cirques

The mountains round it will usually be cliffs, forming sometimes a perfect ring, and so called cirques, or, by the Spaniards, cooking-pots; and as one stands on the level floor of one such last highest jasse and looks up at the summit of the cliffs, one knows that one is looking at the ridge of the main chain.

Hills and the Sea Hilaire Belloc 1911

There are unusual characteristics to Pyrenean scenery, such as an absence of lakes, and dead-end walls known as cirques at the upper end of the valleys, as well as a general rarity of passes, and their extreme height.

PezCyclingNews.com 2009

'cirques' or 'cwms,' of which we have remarkably fine examples, is still a little mysterious -- one notes also the requirement of observation which might throw light on the erosion of previous ages.

Scott's Last Expedition Volume I Robert Falcon Scott 1890

Whiteness dazzled, glittered in sparks and shards of color, reached fantastic shapes heavenward; cirques, crevasses, caverns brimmed with blue.

The Clique 2010

Of geologic interest are the high altitude karst landforms which have been strongly carved by glacial, hydrologic and tectonic activity resulting in U-shaped valleys, cirques and hanging valleys.

Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area, China 2009

Glaciated terrain is common and characterized by U-shaped valleys, moraines, cirques, tarns, and outwash features.

Ecoregions of Montana (EPA) 2009

Here, moraines, cirques, and small lakes are especially common and are products of Pleistocene alpine glaciation.

Ecoregions of Nevada (EPA) 2009

Alpine Gardens drops off precipitously into two prominent glacial cirques.

Mount Washington 2009

Heavy glaciation has sculpted cirques and left many moraines, lakelets and bogs on the Stanley ice plateau.

Rwenzori Mountains National Park, Uganda 2009

There are fourteen glaciers, and a high region of U-shaped valleys, horns, cirques and arêtes.

The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries, China 2009