CHAPTER XXVI

LAND SCULPTURE BY MOUNTAIN GLACIERS

Contrasted sculpturing of continental and mountain glaciers—Wind distribution of the snow which falls in mountains—The niches which form on snowdrift sites—The augmented snowdrift moves down the valley: birth of the glacier—The excavation of the glacial amphitheater or cirque—Life history of the cirque—Grooved and fretted uplands—The features carved above the glacier—The features shaped beneath the glacier—The cascade stairway in glacier-carved valleys—The character profiles which result from sculpture by mountain glaciers—The sculpture accomplished by ice caps—The Norwegian tind or beehive mountain—Reading references 367