hanging valley

American  

noun

1. a valley, the lower end of which opens high above a shore, usually caused by the rapid erosion of a cliff.

2. a tributary valley whose mouth is set above the floor of the main valley, usually as a result of differences in glacial erosion.

---

hanging valley British  

noun

1. geography a tributary valley entering a main valley at a much higher level because of overdeepening of the main valley, esp by glacial erosion

---

hanging valley Scientific  

/ hăng′ĭng /

1. A side valley that enters a main valley at an elevation high above the main valley floor. Hanging valleys are typically formed when the main valley has been widened and deepened by glacial erosion, leaving the side valley cut off abruptly from the main valley below. The steep drop from the hanging valley to the main valley floor usually creates cascading waterfalls.

---

Etymology

Origin of hanging valley

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Therefore, once the ice has been removed, the tributary valley is left as a hanging valley, sometimes with a waterfall.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite National Park, California, is a good example of a hanging valley.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

Why do glaciers carve U-shaped valleys, and how does a hanging valley form?

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

Wide slopes just steep enough to make climbing demand considerable sure-footedness widened this hanging valley on either side, with no greenery save the picturesque bits that grew 194along the weathered cracks.

From Unexplored! by Chaffee, Allen