Definitions for "Cirque"
Related Terms:
Couloir, U-shaped valley, Corrie, Valley glacier, Alpine glacier, Hummock, Hanging valley, Canyon, Cirque glacier, Butte, Horn, Mesa , Headwall, Pediment, Tarn, Scarp, Nunatak, Piedmont glacier, Bluff, Undercutting, Till plain, Rockfall, Lateral moraine, Gorge, Cuesta, Glen, Arête, Inselberg, Cliff, Fjord, Escarpment, Icefall, Snow cave, Bajada, Badlands, Kame, Thermokarst, Ice cap, Drumlin, Knoll, Cwm , Hummocky, Bergschrund, Alluvial fan, Peneplain, Crevasse, Terrace, Terracing, Moulin, Sérac
A circle; a circus; a circular erection or arrangement of objects.
A kind of circular valley in the side of a mountain, walled around by precipices of great height.
a semicircular or amphitheater-shaped bedrock feature created as glaciers scour back into the mountain. This is where the snow and ice forming the glacier first accumulates; it is the "headwaters" of a glacier.
The head of a glacial valley, usually with the form of one half of an inverted cone. The upper edges have the steepest slopes, approaching the vertical, and the base may be flat or hollowed out. The base is commonly occupied by a small lake or pond after deglaciation.
A hollowed-out area high on a mountain valley; typically a place where glacial snow accumulates.
A bowl-shaped depression with very steep sides that forms at the head of a mountain glacier. Forms from cold-climate weathering processes including frost wedging and plucking.
a bowl shaped valley carved by a glacier
A bowl-shaped valley at the head of a glacier.
An amphitheater-shaped depression at the head of a glacial valley, excavated by ice plucking and frost wedging.
Deep horseshoe-shaped basins formed as a result of glacial erosion, cirques are the ‘headwaters’ of a glacier. Cirque formation is initiated when the climate is cool enough in the area to allow snow to remain year-round in small hollows above the snowline. Meltwater from these small snowfields seeps into cracks in the surrounding rocks during times of partial melt, then re-freezes as the temperature falls in the winter, fracturing and loosening the bedrock. Subsequent meltwater and ice-flow remove the loose debris and the process begins anew. Over a period of thousands of years, the cycle of fracturing, erosion, and removal transform the small hollows into spectacular cirques. As the glacier retreats and, eventually, completely disappears a lake will often remain in the cirque. Such lakes are known as tarn lakes.
A steep-walled horseshoe-shaped recess high on a mountain that is formed by glacial erosion.
A deep-walled, half-bowl-like recess or hollow situated high on a mountain at the head of a valley, produced by erosion of a glacier.
a large bowl-shaped hollow carved out of a mountain by a glacier
the French term for a basin carved out by a glacier due to plucking; other terms for cirque include corrie (Scottish), cwm (Welsh), and nitsch (German)
A deep steep-walled basin high on a mountain usually shaped like half a bowl and often containing a small lake.
Small glaciers and the basins they excavate at the head of valleys.
a steep-walled semicircular basin in a mountain; may contain a lake
a bowl-shaped depression eroded into the side of a mountain by an alpine glacier
a deep basin surrounded by high ridges in a horseshoe shape
a half-open hollow in a mountain region that appears to have been scooped out with an ice cream scooper
a large bowl formed at the head
an amphitheatre-shaped hollow with the open end facing down-valley
a natural amphitheatre, carved out of hills by glaciers
a semi-circular glacier carved basin near the head of the glacier
A bowl-shaped, amphitheater-like depression eroded into the head or the side of a glacier valley. Typically, a cirque has a lip at its lower end. The term is French and is derived from the Latin word circus.
Landform. The steep-sided head of a valley. The upper edges have the steepest slopes and the base may be flat; usually associated with glacial erosion. The heads of many steep canyons have a similar form
A steep-walled mountain bowl or basin generally formed at the head of a glacier. (French for "circus.")
Glaciers carve these concave depressions in mountaintops and their sides. Usually found at the beginning of valleys, the cirque feature persists for thousands of years after glaciers have melted away.
Bowl-shaped depression or amphitheater carved at the head of a mountain valley by glacial erosion.
Fr: circus] A bowl-shaped valley high on a mountain, usually of glacial origin. Synonyms: cwm (Gaelic), corrie (Scots Gaelic)
A bowl shaped, hollow recess in a mountain resulting from ice erosion Coluvium: Materials of any particle size that have reached their present position by direct gravity induced movement.
a deep recess in a mountain; it resembles an amphitheater with steep walls.
A deep, semi-circular basin eroded out of a mountain by an alpine glacier.
A deep steep-walled half-bowl-like recess or hollow situated high on the side of a mountain and commonly a thte head of a glacial valley, and produced by the erosive activity of a mountain glacier. (Bates and Jackson 1980.)
An amphitheatre-like, cliff-walled valley, carved by glaciers and enhanced by water erosion and ice cleavage. The highest cliff is often called the headwall.
A deep steep-walled recess or hollow, horseshoe-shaped or semicircular in plan view, situated high on the side of a mountain and produced by the erosive activity of a mountain glacier.
Semicircular, concave, bowl-like area with steep face primarily resulting from erosive activity at the head of a mountain glacier.
A bowl-shaped depression carved out of a mountain by an alpine glacier.
horseshoe-shaped basin at head of glacial valley, enclosed by high head and side walls, with low lip and smooth basin floor; often containing small lakes or glaciers today in alpine settings.
a steep hollow, often containing a small lake, at the upper end of a mountain valley.
A steep-walled mountain basin which usually forms the blunt end of a valley. (French for "circus.")
Glacially eroded rock basin found on mountains. Most alpine glaciers originate from a cirque.
The steep walled bowl carved by glacial action at the head of a side canyon.
a glacially eroded basin shaped like half a bowl; a deep, steep-walled recess in a mountain, caused by glacial erosion.
A cirque is an amphitheatre-like valley (or valley head) of glacial origin, formed by glacial erosion at the head of the glacier. Cirques are typically partially surrounded by steep cliffs. The highest cliff is often called a headwall.
Cirque is an album by ambient musician Biosphere which was released in 2000.
a rock landform that may or may not have ice in it