| clastic | - (adjective) pertaining to rock or sediment composed mainly of fragments derived from preexisting rocks or minerals and moved from their place of origin. the term indicates sediment sources tha...
|
| climbing dune | A dune formed by the piling-up of sand by wind against a cliff or mountain slope; very common in arid regions with substantial local relief and strong, prevailing winds. compare - sand ramp. gg & ... |
| closed depression | A generic name for any enclosed area that has no surface drainage outlet and from which water escapes only by evaporation or subsurface drainage; an area of lower ground indicated on a topographic... |
| coastal marl | An earthy, unconsolidated deposit of gray to buff-colored mud of low bulk density (dry) composed primarily of very fine, almost pure calcium carbonate formed in subaqueous settings that span fresh... |
| cockpit karst | A karst landscape dominated by subsurface drainage and serrate or star-shaped depressions (cockpits) that range widely in size and density but typically are considerably larger than sinkholes (dol... |
| collapse sinkhole | A type of sinkhole that is formed by collapse of a cave within the underlying soluble bedrock (e.g., limestone, gypsum, salt). compare - solution sinkhole. sw, ww, & gg |
| collapsed ice-floored lakebed | A lakebed formed in a lake on glacial ice and subsequently "let down" or collapsed by the melting of underlying ice, resulting in contortion or folding of the lacustrine sediment and sedimentary s... |
| collapsed ice-walled lakebed | A lakebed that formed in a lake bounded by stagnant ice, but floored by solid ground, usually till. collapse features are limited to the lakebed margins. presently, these materials and sedimentary... |
| collapsed lake plain | A lake plain formed on, and bounded by, glacial ice and subsequently "let down" or collapsed by the melting of underlying ice resulting in contortion or folding of the sediments and sedimentary st... |
| collapsed outwash plain | An outwash plain which forms on glacial ice (inside the glacial margin), and is subsequently let down or collapsed when the underlying ice melts, resulting in contortion or folding of the sediment... |
| colluvial apron | A landform with a concave to planar surface composed of a thick wedge-shaped deposit of colluvium and/or slope alluvium that forms the base (footslope) of a bluff, escarpment or steep slope . |
| complex landslide [mass movement] | A category of mass movement processes, associated sediments (complex landslide deposit) or resultant landforms characterized by a composite of several mass movement processes none of which dominat... |
| compound sinkhole | (not preferred) refer to karst valley. part 629 - glossary 629-18 (430-vi-nssh, 2008) |
| cone karst | A variety of kegel karst topography, common in the tropics (e.g. puerto rico, pacific basin islands) characterized by steep-sided, cone-shaped residual hills and ridges separated by star-shaped de... |
| conservation terrace | An earthen embankment constructed across a slope for conducting water from above at a regulated flow to prevent accelerated erosion and to conserve water. compare - hillslope terrace. sw & gsst |
| constructional [geomorphology] | (adjective) said of a landform that owes its origin, form, position, or general character to depositional (aggradational) processes, such as the accumulation of sediment (e.g., alluvial fan, volca... |
| continental glacier | A glacier of considerable thickness completely covering a large part of a continent or an area of at least 50,000 square km, obscuring the underlying surface, such as the ice sheets covering antar... |
| continuous permafrost | Permafrost occurring everywhere beneath the exposed land surface throughout a geographic region. compare - discontinuous permafrost, sporadic permafrost. nrc |
| coprogenic material [soil survey] | The remains of fish excreta and similar materials that occur in some organic soils. gsst |
| coprogenous earth [soil taxonomy] | A type of limnic layer (sedimentary peat) composed predominantly of fecal material derived from aquatic animals. st |
| coral island | A) a relict coral reef that stands above sea level and surrounded by water (e.g. florida keys). carbonate sands rich in coral and shell fragments generally mantle the underlying flat coral platfor... |
| corrosion [geomorphology] | A process of erosion whereby rocks and soil are removed or worn away by natural chemical processes, especially by the solvent action of running water, but also by other reactions, such as hydrolys... |
| coulee | (colloquial: northwest usa, and nd) a dry or intermittent stream valley or wash with an underfit stream, especially a long, steep-walled gorge representing a pleistocene overflow channel that carr... кули; |
| cove [coast] | A) [water] a small, narrow sheltered bay, inlet, creek or recess in an estuary, often inside a larger embayment. compare - lagoon bottom. sss & gg b) a small, often circular, wave-cut indentation ... |
| cradle and knoll topography | (not recommended) use tree-tip pit and mound topography. |
| crag and tail | An elongate hill or ridge of subglacially streamlined drift, having at the stoss end (up-ice) a steep, often precipitous face or knob of ice-smoothed, resistant bedrock (the “crag”) obstructing th... |
| crater [volcanic] | A basin-like, rimmed structure, usually at the summit of a volcanic cone. it may be formed by collapse, by an explosive eruption or by the gradual accumulation of pyroclastic material into a surro... |
| creek [streams] | (not preferred, refer to intermittent stream) a general term used throughout the usa (except new england), canada, and australia for a small, intermittent stream that is larger than a brook but sm... |
| creep [mass movement] | The process, surficial sediments, (creep deposit) and/or landform that results from very slow downslope mass wasting of unconsolidated earthy material driven primarily by gravity, but facilitated ... |
| crest [geomorphology] | A geomorphic component of hills consisting of the convex slopes (perpendicular to the contour) that form the narrow, roughly linear top area of a hill, ridge, or other upland where shoulders have ... |
| crevasse [geomorphology] | (a) a wide breach or crack in the bank of a river or canal; especially one in a natural levee or an artificial bank of the lower mississippi river. compare - flood-plain splay, avulsion. (b) part ... |
| crevasse filling | A short, straight ridge of stratified sand and gravel believed to have been deposited in a crevasse of a wasting glacier and left standing after the ice melted; a variety of kame. may also occur a... |
| crevasse splay | (not recommended) use flood-plain splay. compare - crevasse. |
| cross-bedding | (a) cross-stratification in which the cross-beds are more than 1 cm in thickness. (b) a crossbedded structure; a cross-bed. compare - cross-lamination. gg |
| cross-stratification | Arrangement of strata inclined at an angle to the main stratification. this is a general term having two subdivisions; cross-bedding, in which the cross-strata are thicker than 1 cm, and crosslami... |
| cryptogamic crust | A type of microbiotic crust consisting of a thin, biotic layer at the ground surface composed predominantly of cryptogams (i.e. algae, lichen, mosses, lichens and liverworts); most commonly found ... |
| cuesta valley | An asymmetric depression adjacent to a cuesta that lies parallels to the strike of the underlying strata; a type of strike valley. it’s formed by differential erosion of weaker strata interbedded ... |
| cut [geology] | A passage, incision, or space from which material has been excavated, such as a road cut or a railroad cut. gg |
| cutoff [streams] | The new and relatively short channel formed when a stream cuts through a narrow strip of land and thereby shortens the length of its channel. gg |
| cutter [karst] | A dissolution groove or trench formed along vertical bedrock fractures beneath soil and usually buried beneath regolith with little or no ground surface expression, commonly wider than a solution ... |
| debris avalanche [mass movement] | The process, associated sediments (debris avalanche deposit) or resultant landform characterized by a very rapid to extremely rapid type of flow dominated by the sudden downslope movement of incoh... |
| debris fall [mass movement] | The process, associated sediments (debris fall deposit) or resultant landform characterized by a rapid type of fall involving the relatively free, downslope movement or collapse of detached, uncon... |
| debris flow [ mass movement] | The process, associated sediments (debris flow deposit) or resultant landform characterized by a very rapid type of flow dominated by a sudden downslope movement of a mass of rock, soil, and mud (... |
| debris slide [ mass movement] | The process, associated sediments (debris slide deposit) or resultant landform characterized by a rapid type of slide, composed of comparatively dry and largely unconsolidated earthy material whic... |
| debris spread [mass movement] | The process, associated sediments (debris spread deposit) or resultant landforms characterized by a very rapid type of spread dominated by lateral movement in a soil and rock mass resulting from l... |
| debris topple [mass movement] | The process, associated sediments (debris topple deposit) or resultant landform characterized by a localized, very rapid type of topple in which large blocks of soil and rock material literally fa... |
| deflation basin | A topographic basin excavated and maintained by wind erosion which removes unconsolidated material and commonly leaves a rim of resistant material surrounding the depression. unlike a blowout, a d... |
| deflation flat - (colloquial | Us gulf coast) a series of low ridges and troughs on an essentially flat surface on barrier islands formed by dune field migration during alternating wet and dry periods; a type of interdune. trou... |
| degradation [geomorphology] | The wearing down or away, and the general lowering of the land surface by natural processes of weathering and erosion (e.g., the deepening by a stream of its channel) and may infer the process of ... |
| delta plain | The level or nearly level surface composing the land-ward part of a large delta; strictly, a flood plain characterized by repeated channel bifurcation and divergence, multiple distributary channel... |
| dendritic drainage pattern | A common drainage pattern in which the tributaries join the gently curving mainstream at acute angles, resembling in plan view the branching habit of an oak or chestnut tree; it is produced where ... |
| desert pavement | A natural, residual concentration or layer of wind-polished, closely packed gravel, boulders, and other rock fragments, mantling a desert surface. it is formed where wind action and sheetwash have... |
| destructional [geomorphology] | (adjective) said of a landform that owes its origin, form, position, or general character to the removal of material by erosion and weathering (degradation) processes resulting from the wearing-do... |
| detritus [geology] | A collective term for rock and mineral coarse fragments occurring in sediments, that are detached or removed by mechanical means (e.g. disintegration, abrasion) and derived from pre-existing rocks... |
| diatomaceous earth | A geologic deposit of fine, grayish, siliceous material composed chiefly or wholly of the remains of diatoms. it may occur as a powder or a rigid material. also called diatomaceous materials. gsst... |
| dip slope | - A slope of the land surface, roughly determined by and approximately conforming to the dip of underlying bedded rocks; (i.e. the long, gently inclined surface of a cuesta). compare - scarp slo...
|
| discontinuous permafrost | Permafrost occurring in some areas beneath the exposed land surface throughout a geographic region where other areas are free of permafrost. compare - continuous permafrost, sporadic permafrost. n... |
| disintegration moraine | A drift topography characterized by chaotic mounds and pits, generally randomly oriented, developed in supraglacial drift by collapse and flow as the underlying stagnant ice melted. slopes may be ... |
| distal [sedimentology] | (adjective) said of a sedimentary deposit consisting of fine clastics and deposited farthest from the source area. compare - proximal. gg |
| distributary [streams] | (a) a divergent stream flowing away from the main stream and not returning to it, as in a delta or on a flood plain. it may be produced by stream deposition choking the original channel. (b) one o... |
| dolomite [mineral] | A common rock-forming rhombohedral carbonate mineral: camg(co3)2. gg dolomite [rock] -a carbonate sedimentary rock consisting chiefly (more than 50 percent by weight or by areal percentages under ... |
| dolostone - (not recommended | Use dolomite) an obsolete term proposed for the sedimentary rock called dolomite, in order to avoid confusion with the mineral of the same name. compare - dolomite. gg dome - (a) [structural geolo... |
| double-bedding mound | Raised, linear mounds with subdued, convex slope cross-sections constructed by mounding and shaping spoil material dredged from adjacent drainage ditches and placed over natural soil. the mounds s... |
| dredge spoil bank | A subaerial mound or ridge that permanently stands above the water composed of dredge spoils; randomly mixed sediments deposited during dredging and dumping. compare - dredged channel, dredge-depo... |
| dredge spoils | Unconsolidated, randomly mixed sediments composed of rock, soil, and/or shell materials extracted and deposited during dredging and dumping activities. dredge spoils lie unconformably upon natural... |
| dredged channel | A roughly linear, deep water area formed by a dredging operation for navigation purposes (after wells et al., 1994; dredged hole). compare - dredge-deposit shoal. sss |
| dredge-deposit shoal | A subaqueous area, substantially shallower than the surrounding area that resulted from the deposition of materials from dredging and dumping (modified from demas 1998). compare - dredged channel,... |
| drift [glacial geology] | A general term applied to all mineral material (clay, silt, sand, gravel, boulders) transported by a glacier and deposited directly by or from the ice, or by running water emanating from a glacier... |
| drumlin field | Groups or clusters of closely spaced drumlins or drumlinoid ridges, distributed more or less en echelon, and commonly separated by small, marshy tracts or depressions (interdrumlins). sw |
| drumlinoid ridge | A rock drumlin or drift deposit whose form approaches but does not fully attain that of a classic drumlin, even though it seemingly results from similar processes of moving ice. compare - drumlin,... |
| dune field | An assemblage of moving and/or stabilized dunes, together with sand plains, interdune areas, and the ponds, lakes, or swamps produced by the blocking of waterways by migrating dunes. see dune lake... |
| dune lake | (a) a lake occupying a deflation basin as in a blowout on a dune. (b) a lake occupying a basin formed by the blocking of a stream by sand dunes migrating along a shore (e.g. moses lake, wa). gg |
| dune slack | A damp depression or trough between dunes in a dune field or dune ridges on a shore, caused by intersecting the capillary fringe of the local water table; a moist type of interdune. compare - inte... |
| elevated lake plain | (not preferred) refer to collapsed lake plain, collapsed ice-floored lakebed. |
| elevation [survey] | The height of a point on the earth’s surface relative to mean sea level (msl). compare - relief. sw |
| elliptical gilgai | A type of gilgai dominated by elliptical, closed and semi-closed depressions (micro-lows) separated by low mounds or ridges (micro-highs); the prevailing type of gilgai on mildly sloping terrain (... |
| end moraine | A ridge-like accumulation that is being or was produced at the outer margin of an actively flowing glacier at any given time; a moraine that has been deposited at the outer or lower end of a valle... конечная морена; |
