Arete formation is the glacial process that leaves behind a narrow, knife-edged mountain ridge where two cirques or glacial valleys erode headward from opposite sides of the same mountain mass, each steepening its own headwall until the intervening rock is reduced to a thin, jagged divide. Continued frost weathering on the exposed ridge crest sharpens it further after the ice retreats, producing the serrated skylines typical of heavily glaciated mountain ranges such as the Alps and the Rockies.
Facts
Process Type TimescaleTens of thousands of years, developing alongside the cirques on either side of it. 1 Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.