A pyramidal peak, characteristic of mountain glaciation (Alpine-type), which is produced by the encroaching of three or more cirques or cirque glaciers, which sculpture the preexisting surface to a stage where three serrated ridges (arêtes, French; Grat , German) converge upwards into a pyramid.
The classic example is the Matterhorn in Switzerland, and Lobeck (1939) has referred to others as “Matterhorn peaks,” but since rather numerous mountains of the same type are also known as horns it seems more appropriate to retain the simpler term (e.g., Von Engeln, 1942).
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References
Cotton, C. A., 1942, Climatic Accidents in Landscape-making, Christchurch, N.Z., Whitcombe and Tombs, 354pp.
Lobeck, A. K., 1939, Geomorphology, New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 731pp.
Von Engeln, O. D., 1942, Geomorphology, New York, The Macmillan Co., 655pp.
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© 1968 Reinhold Book Corporation
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Fairbridge, R.W. (1968). Horn, matterhorn . In: Geomorphology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31060-6_179
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31060-6_179
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