Snake coils is a descriptive term used by physical geologists and
glaciologists to describe the "snake coil"-like shape that occurs along certain
ablation
Ablation ( la, ablatio – removal) is removal or destruction of something from an object by vaporization, chipping, erosive processes or by other means. Examples of ablative materials are described below, and include spacecraft material for a ...
lines. Essentially miniature
tunnel valley
A tunnel valley is a U-shaped valley originally cut under the glacial ice near the margin of continental ice sheets such as that now covering Antarctica and formerly covering portions of all continents during past glacial ages. They can be as l ...
s, the peculiar natural shapes were first described by French geologist Jean-Jerome Peytavi in 1973 during an expedition to northern Greenland, and later confirmed by a team of Danish geologists. It is believed that snake coils are formed through the same mechanism as tunnel valleys.
References
*Benn, D.I. & Evans, D.J.A. ''Glaciers & Glaciation''. Hodder Arnold Pubs; (1998).
*Plummer, Charles C., ''Physical Geology''. McGraw-Hill; 10 edition (2004).
*Tarbuck, Edward J., ''Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology''. Prentice Hall; 8 edition (2004).
Snake coils (geology)