Tarn (lake)
A tarn (or corrie loch) is a mountain lake, pond or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn.[1]
Etymology
The word is
Scandinavian languages
, a tjern or tjørn (both Norwegian) or tjärn or tärn (both Swedish) is a small natural lake, often in a forest or with vegetation closely surrounding it or growing into the tarn.
The specific technical use for a body of water in a glacial corrie comes from high number of tarns found in corries in the Lake District, an upland area in Cumbria.[4] Nonetheless, there are many more bodies of water called 'tarn' in the Lake District than actually fit this technical use.
Formation
Tarns are the result of small glaciers called
glacial till, which forms the lip, threshold or sill,[7]
from which either a stream or glacier will flow away from the cirque.
Tarns form from the melting of the cirque glacier. They may either be seasonal features as supraglacial lakes, or permanent features which form in the hollows left by cirques in formerly glaciated areas. [4]
Gallery
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Lousy Lake (tarn) in North Cascades National Park, Picket Range, Washington, USA -
White Mountains -
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The Dreadful Lake (tarn), Rila Mountain, Bulgaria -
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Marichini lakes (tarns), the origin of the Maritsa river seen from Musala peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria -
Sea Lion Tarn on Livingston Island in Antarctica
_N._Cascades_Nat._Park,_Pickett_Range_WA.jpg)
See also
References
- ^ "Illustrated Glossary of Alpine Glacial Landforms". Archived from the original on 2007-08-11. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
- ^ "Tarn Dipping blog. List of the 197 Tarns in the Lake District, Cumbria". 15 March 2016.
- ^ "Fresh Water Tarns". Cumbria Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
- ^ .
- S2CID 128580365.
- S2CID 10308635.
- ISBN 978-0-416-68820-7. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
External links
Media related to Tarn (lake) at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of tarn at Wiktionary
