⚙️ how
How do cirques form at the head of a mountain glacier?
Quick Answer
Snow and ice erode a bowl-shaped hollow where a glacier begins. The steep back wall and overdeepened basin mark the cirque.
The Full Story
A cirque is a steep-walled, amphitheater-like hollow carved near the top of a mountain by glacier erosion. Snow accumulates there, compacting into ice that slowly moves and scours the bedrock. Freeze-thaw weathering and plucking deepen the basin while steepening the back wall. When the glacier melts away, the cirque often contains a small lake called a tarn. Cirques are common in mountain ranges such as the Alps, Rockies, and Scottish Highlands.
Key Facts
1.Cirques are bowl-shaped hollows carved by mountain glaciers
2.A cirque lake is often called a tarn
3.They occur in the Alps, Rockies, and Highlands
YouTube Angle
Suggested video title for this topic:
"The mountain bowl that glaciers carve at the top of the world."
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