YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA

GLACIAL STRIATIONS AND POLISH. Parts of the rock surface display a high polish; other part show parallel striations (scratches). These features are very surficial; in places they have been worn away. Glacial striations form at the base of a glacier when sand sized particles are dragged across the underlying bedrock. When the dragged sediment particles are minute, they smooth and polish the rock.


© 2001
Photo by David J. Leveson