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Cross section of a cirque glacier showing the randkluft.

A randkluft (from the German for marginal cleft/crevasse) or rimaye (from the same French IPA: [ʁimaj]) is the headwall gap between a glacier or snowfield and the adjacent rock face at the back of the cirque[1] or, more loosely, between the rock face and the side of the glacier.

In French, the word rimaye covers both notions of randkluft and bergschrund.

Formation

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It is formed by the melting of ice against warmer rock and may be very deep. During summer therefore, a randkluft will become wider and thus more difficult for climbers to negotiate. Randklufts are often found in relatively low-lying glaciers such as the Blaueis in the Berchtesgaden Alps or the Höllentalferner in the Wetterstein.

A randkluft is similar to, but not identical with, a bergschrund, which is the place on a high-altitude glacier where the moving ice stream breaks away from the static ice frozen to the rock creating a large crevasse. Unlike a randkluft, a bergschrund has two ice walls.

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  • Wide randkluft on the east face of the Watzmann
    Wide randkluft on the east face of the Watzmann
  • Alpinists over the randkluft of the Höllentalferner glacier
    Alpinists over the randkluft of the Höllentalferner glacier

See also

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  • Crevasse
  • The French Wikipedia entry for Rimaye which states that the rimaye is either between the rock and the glacier, or between the fixed part of the ice and the moving part.

References

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  1. ^ Whittow, John (1984). Dictionary of Physical Geography. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 438. ISBN 0-14-051094-X.
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Bergschrund

(330 ft). A bergschrund is distinct from a randkluft, which is a crevasse with one side formed by rock. The randkluft arises in part from the melting of the

Cirque glacier

If enough rock falls onto the glacier, it may become a rock glacier. Randklufts may form beneath corrie glaciers as open space between the ice and the

Watzmann

face. On 26 May 1890 he fell at the upper end of the icefield into the randkluft and was fatally injured. Another small nameless snowfield is located several

Zugspitze

so that crampons are required to cross it. Even more difficult is the randkluft because the ice retreats further and further from the rock as it melts

Höllentalferner

the Höllentalferner has to be negotiated. Depending on the season the randkluft of the glacier is a key point on the way to the Klettersteig. Höllentalferner

Glossary of geography terms (A–M)

When the rift forms directly between ice and rock, the gap is called a randkluft. berm 1.  A level space, shelf, or raised barrier separating two areas

List of German expressions in English

Flysch Gneiss (German Gneis) Graben Horst Karst Loess (German: Löss) Randkluft, gap between the rock face and the side of the glacier Rille (German:

Blaueis

the climb and snow bridges often allow a simple crossing of the gully (Randkluft) below the saddle. In late summer and autumn, the gully is wide and often