Paternoster lake

A paternoster lake is one of a series of glacial lakes connected by a single stream or a braided stream system. The name comes from the word Paternoster, another name for the Lord's Prayer derived from the Latin words for the prayer's opening words, "Our Father"; Paternoster lakes are so called because of their resemblance to rosary beads, with alternating prayer beads connected by a string or fine chain.

Paternoster lakes occur in alpine valleys, climbing one after the other to the valley's head, called a corrie, which often contains a cirque lake. Paternoster lakes are created by end moraines, or rock dams, that are formed by the advance and subsequent upstream retreat and melting of the ice. The local variation in rock types can also be a factor in creating these lakes. A glacier encountering weaker rock at its base, will be able to erode deeper than when it experiences harder, less erodible rocks. As the glacier melts, lakes form where weaker rock was excavated.

Excellent examples of this occur in California's Sierra Nevada, where many stream courses above 3000 m in elevation contain paternoster lakes.