The name of this type of rock formation is said to mean ‘fleecy rock’ in French and given for its resemblance to the backs of sheep resting on hillsides. They may vary in size from a metre to hundreds. They are used as an indicator of glacial weathering and erosion in the area.
Roches moutonnées are identifiable as they are convex mounds abraded from bedrock and worn smooth on the side facing the direction the glacier came from. However, they are jagged on the lee side from physical weathering as meltwater seeped into cracks in the rock and froze and thawed in continuous cycle, pieces splitting off from the constant expansion and contraction. The glacier then carries away the fragments downhill.
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