Arête
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about a glacial landform. See Arete for other meanings.
An arête is a thin, almost knife-like, ridge of rock which is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. The arete is a thin ridge of rock that is left separating the two valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode towards one another, although frequently this results in a saddle-shaped pass, called a col. The word arête is actually French for fishbone; similar features in the Alps are described with the German equivalent term Grat or Kamm (comb).
Where three or more cirques meet, then a glacial horn or a pyramidal peak is created.
Notable examples of arêtes include:
- Knife Edge, on Mount Katahdin, USA
- Clouds Rest, in the Sierra Nevada, USA
- The Minarets, in the Sierra Nevada, USA
- The Garden Wall, in Glacier National Park (US) (image to right)
- Crib Goch, in Snowdonia National Park, Wales
- The Catwalk, in the Olympic National Park, USA
