Description
term: cirque
definition:
(1): Bowl shape or amphitheater usually sculpted out of the mountain terrain by a cirque glacier.
synonym:
also see:
source:
reference:
From
A cirque is a rounded recess with steep sides and back wall, formed on a mountainside by glacial
erosion. Cirque is an anglicized French word that has displaced the synonyms “corrie” (from Scots
Gaelic) and “cwm” (from Welsh) of early glaciological usage.
From Sharp ()
Steep-walled, gentle-floored, semicircular topographic hollow created by glacial excavation high in mountainous areas.
Sugden and John () distinguish between glacial cirques and (I assume) non-glacial cirques. For a cirque to be glacial, there must be evidence of glacial erosion. They note that cirques are likely formed by both glacial and sub-aereal erosion. Although many cirques in upland Britain and the Alps are semicircular, cirques in other regions may be more angular or elongated, still with steep headwalls.
Although cirque glaciers are found within cirques, the formation of cirques may not only be the result of the cirque glacier (Benn and Evans). Cirques are likely initiated as nivation hollows in which long-lying or permanent snow patches form. Over time, given the right climatic conditions, become glaciers. Glacier plucking and erosion deepen the lower sections of the cirque, while subaerial erosion acts on the headwalls.