A cirque glacier is formed in a cirque

Cirque

Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...

, bowl-shaped depressions on the side of or near mountains. Snow and ice accumulation in corries often occurs as the result of avalanching

Avalanche

An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...

 from higher surrounding slopes.

In these depressions, snow

Snow

Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...

 persists through summer months, and becomes glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

 ice. Snow may be situated on the leeward slope of a mountain, where it is sheltered from wind. Rock fall from above slopes also plays an important role in sheltering the snow and ice from sunlight.

Randkluft

Randkluft

A randkluft is the headwall gap between a glacier or snowfield and the adjacent rock face at the back of the cirque or, more loosely, between the rock face and the side of the glacier. It is formed by the melting of ice against warmer rock and may be very deep. During summer therefore, a randkluft...

s may form beneath corrie glaciers as open space between the ice and the bedrock, where meltwater can play a role in deposition

Deposition (geology)

Deposition is the geological process by which material is added to a landform or land mass. Fluids such as wind and water, as well as sediment flowing via gravity, transport previously eroded sediment, which, at the loss of enough kinetic energy in the fluid, is deposited, building up layers of...

of the rock.

Further reading

• Lewis, W.V. (1960) Norwegian Cirque Glaciers, Royal Geographical Society Research Series 4