esker
ESS-ker
A long, narrow, sinuous ridge of sand and gravel deposited by a meltwater stream flowing in a tunnel beneath or within a glacier. When the ice melts away, the stream's sediment load is left behind as a winding raised track across the landscape — a fossil riverbed, elevated and inverted. Eskers can run for miles, often through otherwise flat terrain, and have been used as natural roadways for centuries.
Etymology
Irish Gaelic eiscir, meaning a ridge of gravel. Many Irish place names contain the element esker or eiscir, testimony to the glacial landscape beneath.
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