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boulder clay

noun

, Geology.
  1. a glacial deposit consisting chiefly of unstratified clay with embedded boulders.


boulder clay

noun

  1. an unstratified glacial deposit consisting of fine clay, boulders, and pebbles See also till 4
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of boulder clay1

First recorded in 1855–60
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Example Sentences

Happisburgh, home to about 1,100 people, is so susceptible to erosion because the cliffs are made from boulder clay which slumps when wet.

From BBC

Classification of Glacial Deposits—Interglacial Epochs.—Had the deposits of glaciated regions consisted solely of boulder clay little difficulty might have been experienced in dealing with their classification.

Glacial boulder clay lies over much of the lower ground, and ridges of gravel and sand flank the hills and form extensive sheets.

Most of the county is covered by a superficial deposit of glacial drifts, sands, gravel and in places boulder clay, as at Epping, Dunmow and Hornchurch where the drift lies beneath the Thames gravel.

The largest transported mass occurs at Linksfield, where a succession of limestones and shales rests on boulder clay and is covered by it, which from the fossils may be of Rhaetic or Lower Lias age.

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