a boulder swept from its place of origin by glacier advance or retreat and deposited elsewhere as the glacier melted; after glacial melt, the boulder might be stranded in a field or forest where no other rocks of its type or size exist. Erratic boulder, northeastern Manitoba, Canada. A sense of the size of the glacial erratic can be estimated by noting the person standing in front of the boulder, on the left side. This erratic, as well as neighboring ones, were carried by the Keewatian Ice Sheet. (Photo courtesy of Lynda Dredge, Natural Resources Canada. Copyright Terrain Sciences Division, Geological Survey of Canada.)
A glacial erratic is a piece of rock that deviates from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests; the name "erratic" is based on the errant location of these boulders. These rocks were carried to their current locations by glacial ice. Erratics can range in size from pebbles to large boulders such as the Okotoks (16,500 tons) and Airdrie erratics found in Alberta, Canada.