Find a term from the labs, understand the process behind it, and see how it appears in the landscape. Each entry connects an explanation with a real observation and a model you can explore.
Term
Cirque
Also written: Cwm / corrie
A bowl-shaped hollow with steep sides at the head of a glacial valley, enlarged by ice erosion and weathering. A lake, called a tarn, may occupy it after the ice retreats.
What to look for
Glacial terrain in the Muldrow Glacier area, Denali. Ice erosion enlarges mountain hollows into cirques and sharpens the ridges between them.
