the.com/cirque
A bowl carved by ice that outlived its own sculptor.
means A steep-walled, bowl-shaped basin high in the mountains, carved out by the erosive action of a glacier.
from From French cirque, meaning a circle or arena, drawn straight from the Latin circus — the same word that gave Rome its great oval racing tracks and gives us the modern circus. Geologists borrowed the term because these glacial hollows curve like an amphitheater scooped into rock; the Latin circus itself traces back to a root meaning 'ring' or 'curve,' a cousin of Greek kirkos.
- glacier-made
- Carved by glaciers grinding away mountain rock
- french origin
- Means circus, named for its amphitheater shape
- tarn trap
- Often holds a lake after ice melts
- three walls
- Steep cliffs on three sides, open one
- summit shaper
- Back-to-back cirques carve sharp mountain peaks
cirque du soleil — canadian circus company founded 1984, performs in 19 countries with 20+ shows annually
cirque d'hiver bouglione — parisian circus established 1852, still operating in its original building on rue amelot