) in width, and a few hundred feet to tens of miles in length. They may occur unbroken or as detached segments. The sediment is sorted according to grain size, and cross-laminations that show only one flow direction commonly occur. Thus eskers are considered to be channel deposits (left by streams that flowed through tunnels in and below the ice) that were let down onto the ground surface as the glacier retreated. Esker formation presumably takes place after a glacier stagnates, because movement of the ice would likely spread the material and produce ground moraine. Notable areas of eskers are found in Maine, U.S.; Canada; Ireland; and Sweden. Because of ease of access, esker deposits often are quarried for their sand and gravel for construction purposes.
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