Its most common shape is that of a long ribbon (ribbon lake).
It is a ribbon lake formed in a glacial trough after the retreat of ice at the start of the current interglacial.
A ribbon lake may also occur if a tributary glacier joins a main glacier.
A ribbon lake may also form behind a terminal or recessional moraine, both of which also act as dams, enabling water to accumulate behind them.
The mountains owe much of their present topography to the effects of the last ice age, which deepened the valleys and created corrie and ribbon lakes.
Along what are generally coastal dunes at ocean's edge are ribbon lakes from which water discharges into the ocean either through seepage or channels which cut through the dunes.
