A cirque is an amphitheater shaped valley carved by glacial erosion, open on one side and enclosed by steep, cliff-like slopes on three or more of its other sides, also known by the Scottish Gaelic derived name corrie or the Welsh word cwm. Ice and glacial debris converging down these steep slopes from several directions typically overdeepen the cirque floor below the level of its outlet, so that once the ice has melted the floor often holds a small mountain lake called a tarn, dammed by a rim of moraine, till or bedrock. Similarly shaped basins can also form through fluvial rather than glacial erosion, when an intermittent river cuts down through limestone or chalk in a karst landscape, leaving comparable sheer walled cirques known as makhtesh.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.