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Traditionally in geomorphology, a flatiron is a steeply sloping triangular landform created by the differential erosion of a steeply dipping, erosion-resistant layer of rock overlying softer strata. Flatirons have wide bases that form the base of a steep, triangular facet that narrows upward into a point at its summit.
An outlier is typically formed when sufficient erosion of surrounding rocks has taken place to sever the younger rock's original continuity with a larger mass of the same younger rocks nearby. One example from Great Britain is the mass of Triassic sandstone around the Staffordshire town of Leek .
Arête – Narrow ridge of rock which separates two valleys formed by glacial movement; Cirque – An amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion; Col – Lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks; Crevasse – A deep crack, or fracture, in an ice sheet or glacier; Corrie – An amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion ...
A fault scarp is a small step-like offset of the ground surface in which one side of a fault has shifted vertically in relation to the other. [1] [2] The topographic expression of fault scarps results from the differential erosion of rocks of contrasting resistance and the displacement of land surface by movement along the fault.
Erosion and changes in the form of river banks may be measured by inserting metal rods into the bank and marking the position of the bank surface along the rods at different times. [23] Thermal erosion is the result of melting and weakening permafrost due to moving water. [24] It can occur both along rivers and at the coast.
A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term rock formation can also refer to specific sedimentary strata or other rock unit in stratigraphic and petrologic studies.
The Colorado Plateau which includes the Grand Canyon is the result of broad tectonic uplift followed by river erosion. [4] When mountains rise slowly, either due to orogenic uplift or other processes (e.g., rebound after glaciation), an unusual feature known as a water gap may occur.
The medieval Persian Muslim scholar Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī (973–1048), after observing rock formations at the mouths of rivers, hypothesized that the Indian Ocean once covered all of India. [14] In his De Natura Fossilium of 1546, German metallurgist and mineralogist Georgius Agricola (1494–1555) wrote about erosion and natural ...