Escarpment

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Escarpment face of a cuesta, broken by a fault, Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee

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[1]).
Some sources differentiate the two terms, however, where escarpment refers to the
margin between two landforms, while scarp is synonymous with a cliff or steep
slope.[2][3] 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 [hide]
1 Formation and description
2 Erosion of escarpments
3 Significant escarpments
3.1 Africa
3.2 Antarctica
3.3 Asia
3.4 Australia and New Zealand
3.5 Europe
3.6 North America
3.7 South America
4 See also
5 References
Formation and description[edit]
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.

Schematic cross section of a cuesta, dip slopes facing left, and harder rocklayers
in darker colors than softer ones.
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.

Shaded and colored image from the Shuttle Radar Topography Missionshows an
elevation model of New Zealand's Alpine Fault running about 500 km (300 mi) long.
The escarpment is flanked by a chain of hills squeezed between the fault and the
mountains of New Zealand's Southern Alps. Northeast is towards the top.
Erosion of escarpments[edit]
When sedimentary beds are tilted and exposed to the surface, erosion and weathering
may occur. Escarpments erode gradually and over geological time. The mlange
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.

Significant escarpments[edit]
Africa[edit]
Elgeyo escarpment (Great Rift Valley)
God's Window (South Africa)
Great Escarpment, Southern Africa
Bandiagara Escarpment (Mali)
Zambezi Escarpment (Zambia)
East coast, (Madagascar)
Antarctica[edit]
Usas Escarpment
Asia[edit]
Vindhya Range (India)
Western Ghats (India)
Tuwaiq (Saudi Arabia)
Wulian Feng (China)
Australia and New Zealand[edit]
Australia
Great Escarpment, Australia
Darling Scarp
Dorrigo Plateau
Illawarra Escarpment
Nullarbor Escarpment
New Zealand
The western slope of the Southern Alps (along the Alpine Fault)
The Kaimai escarpment, above the Hauraki Plains
Europe[edit]
England
Cotswold escarpment
North Downs
South Downs
A common placename denominating an escarpment in England is edge as in
Alderley Edge
Edge Hill famous as the place of the first battle of the English Civil War.
Kinver Edge
The Lincoln Edge
Stanage Edge
Wenlock Edge