Corries

A corrie, also spelled coire or corrie, is a bowl-shaped, amphitheatre-like recess in a mountainside formed by glacial erosion. The term is widely used in Scotland and derives from the Scottish Gaelic coire, meaning cauldron or hollow. In geology, the equivalent term is cirque.

Corries form when snow accumulates in a preexisting hollow at high elevations and compacts into a glacier. As the glacier flows and thickens, frost action, plucking, and abrasion erode the bed and the steep headwall, deepening the basin and sharpening the back wall. The ice may advance and retreat with climatic changes, leaving a well-defined hollow even after the ice has disappeared.

Typical features include a steep, high back wall, a rounded basin floor, and a lip at the outlet where meltwater drains. Many corries host a tarn, a small lake formed when drainage is blocked or when the basin fills with meltwater after glacier retreat. The walls can be rugged and arched, and the surrounding landscape often shows related glacial landforms such as aretes and horns formed by the removal of ice from multiple sides.

Distribution and significance: Corries are common in glaciated mountain ranges around the world, with a prominent concentration in the Scottish Highlands. They also occur in the Alps, the Andes, the Himalayas, and other high mountain regions. In the study of geomorphology, corries illustrate how glacier dynamics shape alpine topography, leaving behind distinct, erosion-powered basins and associated lakes.