πŸ“– what

What is a cirque?

GeographyMountains

Quick Answer

A cirque is a bowl-shaped hollow carved by a glacier near the head of a mountain valley. It often contains a small lake called a tarn after the ice melts.

The Full Story

A cirque is an amphitheater-like basin eroded into a mountain by glacier ice. It usually forms high on a mountainside where snow accumulates and compresses into ice over many years. As the glacier moves, it plucks and scrapes rock from the hollow, enlarging it into a steep-walled basin. When the glacier retreats, the cirque may hold a tarn, a small mountain lake.

Key Facts

1.Cirques are glacial landforms
2.They are found near the heads of valleys
3.A cirque may contain a tarn

YouTube Angle

Suggested video title for this topic:

"How glaciers carve giant bowls into mountains"