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GPH 211 - GEOMORPHOLOGY
MODULE FIVE - FOLLOW THE WATER

Follow the Water Stop 1 of 13 (Site 1f)

Follow the Water Stop 1 of 13 (Site 1f)

Arêtes:  Because glaciers carve into their mountain valleys wherever ice touches rock, they tend to widen narrow rock canyons into wider "U-shaped" canyons (if the rock is weak enough and the glacier is trying to establish an equalized slope).  When two glacier valleys meet side to side, the valley wall they share becomes extremely steep and known as an Arête. 

The swooping rock ridge in the lower and upper right portion of the image is an arête extending east of Mt. Whitney.  Instead of smoothed surfaces, an arête is characterized by craggy topography made by frost weathering and snow avalanches. 

<>When backpacking in the High Sierras, an arête is something we have to go around. Or, we look for smoothed out passes in an arête.  In the background of this photo, does your eye spot smooth low-spots between the craggy topography?  These are cols, places where glaciers flowed between valleys and these are the passes we use to go between valleys.
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