What is a Glacial Horn?
Answer – A glacial horn is a tapering peak surrounded at least on 3 sides by glaciers. Its flat faces and sharp edges give it a pyramidal shape and hence its other name pyramidal peak.
Explanation:
Glaciers contribute extensively to erosion, allowing for different kinds of land formations.
Cirques (French for circle) are crater-like depressions carved by glaciers into mountains and valley sidewalls at high altitudes.
When two cirques are formed adjacent to each other, the ridge separating them continues to erode over time and eventually becomes thin with serrated edges like a knife. Such a ridge is then known as an arête.
The arête gradually turns into a horn when three or more adjacent cirques erode over time. Its look will be that of a pyramid-shaped mountain.
One well-known example of a glacial horn is the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps.
Image Credit: © Anton Petrus / Adobe Stock
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