A paternoster lake is best described as what?

A paternoster lake is best described as what?

• A. A chain of alpine lakes connected by streams
• B. A single lake at glacier terminus
• C. A lake formed by volcanic activity
• D. A lake in a desert basin

Answer: (A)

Paternoster lakes show how glacial action creates a stepped series of basins in a valley. In a glaciated valley, repeated carving and deposition leave behind small barriers—often moraines or bedrock sills—between basins. Meltwater fills each basin, and the barriers block flow until water overcomes them, so a sequence of lakes forms. The water then flows from one lake to the next through short outlet channels, creating a linked chain that resembles beads on a rosary. This differs from a single lake at a glacier terminus, which is simply a single proglacial lake formed at the end of a glacier. It also wouldn’t be a lake formed by volcanic activity, which would be a caldera- or crater-type feature, nor a lake in a desert basin, which has a different hydrologic setting.

Paternoster lakes show how glacial action creates a stepped series of basins in a valley. In a glaciated valley, repeated carving and deposition leave behind small barriers—often moraines or bedrock sills—between basins. Meltwater fills each basin, and the barriers block flow until water overcomes them, so a sequence of lakes forms. The water then flows from one lake to the next through short outlet channels, creating a linked chain that resembles beads on a rosary.

This differs from a single lake at a glacier terminus, which is simply a single proglacial lake formed at the end of a glacier. It also wouldn’t be a lake formed by volcanic activity, which would be a caldera- or crater-type feature, nor a lake in a desert basin, which has a different hydrologic setting.