Information About

Escarpment




In s to another series of a different age and composition. In such cases, the escarpment usually represents the line of Erosion al loss of the newer Rock over the older (see also Cuesta ).


, broken by a fault. Cumberland Plateau , Tennessee .]]

Escarpments are also frequently formed by Faults . These are called Fault Scarp s. In some cases land may be lifted to an elevation above the surrounding area by a thrust fault, or the reverse with a normal fault. A strike-slip fault may bring a piece of high ground adjacent to an area of lower ground. The latter is common in California along the San Andreas Fault and the many other strike-slip faults in the area.

In England escarpments are found in a diagonal line across the country from the Yorkshire coast on the North Sea to the Hampshire coast on the English Channel . There the features of an escarpment include the Scarp Slope (the leading edge); the ''' Dip Slope ''', Dry Valley s, Coombe s (both found in Chalk Downland ), and clay vales occur on the side away from the scarp.

There are escarpments on other planets besides Earth . They are believed to be created when the Crust Contracts ; as a result of cooling.

More loosely the term is used to describe the zone between coastal lowlands and continental Plateau which have a marked change in altitude.

escarpment, beside New Zealand 's Southern Alps . About 500 km (300 mi) long.]]

SIGNIFICANT ESCARPMENTS




SEE ALSO



REFERENCES