The Beartooth Mountains of Montana-Wyoming are principally composed of Archean-aged metamorphic rocks. The valley seen here is a depression along the edge of a high plateau having a subalpine to alpine tundra landscape. The depression was eroded by an alpine glacier during the Pleistocene Ice Age - such depressions are called cirques. Many cirques have one or more ponds or lakes - such bodies of water are called "tarns". A string of tarns in a cirque is referred to as "pater noster lakes".
Locality: unnamed lake south of Twin Lakes (view from Route 212 / Beartooth Highway), Beartooth Mountains, northwestern Wyoming, USA
Tags: cirque tarn tarns Beartooth Mountains Wyoming
The Beartooth Mountains of Montana-Wyoming are principally composed of Archean-aged metamorphic rocks. The valley seen here is a scoop-shaped depression along the northern edge of a high plateau having a subalpine to alpine tundra landscape. The depression was eroded by an alpine glacier during the Pleistocene Ice Age - such depressions are called cirques. Two lakes are present in the cirque. Lakes in cirques are called "tarns".
Locality: Twin Lakes overlook, view from Route 212 (= Beartooth Highway), Beartooth Mountains, Wyoming-Montana border area, USA
Tags: Twin Lakes Beartooth Mountains Wyoming cirque tarn tarns Pleistocene glaciation cirques
The Beartooth Mountains of Montana-Wyoming are principally composed of Archean-aged metamorphic rocks. The valley seen here is a depression along the edge of a high plateau having a subalpine to alpine tundra landscape. The depression was eroded by an alpine glacier during the Pleistocene Ice Age - such depressions are called cirques. Many cirques have one or more ponds or lakes - such bodies of water are called "tarns". A string of tarns in a cirque is referred to as "pater noster lakes".
Locality: unnamed lake south of Twin Lakes (view from Route 212 / Beartooth Highway), Beartooth Mountains, northwestern Wyoming, USA
Tags: cirque tarn tarns Beartooth Mountains Wyoming
The Beartooth Mountains of Montana-Wyoming are principally composed of Archean-aged metamorphic rocks. The valley seen here is a scoop-shaped depression along the northern edge of a high plateau having a subalpine to alpine tundra landscape. The depression was eroded by an alpine glacier during the Pleistocene Ice Age - such depressions are called cirques. Two lakes are present in the cirque. Lakes in cirques are called "tarns".
Locality: Twin Lakes overlook, view from Route 212 (= Beartooth Highway), Beartooth Mountains, Wyoming-Montana border area, USA
Tags: Twin Lakes Beartooth Mountains Wyoming cirque tarn tarns Pleistocene glaciation cirques
The Beartooth Mountains of Montana-Wyoming are principally composed of Archean-aged metamorphic rocks. The valley seen here is a scoop-shaped depression along the northern edge of a high plateau having a subalpine to alpine tundra landscape. The depression was eroded by an alpine glacier during the Pleistocene Ice Age - such depressions are called cirques. Two lakes are present in the cirque. Lakes in cirques are called "tarns".
Locality: Twin Lakes overlook, view from Route 212 (= Beartooth Highway), Beartooth Mountains, Wyoming-Montana border area, USA
Tags: Twin Lakes Beartooth Mountains Wyoming cirque tarn tarns Pleistocene glaciation cirques