(geology) The removal of a glacier by melting and evaporation; the lowering of a land surface by any of several means, as in wind erosion or mass wasting.
(geology) A sloping or nearly flat bedrock surface extending out from the foot of a marine cliff under shallow water of a breaker (wave) zone, that was created by marine abrasion.
(geology) The accumulation of surface sediment formed between a subducting oceanic crustal plate and a continental tectonic plate, as it is scraped from off the top of the oceanic crustal plate.
(geology) A type of unconformity in which a sedimentary stratum is deposited on top of another stratum that has been significantly tilted and subsequently eroded flat.
(geology) A topographic feature which is composed of sedimentary layers in a convex formation, but may not actually form a real anticline (i.e., the oldest rocks may not be exposed in the middle).
(geology) A boulder worn by running water that is too large to be rolled as a pebble, worn smooth on the upstream or seaward side and exposed top and with a sharp ridge on the downstream or landward side.
(countable, geology) A section of a fault line with high friction, such that there is no movement along this part of the fault except during an earthquake.
(geology) a structure occurring in granite and similar massive rocks that allows them to split in well-defined planes horizontally or parallel to the land surface
(figuratively) A void into which things disappear, or from which nothing emerges; an impenetrable area or subject; an area impervious to communication.
(geology) A geological deposit of clay, often full of large stones and boulders, which is formed out of the ground moraine material of glaciers and ice-sheets.
The phenomenon of granular convection or segregation, where granular material subjected to shaking or vibration exhibits circulation patterns like those of a fluid, causing the larger particles to end up on top.
(geology) Corrading (erosion by abrasion) caused by such as: wind-blown or water-borne sand, stream-borne or glacier-borne stones, or collisions between stones under the influence of seaside breakers.
(glaciology) An isolated rock that is geologically distinct from the surroundings, indicating that it was carried from a distant area and then dropped in place (by a melting glacier); an erratic.
(geology) The plane, or surface formed between the two rock blocks that slip one with the other during an earthquake. The edge of the fault plane can often be seen on the land as a fault line.
(geology) A form of sedimentary bidirectional bedding created when a sediment is exposed to intermittent flows, leading to alternating sand and mud layers.
(geomorphology) A steeply sloping triangular landform created by the differential erosion of a steeply dipping, erosion-resistant layer of rock overlying softer strata.
An upwards swelling of soil during freezing conditions caused by an increasing presence of ice as it grows towards the surface, upwards from the depth in the soil where freezing temperatures have penetrated into the soil.
(geology) An effect of seismic activity, such as an earthquake, where the ground becomes very soft, due to the shaking, and acts like a liquid, causing landslides, spreading, and settling.
The frozen upper level of soil, caused by the air temperature dropping below the freezing point for a lengthy period of time; in temperate climates the soil thaws completely for the summer and in cold climates it may develop to permafrost.
(geology) A form of graded bedding that occurs at the bottom of a body of water. The principle says that smaller colloids (particles) settle farther in the strata while larger particles settle closer to the source of water.
(geology) The background mineral material in which the object of study (crystals, fossils, specific minerals, groundwater, etc.) is embedded or through which it travels.
(geology) Intermontane depressions which might get completely filled by glaciers from the surrounding mountains at the maxima of glaciation, creating esker-like depressions under the ice.
(geology) Describes the relative motion of two blocks along a strike-slip fault. From a plan view perspective, as if standing on the fault line, the left block moves towards, and the right block moves away.
(geology) A line in the plane of a stratum, or part of a stratum, perpendicular to its intersection with a horizontal plane; the line of greatest inclination of a stratum to the horizon
Alternative form of load cast [(geology) An irregular part of an overlying stratum (often of sandstone) that is forced down into a softer underlying stratum]
(geology) A very large mass of clastic sediment deposited by a laterally mobile river system that fans out from the outlet from a large mountainous drainage network.
(geology) The overthrusting of continental crust by oceanic crust or rocks from the mantle, such that the oceanic crust is thrust onto the continental crust, as occurs at a convergent plate boundary when the continental crust is caught in a subduction zone.
(geology) A type of unconformity in which strata are parallel; there is no apparent erosion and the unconformity surface resembles a simple bedding plane.
(geology) A subparallel feature consisting of a central core of undeformed strata, roughly U-shaped in cross section and cigar-shaped in plan, embedded in finer grained material.
(geology) A structural basin where two overlapping faults or a fault bend create(s) an area of crustal extension undergoing tension, which causes the basin to sink down.
(geology, nuclear testing) A rubble mound occasionally formed by a powerful underground explosion (usually nuclear) in solid rock, due to the chimney of shattered rock above the explosion occupying a greater volume than the solid rock previously present.
(geodynamics, tectonics) A proposed driving force for plate motion in plate tectonics that occurs at mid-ocean ridges as the result of the rigid lithosphere sliding down the hot, raised asthenosphere below mid-ocean ridges.
(geology) Describes the relative motion of two blocks along a strike-slip fault. From a plan-view perspective, as if standing on the fault line, the right block moves towards, and the left block moves away.
(geology) A large-scale landslide with a scarp that may be mistaken for a fault. More specifically- a deep fracture with uphill facing scarps induced by gravitational sliding. Often found near the top of some mountain ranges.
(geology) The appearance of lower sedimentation rates in stratigraphic sections covering greater amounts of time, as a result of the relative rarity of geologic events that remove large amounts of sediment.
Alternative form of seafloor spreading [(geology) The outward movement of the seafloor from central underwater ridges as a result of plate tectonics; the major cause of continental drift.]
(geology) One of the major groups of rock that makes up the crust of the Earth; formed by the deposition of either the weathered remains of other rocks, the results of biological activity, or precipitation from solution.
(geology, physics, seismology) The impact of a layer of earth falling after having been lifted by an explosion or an earthquake or similar large-scale disturbance.
(geology) A sinking of something to a lower level, especially of part of the surface of the Earth due to underground excavation, seismic activity or underground or ground water depletion.
(geology) A topographic feature which is composed of sedimentary layers in a concave formation, but may not actually form a real syncline (i.e., the youngest rocks may not be exposed in the middle).
(geomorphology) A type of landform, a ridge on a hillside formed when saturated soil particles expand, then contract as they dry, causing them to move slowly downhill.
(geology) The tensile stress exerted by an overthrust rock mass upon overlying rocks which themselves are not under compressive thrusting stress and therefore tend to be stretched and broken by normal faulting.
(geology) A fossilised print in the rock bed that is at a deeper level than the track the creature leaving it was actually travelling on; caused by the pressure of a heavy animal or penetration of the sediment by a pointed appendage.
(geology, US) A particle classification system, classifying based on diameter.
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