Cirque

• One feature of glacial erosion is a cirque. A cirque is a basin- shaped hollow in a mountain. A cirque was the birthplace of a glacier
• A cirque is formed when snow accumulates in a hollow high up in a mountain. The snow is compressed to form ice
• The ice plucks rocks from the sides of the mountain as it begins to move. these rocks make the hollow deeper through the process of abrasion
• Diagram of cirque

  
• The ice eventually overflows from the hollow and gravity causes the ice to move downhill
• The ice that is left behind melts and forms a lake that is known as a tarn
• E.g the Devils Punchbowl near Killarney, Co. Kerry