Editing Escarpment

{{short description|Steep slope or cliff separating two relatively level regions}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2015}}
[[File:Cuesta - Lookout Mountain, Georgia.png|thumb|300px|Escarpment face of a [[cuesta]], broken by a fault, overlooking [[Trenton, Georgia|Trenton]], [[Cloudland Canyon State Park]], and [[Lookout Mountain]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]]]
An '''escarpment''' is a steep [[slope landform|slope]] or long [[cliff]] that forms as a result of [[faulting]] or [[erosion]] and separates two relatively level areas having different [[elevation]]s. 

Due to the similarity, the term ''[[Cliff|scarp]]'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used interchangeably with ''escarpment.'' ''Escarpment'' referring to the margin between two [[landform]]s, and ''scarp'' referring to a cliff or a steep slope.<ref name="Easterbrook">{{cite book |last1=Easterbrook |first1=Don J. |title=Surface Processes and Landforms |date=1999 |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=978-0-13-860958-0 }}{{page needed|date=June 2020}}</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20120805170427/http://www.tec.army.mil/research/products/desert_guide/lsmsheet/lsescar.htm Summary: Escarpments], US Army Corps of Engineers.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Escarpment |url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/escarpment/ |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=education.nationalgeographic.org |language=en}}</ref> In this usage an escarpment is a ridge which has a gentle slope on one side and a steep scarp on the other side.

More loosely, the term ''scarp'' also describes a zone between a coastal [[Upland and lowland|lowland]] and a continental [[plateau]] which shows a marked, abrupt change in elevation<ref>{{cite web |title=Scarps and Terraces |url=https://www.radford.edu/jtso/GeologyofVirginia/CoastalPlain/CPPhysio-16.html |website=Physiography |publisher=Radford University |access-date=24 December 2020}}</ref> caused by [[coastal erosion]] at the base of the [[plateau]].

==Formation and description==
[[File:Cuesta schematic1.PNG|450px|right|thumb|Schematic cross section of a [[cuesta]], dip slopes facing left, and harder rocklayers in darker colors than softer ones]]
Scarps are generally formed by one of two processes: either by differential [[erosion]] of [[sedimentary rock]]s, or by movement of the [[Earth's crust]] at a [[geologic fault]]. The first process is the more common type: the escarpment is a transition from one series of [[sedimentary rock]]s 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#Strike-slip faults|strike-slip fault]] brings a piece of high ground adjacent to an area of lower ground.

[[Earth (planet)|Earth]] is not the only planet where escarpments occur. They are believed to occur on other planets when the [[Crust (geology)|crust]] [[Thermal expansion#Contraction effects (negative thermal expansion)|contracts]], as a result of cooling. On other [[Solar System]] bodies such as [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]], [[Mars]], and the [[Moon]], the Latin term [[rupes]] is used for an escarpment.

==Erosion==
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.

==See also==
* {{annotated link|Cuesta}}
* {{annotated link|Fall line}}
* [[List of escarpments]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Escarpments| ]]
[[Category:Slope landforms]]