 | ||
Kloofing cliff jumping in the drakensberg escarpment south africa
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as an effect of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations. Usually escarpment is used interchangeably with scarp (from the Italian scarpa, shoe). But some sources differentiate the two terms, where escarpment refers to the margin between two landforms, while scarp is synonymous with a cliff or steep slope. The surface of the steep slope is called a scarp face.This (escarpment) is a ridge which has a gentle(dip) slope on one side and a steep (scarp) slope on the other side.
Contents
- Kloofing cliff jumping in the drakensberg escarpment south africa
- Sept 30 16 upper escarpment entabeni safari conservancy s africa 2015
- Formation and description
- Erosion of escarpments
- Africa
- Antarctica
- Asia
- Australia and New Zealand
- Europe
- North America
- South America
- References
Sept 30 16 upper escarpment entabeni safari conservancy s africa 2015
Formation and description
Scarps are generally formed by one of two processes: either by differential erosion of sedimentary rocks, or by vertical movement of the Earth's crust along a geologic fault. Most commonly, an escarpment is a transition from one series of sedimentary rocks to another series of a different age and composition.
Escarpments are also frequently formed by faults. When a fault displaces the ground surface so that one side is higher than the other, a fault scarp is created. This can occur in dip-slip faults, or when a strike-slip fault brings a piece of high ground adjacent to an area of lower ground.
More loosely, the term scarp describes the zone between coastal lowlands and continental plateaus which have a marked, abrupt change in elevation caused by coastal erosion at the base of the plateau.
Earth is not the only planet where escarpments occur. They are believed to occur on other planets when the crust contracts, as a result of cooling. On other Solar System bodies such as Mercury, Mars, and the Moon, the Latin term rupes is used for an escarpment.
Erosion of escarpments
When sedimentary beds are tilted and exposed to the surface, erosion and weathering may occur. Escarpments erode gradually and over geological time. The mélange tendencies of escarpments results in varying contacts between a multitude of rock types. These different rock types weather at different speeds, according to Goldich dissolution series so different stages of deformation can often be seen in the layers where the escarpments have been exposed to the elements. These varying levels of erosion can lead to strange features forming in the exposed rock.