{{No footnotes, date=October 2024
A cirque glacier is formed in a
cirque
A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...
, a bowl-shaped depression on the side of or near mountains. Snow and ice accumulation in corries often occurs as the result of avalanching from higher surrounding slopes.
If a cirque glacier advances far enough, it may become a
valley glacier
Glacier morphology, or the form a glacier takes, is influenced by temperature, precipitation, topography, and other factors. The goal of glacial morphology is to gain a better understanding of glaciated landscapes and the way they are shaped. T ...
. Additionally, if a valley glacier retreats enough that it is within the cirque, it becomes a cirque glacier again.
In these depressions,
snow
Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...
persists through summer months, and becomes
glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
ice. Snow may be situated on the
leeward
In geography and seamanship, windward () and leeward () are directions relative to the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e., towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point o ...
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. If enough rock falls onto the glacier, it may become a
rock glacier
Rock glaciers are distinctive geomorphological landforms that consist either of angular rock debris frozen in interstitial ice, former "true" glaciers overlain by a layer of talus, or something in between. Rock glaciers are normally found at hi ...
.
Randklufts may form beneath corrie glaciers as open space between the ice and the bedrock, where
meltwater
Meltwater (or melt water) is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glaciers, glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelf, ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found during early spring (season), spring when snow packs a ...