Hanging valley
As a hanging valley is called in the geomorphology a priority glacially shaped side valley . Hanging valleys lie above the valley floor of a main valley and flow into it via a step. They have all the essential characteristics of a trough valley , but do not reach the same size. The smaller tributary glaciers of the hanging valleys could not deepen the bedrock as much as the large valley glaciers of the main valley because of their lower thickness. Today, many mountain streams cut erosive into the rock, leading to the formation of ravines or gorges can result. The difference in altitude from the hanging valley to the main valley is often overcome in waterfalls .
A special form of the hanging valley can be found in the Pinzgau region of Salzburg . The southern side valleys of the Salzach all flow with a steep step into the valley floor , because the Salzach valley has deepened considerably since the last ice age . The large, parallel rifts of the alpine mountain formation also contributed to the formation of the mighty gorges in front of the valley mouths, which all run in a north-south direction .
Furthermore, hanging valleys also arise on coastal cliffs . The stream flowing into the sea cannot cut into the cliff fast enough, which is eroded by the surf of the waves. This means that the stream no longer flows straight into the sea, but as a waterfall.
