Ussually by three cirques A cirque is an origin point for glaciers in mountainous areas. It is a deep depression with three high walls and an open area from which the glacier moves forward, down the mountain side. Over time, as rock is eroded, these become wider and deeper. A mountain horn, such as the Matterhorn in the Alps forms when a peak is surrounded on two or more sides by cirques. As the cirques expand and rock is eroded the peak is honed into a point, forming a horn.
The Matterhorn is a pyramidal peak, which is a type of mountain characterized by its distinctive shape with four sharp ridges meeting at a point. It is located in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy.
Glaciers grind into mountains by eroding the cirques at their heads. If a mountain has cirques all around it, the glaciers may carve it into a tall, faceted remnant called a horn. This example in the Juneau Icefield of southeastern Alaska displays two cirques, and there must be one or two more on the back side. On the left side is an arête.
An arête is a thin ridge of rock which is formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. The arête is a thin ridge of rock that is left separating the two valleys Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode head wards towards one another, although frequently this results in a saddle-shaped pass, called a col. The edge is then sharpened by freeze-thaw weathering. Where three or more cirques meet, a pyramidal peak is created. - (a famous example is the 'Matterhorn'). Form the above it must be clear that arêtes are landforms found in mountainous terrains that have been subject to glaciation. They are therefore very common in the Alps.
Its actually more about the composition of the rock than the shape, the rounded rocks tend to be of a softer material such as sandstone, limestone etc which erode quicker and as such form into rounded shapes were harder rocks such as granite are more resistant to erosion and therefore its the softer materials that erode and leave the sharp edges of granite.
horn
Glacial horn
CONE
When three or more cirques erode into a mountain summit, they form a horn. This distinctive landform is characterized by steep, sharp peaks, often seen in famous mountains like the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps.
The sharp pyramid-shaped peak formed by the erosion of three or more cirques on a mountain is called a horn. This landform is typically created by the intersection of multiple glaciers eroding the mountain from different sides, resulting in steep, jagged peaks. Famous examples include the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps.
Glacial horn
Glacial horn
Cirques could intersect at an intermediate ridge. This would be less common.
A mountain is a sharpened peak formed by the glacial actions of three cirques on a mountaintop. Since we know that a cirque is a bowl-shaped basin formed by EROSION and a mountain horn is formed by three CIRQUES it becomes clear that mountain horns are formed by erosion.
Ussually by three cirques A cirque is an origin point for glaciers in mountainous areas. It is a deep depression with three high walls and an open area from which the glacier moves forward, down the mountain side. Over time, as rock is eroded, these become wider and deeper. A mountain horn, such as the Matterhorn in the Alps forms when a peak is surrounded on two or more sides by cirques. As the cirques expand and rock is eroded the peak is honed into a point, forming a horn.
A horn is a result of erosion. It is a sharp, pointed mountain peak formed when glaciers erode away multiple sides of a mountain.
cirques