Horn
Also called: Pyramidal peak · Topic: Landforms and their Evolution: Rivers, Groundwater, Glaciers, Waves and Wind · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Landforms and their Evolution"
Meaning
A horn, or pyramidal peak, is a high, sharp, pointed peak with steep sides. It forms when three or more cirques (armchair-shaped hollows cut by ice) lie around one mountain. Each cirque cuts backwards into the mountain. As they cut back, only a narrow pointed peak is left in the middle. Sharp ridges called aretes usually run down from the horn between the cirques.
Example
The Matterhorn in the Alps, on the Switzerland–Italy border, is the classic horn. NCERT also gives Mount Everest in the Himalaya as an example.
Don't confuse with
- Arete: a narrow, saw-toothed ridge between two cirques. A horn is a pointed peak where three or more cirques meet.
Related concepts
- Glacier
- Valley glacier
- Continental glacier
- Plucking
- Cirque
- Tarn
- Arete
- U-shaped valley
- Hanging valley
- Truncated spur