What is the difference between an escarpment and a cliff

An escarpment is also a feature that separates two pieces of different lands such as the area at a rocky beach where a steep rocky cliff gives way to a sandy beach. Depending on the mode of formation and age, the lower lying piece of land and the higher one may or may not be from the same geological period. The processes that form scarps and escarpments are quite similar as the two features are related. These processes are the varying erosion of sedimentary rocks and fault action.

The exposed slope created is known as a fault scarp while the feature itself is what is known as an escarpment. This mode of formation sometimes leads to the formation of earthquakes of varying degrees. The fault action that led to the formation of the former escarpment turned previously level land into nigh vertical cliffs.

Geological action along fault lines is not unique to Earth alone. An escarpment can form in any planet that has varying contraction and expansion of the crust, which leads to the formation of fault lines. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.

Thread starter louloute68 Start date Sep 16, In the World Reference dictionnary, we have the words steepness , cliff or scarp. Could you please let me know which term is the most appropriate to this context?

Thanks in advance for your help. Matamoscas Senior Member Ireland English. Wikipedia suggests that: In geomorphology , an escarpment is a transition zone between different physiogeographic provinces that involves a sharp, steep elevation differential, characterized by a cliff or steep slope. Escarpment is generally used interchangeably with scarp from the Italian scarpa [1].

Dense colonies of organisms, algae, and fungi, previously thought to be found only in distant ecotones such as Antarctica , have been found to exist in many dry land escarpments.

Escarpment formations have also been found on other planets, such as in the mountains of Jupiter's moon, Io. Geologists think escarpments have been formed from a combination of unstable land and volcanic stress. Little by little, escarpments and cliffs are undergoing changes and erosions of a different kind as an everincreasing number of people discover the wonders of the outdoors through rock climbing.