| aa |
a type of lava. |
| acclivity |
an upward slope. |
| aftershock |
an earthquake that follows and has its epicenter near a larger earthquake. |
| aiguille |
a needle-like peak of rock. |
| ait |
a small island. |
| alluvial |
relating to running water activities or deposits; (noun) soil composed of ALLUVIUM. |
| alluvion alluvium |
land gradually gained from the sea by the washing up of sand and earth. [L. alluvio]. |
| alp |
a mountain. |
| altiplano |
a high plateau in Andes: ALTIPLANOS. |
| anaclinal+ |
of valleys, progressing in a direction opposite to the dip of the surrounding rock strata. |
| antar antre |
a cave. |
| anticlinal |
an anticlinal fold, axis, crest, or line; a line whence strata dip in opposite directions. |
| anticline |
a fold that is convex upward, or that had such an attitude at some stage of its development. Compare SYNCLINE. |
| anticlinorium |
an arch-shaped group of anticlines and synclines: ANTICLINORIUMS. |
| antidune+ |
a sandhill that forms a steep slope against the direction of the prevailing current. |
| antre |
see ANTAR. |
| archipelago |
a chain or set of islands grouped together: ARCHIPELAGOS or ARCHIPELAGOES. [Ital. arcipelago, principal sea, referring to the Aegean]. |
| areic |
of an area of the earth with little surface drainage. |
| arete |
a narrow, saw-toothed mountain ridge developed by glacier erosion in adjacent cirques. |
| arroyo |
a dry desert gully: ARROYOS. |
| as |
(noun) a gravel ridge or KAME: pl. ASAR; a Norse god: pl. AESIR; a Roman coin: pl. ASSES. |
| aseismic |
free from earthquakes; designed to withstand earthquakes. |
| ashfall |
volcanic ash. |
| atoll |
a roughly circular reef with an occasional small, low, coral sand island surrounding a shallow lagoon. |
| avalanche |
a generic term for any slide of snow, ice, and debris. |
| backcountry |
a remote rural region. |
| backveld |
country remote from towns. |
| badland |
a barren, hilly area. |
| bahada bajada |
a broad, sloping depositional deposit caused by the coalescing of alluvial fans. |
| bankside |
the slope of a bank, especially of the bank of a steam. |
| barchan barchane barkan barkhan |
a crescent-shaped dune. |
| barranca barranco |
a ravine caused by heavy rains or a watercourse. |
| barren |
devoid of vegetation: BARRENER, BARRENEST; BARRENLY; (noun) a desert: BARRENS. |
| bayou |
the marshy offshoot of a lake or river. [Choctaw bayou, little river]. |
| beach |
the shore of a sea or of a lake, esp when sandy or pebbly; (verb) to drive ashore: BEACHES, BEACHING, BEACHED. |
| beachside |
situated at the side of a beach. |
| beachy |
having a beach or beaches: BEACHIER, BEACHIEST. |
| ben |
a mountain: BENS. |
| benchland |
a former wave-cut shore of a sea or lake. |
| benchy+ |
of a hillside, hollowed out in benches: BENCHIER, BENCHIEST. |
| berg |
a hill or mountain in S. Africa. |
| bergfall |
a fall of mountain rock. |
| bergmehl |
a powdery deposit of diatom frustules. [Ger. = 'mountain flour']. |
| bergschrund |
a crevasse formed where a glacier or snowfield moves away from a mountain wall. |
| blowout |
an irregular depression excavated by wind, usually in previously deposited blown sand. |
| bog |
a marsh; (verb) to sink: BOGS, BOGGING, BOGGED. |
| bogginess |
the state of being BOGGY. |
| boggish |
boggy. |
| boggy |
like a bog: BOGGIER, BOGGIEST. |
| bogland |
marshland. |
| bolson |
a basin-shaped depression surrounded by mountains, esp. in the southern US and Mexico. |
| bombora |
a submerged reef; a dangerous current over this. |
| bommie+ |
an outcrop of coral reef. |
| boonies |
remote, undeveloped country. |
| boschveld bushveld |
veld made up largely of woodland. |
| bottomset+ |
as in bottomset bed, fine sediment deposited at the foot of a growing delta. No -S. |
| bouldery |
of a landscape, characterized by boulders. |
| bradyseism |
a slow up-and-down movement of the earth's crust. |
| brae |
a steep bank beside a river valley; a hillside. |
| braeheid+ |
the summit of a hill or slope. |
| brushland |
an area covered with brush growth. |
| bundu |
a remote uncultivated region: BUNDUS. |
| bushland |
land covered by bush. |
| bushveld |
see BOSCHVELD. |
| butte |
an isolated hill rising abruptly from the surrounding area, having steep sides and a flat top. |
| cajon |
a steep canyon: CAJONES. [Sp. cajon, box]. |
| caldera |
a large, basin-shaped volcanic depression, more or less circular in form: CALDERAS. |
| callow |
unfledged; inexperienced: CALLOWER, CALLOWEST; (noun) an alluvial flat: CALLOWS. |
| campagna |
an open level tract of country; especially "Campagna di Roma", the extensive undulating plain which surrounds Rome: CAMPAGNAS or CAMPAGNE. |
| campo |
an area of open grassland in S. America: CAMPI or CAMPOS. |
| canada |
a narrow canyon (the n has a tilde): CANADAS. |
| canyon |
a deep gorge or ravine. [Sp cañón, a hollow, from root of cannon]. |
| carse |
(a stretch of) alluvial lowland beside a river. |
| cataclinal+ |
running in the direction of the dip of the surrounding rock strata. |
| cave |
a hollow in a rock; (verb) to hollow out: CAVES, CAVING, CAVED. |
| cavern |
to hollow out as in a cavern: CAVERNS, CAVERNING, CAVERNED. |
| cay |
a low islet. |
| cenote |
a deep natural hole in the ground with a pool at the bottom, esp. in the Yucatan peninsula, often used by the Mayas as a place of sacrifice. |
| champaign |
an expanse of level, open country, a plain. |
| chasm |
a deep cleft in the earth. |
| chasmal chasmic |
of or like a chasm. |
| chasmed |
having CHASMS. |
| chasmy |
of or pertaining to a chasm; abounding in chasms: CHASMIER, CHASMIEST. |
| chersonese |
a PENINSULA. |
| chott shott |
a shallow saline lake of northern Africa; the dried bed of such a lake. |
| cirque |
a bowl-shaped depression on a mountain that is carved out by an Alpine glacier. |
| cleeve cleve |
a cliff, a hillside. |
| cleuch cleugh clough |
a ravine. |
| cleve |
see CLEEVE. |
| cliff |
a high, steep face of rock. |
| cliffed |
having CLIFFS. |
| clifflike+ |
like a CLIFF. |
| cliffy |
having cliffs; craggy: CLIFFIER, CLIFFIEST. |
| clift |
a cliff. |
| clifted |
broken into cliffs. |
| clifty |
broken into cliffs: CLIFTIER, CLIFTIEST. |
| clint |
a block in a limestone pavement. |
| clough |
see CLEUCH. |
| coastal |
pertaining to or located near a seashore. |
| coastally+ |
|
| coastland |
land along the coast. |
| coastline |
the line or boundary of a coast. |
| col |
a pass in a mountain range. |
| combe coomb coombe |
a deep hollow or valley, esp. on the side of a hill; a valley running up from the sea. |
| copple |
something rising in a conical shape; specifically, a hill rising to a point. |
| corcass |
in Ireland, a salt-marsh, or land susceptible to flooding by a river. [Irish corcach]. |
| cordillera |
a mountain ridge or chain. |
| cordilleran |
relating to a CORDILLERA, a mountain ridge or chain. |
| corrie |
a round hollow in a hillside. |
| coseismal |
(a line) connecting points simultaneously affected by an earthquake: COSEISMALS(+). |
| coseismic |
(a place) experiencing an earthquake shock simultaneously: COSEISMICS. |
| coste |
(Spenser) coast. |
| coteau |
uplands; higher ground of a region: COTEAUX. |
| coulee |
a lava-flow; a rocky ravine. |
| couloir |
a steep mountainside gorge. [Fr. couloir, corridor]. |
| cove |
a small inlet of the sea, a bay; (verb) to form or provide with an architectural cove: COVES, COVING, COVED. |
| covelet |
a small cove. |
| crag craig |
a rough steep rock. |
| cragged |
full of crags, or steep, broken rocks. |
| craggedness |
the state of being CRAGGED, full of crags. |
| craggily |
(adv.) CRAGGY, rugged, full of crags. |
| craggy |
rugged, full of crags. |
| craig |
see CRAG. |
| crater |
the bowl-like mouth of a volcano; also a large two-handled bowl for mixing wine. (Verb) to make a crater in: CRATERS, CRATERING, CRATERED. |
| craterlet |
a small crater. |
| craterous |
pertaining to, or resembling, a crater. |
| craton |
a large, relatively stable section of earth's crust, forming the basis of a continent or ocean. [Gk. kratos, strength]. |
| cratonic |
relating to a CRATON, a large, relatively stable section of earth's crust. |
| creston |
an outcrop. |
| crevasse |
a deep crevice or open fracture in glacier ice; (verb) to make a crevasse in: CREVASSES, CREVASSING, CREVASSED. |
| cuesta |
a geological feature: gentle slope on one side, cliff on the other. |
| cutbank |
a steep stream bank. |
| cwm |
a Welsh word for valley. |
| dale |
a valley. |
| dargle |
a dell. |
| debouchure |
the mouth of a river or strait. |
| deglaciated |
showing DEGLACIATION. N.B. no DEGLACIATE*. |
| deglaciation |
the melting of ice due to the retreat of a glacier. |
| dell |
a small, retired valley; a ravine. |
| delta |
the often triangular-shaped alluvial deposition area at the mouth of a river. |
| deltaic deltic |
relating to a DELTA. |
| dene |
a sandy tract or dune by the seashore. |
| desert |
a barren area; (verb) to abandon. |
| desertic |
arid and barren. |
| diapir |
an anticlinal fold in which the overlying rock has been pierced by material from beneath. [Gk. diapeirainein, to pierce]. |
| diapiric |
of or like DIAPIR. |
| diluvial diluvian |
of, relating to, or brought about by a flood. [L. diluere, to wash away]. |
| dimble |
a deep and shady dell, a dingle: DIMBLES. |
| dingle |
a dell. |
| djebel jebel |
a hill, a range of mountains. |
| doab |
a tongue or tract of land included between two rivers; as, the doab between the Ganges and the Jumna. [Persian do-ab, two waters]. |
| dolina doline |
a typically funnel-shaped basin in a karstic region. |
| donga |
a gully made by soil erosion. |
| downland |
a rolling treeless upland. |
| drumlin |
a long hill formed by glacial retreat. |
| dryland |
relating to land as opposed to sea. No -S. |
| dune |
a hill of sand. |
| duneland |
an area of dunes. |
| dunelike |
like a dune. |
| earthfall |
a landslide. |
| earthquake |
a quaking or shaking of the earth. |
| earthquaked |
shaken or destroyed by an earthquake. |
| ejecta |
material ejected e.g. from a volcano. No -S. |
| embayment |
a bay; a recess in a coastline forming a bay. |
| embog |
to bog down: EMBOGS, EMBOGGING, EMBOGGED. |
| englacial+ |
embedded in, carried in or running through a glacier. |
| englacially+ |
(adv.) ENGLACIAL. |
| epicenter epicentre epicentrum+ |
the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the focus of an earthquake. |
| eremic |
of or belonging to deserts. |
| erg |
a Saharan area of shifting sand dunes: ERGS or AREG. |
| erupt |
to break out or through, e.g. of a volcano: ERUPTS, ERUPTING, ERUPTED. |
| eruption |
the action of a volcano. |
| escar eskar esker |
a long narrow ridge of gravel deposited by a glacial stream. |
| escarp |
a scarp or sudden slope; (verb) to make into a scarp: ESCARPS, ESCARPING, ESCARPED. |
| everglade |
a swampy grassland, esp. in southern Florida. |
| eyot |
a small island in a river. |
| fen |
low marshy land. |
| fenland |
marshy ground. |
| fennish |
abounding in fens; fenny. |
| fenny |
like a fen: FENNIER, FENNIEST; (noun) a kind of drink: FENNIES. |
| fiord fjord |
a coastal valley which was sculpted by glacial action. |
| firn |
granular ice formed by the recrystallization of snow. [Ger. firn, of last year]. Aka NEVE. |
| firth |
a fjord, inlet. |
| fjeld |
a high, barren Scandinavian plateau. |
| fjord |
see FIORD. |
| fjordic+ |
of or like a FJORD. |
| flatland |
land lacking significant variation in elevation. |
| floodplain |
an area bordering a stream over which water spreads when the stream tops its channel banks. |
| flybelt |
a belt of country infested by tsetse fly. |
| foothill |
a minor elevation below a higher mountain or range. |
| foreland |
a headland. |
| foreshock |
a minor tremor that precedes an earthquake. |
| foreshore |
that part of the shore that lies between the low and high tide marks. |
| fumarole fumerole |
a hole in a volcanic region from which hot gases and vapors issue. |
| fumarolic |
of or like a FUMAROLE, a hole in a volcanic region from which hot gases and vapors issue. |
| fumerole |
see FUMAROLE. |
| fynbos |
in South Africa, an area of low shrubs: FYNBOSES. [Dutch fijn, fine + bosch, bush]. N.B. no FYNBO*. |
| garigue garrigue |
an uncultivated open scrubland of the Mediterranean region. |
| geanticline |
a large upward fold. |
| geest |
alluvial matter on the surface of land, not of recent origin. |
| geo gio goe |
a gully or creek. |
| geodynamic |
pertaining to forces within the earth. |
| geodynamics |
the study of GEODYNAMIC forces. |
| geyser |
a type of thermal spring which ejects water intermittently with considerable force. |
| ghat ghaut |
(in India) a mountain pass; a landing stage; a place for cremation. |
| ghilgai gilgai |
a saucer-shaped depression forming a natural reservoir. |
| ghyll |
a narrow ravine. |
| gilgai |
see GHILGAI. |
| gio |
see GEO. |
| glacial |
very cold: GLACIALLY; (noun) a glacial period: GLACIALS. |
| glacialist |
one who attributes the phenomena of the drift, in geology, to glaciers. |
| glaciation |
the formation, advance and retreat of glaciers and the results of these activities. |
| glacier |
a huge mass of ice: GLACIERS, GLACIERED(+). |
| glaciered+ |
having a GLACIER or glaciers. |
| glaciology |
the study of ice ages and glaciation. |
| glen |
a narrow valley with a stream, often with trees. |
| glenlike |
like a GLEN. |
| goe |
see GEO. |
| graben |
a rift valley. |
| grassland |
a habitat dominated by grass. |
| grike gryke |
a crevice in a limestone pavement. [ON kriki, a crack]. |
| grot |
a grotto. |
| grotto |
a cavern: GROTTOES or GROTTOS; GROTTOED(+). |
| grottoed+ |
having a GROTTO. |
| grough |
a deep gully in a peat moor area. |
| gryke |
see GRIKE. |
| gumlands+ |
in Australia, infertile land from which the original kauri gum has been removed or burnt. N.B. no GUMLAND*. |
| guyot |
a flat-topped underwater mountain of volcanic origin. [From A H Guyot, Swiss-born American geologist]. |
| hag hagg |
broken ground in a moss or bog, a place from which peat has been dug. |
| hamada hammada |
a desert plateau of bedrock. |
| haugh |
a low-lying meadow by the side of a river. |
| headland |
a cape; a promontory. |
| heath |
an area of land covered with heath or heather, an evergreen shrub. |
| heathland |
barren open country, esp covered with ericaceous and other low shrubs. |
| heathless |
without heath. |
| heathlike |
like a heath. |
| heathy |
covered with heath; of the nature of heath: HEATHIER, HEATHIEST. |
| heuch heugh |
a crag, a steep-sided valley. |
| highland |
an elevated region. |
| highveld+ |
a high altitude grassland region of E. South Africa. |
| hill |
a high mass of land, smaller than a mountain; (verb) to rise into a mound: HILLS, HILLING, HILLED. |
| hillcrest |
the top of a hill. |
| hilliness |
the state of being HILLY. |
| hillock |
a small hill. |
| hillocked+ |
having HILLOCKS. |
| hillocky |
full of HILLOCKS. |
| hillside |
the side of a hill. |
| hillslope+ |
the slope of a hill. |
| hilltop |
the top of a hill. |
| hilly |
like a hill: HILLIER, HILLIEST. |
| hoe hogh |
a promontory. |
| hogback |
an eroded, steeply tilted ridge of resistant rocks with equal slopes on the sides, aka SOWBACK. |
| holm |
a river island. |
| hommock |
a ridge in an ice field. |
| hornito |
a low volcanic mound: HORNITOS. |
| horst horste |
a mass of the earth's crust that lies between two faults and is higher than the surrounding land. [From MHG hurst, thicket]. |
| hummock |
a pile or ridge of ice; (verb) to make hummocks on: HUMMOCKS, HUMMOCKING, HUMMOCKED. |
| hypocenter hypocentre |
the point on the earth directly below where the energy of an earthquake is released. |
| icecap |
a small ice sheet. |
| icecapped+ |
having an ICECAP, a small ice sheet. |
| icefall |
a steep part of a glacier resembling a frozen waterfall; an avalanche of ice. |
| icefield |
an expanse of ice e.g. on a glacier. |
| inselberg |
a steep-sided round-topped mount, usu. of granite or gneiss, rising above the general level of plain eroded bedrock: INSELBERGE or INSELBERGS. [Ger. 'island mountain']. Aka MONADNOCK. |
| interfluve |
an area between two rivers that flow in the same direction. |
| interfluvial |
between two rivers flowing in same direction. |
| intervale |
a low level tract of land, esp. along a river. |
| intraplate |
relating to or occurring within the interior of a tectonic plate, e.g. an INTRAPLATE earthquake. |
| island |
a mass of land (not a continent) surrounded with water; (verb) to set or dot with or as with islands: ISLANDS, ISLANDING, ISLANDED. |
| islet |
a small island. |
| isleted+ |
having ISLETS. |
| isoseismal |
a line connecting points of same earthquake intensity. |
| isoseismic |
relating to an ISOSEISMAL, a line connecting points of same earthquake intensity. |
| isthmic isthmoid |
of or like an ISTHMUS. |
| isthmus |
a narrow neck of land joining two land masses: ISTHMI or ISTHMUSES. |
| jebel |
see DJEBEL. |
| jungle |
land covered with dense tropical vegetation. |
| jungled |
abounding in JUNGLE. |
| jungly |
of or relating to jungles: JUNGLIER, JUNGLIEST. |
| kaim kame |
a comb; a ridge or mound of sand and gravel deposited on or near a glacier. |
| karoo karroo |
a high inland pastoral tableland. |
| karst |
a landscape composed of limestone features including sinkholes, caves, and underground streams. |
| karstic |
of or like KARST, a landscape composed of limestone features including sinkholes, caves, and underground streams. |
| karstification |
the process of becoming KARSTIFIED. |
| karstify |
to make into KARST, a landscape composed of limestone features including sinkholes, caves, and underground streams: KARSTIFIES, KARSTIFYING, KARSTIFIED. |
| khor |
a dry watercourse; a ravine. [Arabic khurr, khorr]. |
| khud |
in India, a pit, hollow, ravine. |
| kipp |
anything beaked; a pointed hill. |
| kloof |
a deep ravine in South Africa. |
| knickpoint nickpoint |
a break of slope in a river profile, esp. where a new curve of erosion arising from rejuvenation intersects an earlier curve. |
| knoll |
a small hill; (verb) an obsolete form of KNELL: KNOLLS, KNOLLING, KNOLLED. |
| knolly |
like a KNOLL: KNOLLIER(+), KNOLLIEST(+). |
| knowe |
a small hill, a knoll. |
| kop |
a South African word for hill. |
| kopje koppie |
in S. Africa, a low hill. |
| kyle |
a narrow strait. [Gaelic caol, narrow]. |
| lahar |
a mudflow composed chiefly of pyroclastic material on the flanks of a volcano. |
| laich |
low; a piece of low-lying ground; a hollow: LAICHS (not LAICHES*). |
| laigh |
low: LAIGHER, LAIGHEST; (noun) a piece of low-lying ground; a hollow: LAIGHS. |
| lakefront |
the front of a lake. |
| lakeland |
scenery with lakes. |
| lande |
a heathy plain or sandy tract, esp. in S.W. France. |
| landform |
a geological feature. |
| landmass |
a large continuous area of land, as opposed to seas or islands. |
| landscape |
the appearance of the area of land which the eye can view at once. |
| landskip |
landscape: LANDSKIPS. Also LANTSKIP. (Verb) to landscape: LANDSKIPS, LANDSKIPPING, LANDSKIPPED. |
| landslide |
of land, to slide: LANDSLIDES, LANDSLIDING, LANDSLID, LANDSLIDDEN(+). |
| landslip |
the fall of a mass of earth. |
| lantskip |
see LANDSKIP. |
| lapillus |
a small stone ejected by volcanic eruption: LAPILLI. |
| lauwine lawine |
an avalanche. |
| lava |
magma that has been extruded out on to the earth's surface. |
| lavaform |
like lava. |
| lavalike |
like lava. |
| lawine |
see LAUWINE. |
| liman |
the deposit of slime at the mouth of a river; slime. |
| litoral |
pertaining to or on the seashore. |
| littoral |
pertaining to or on seashore; (noun) a shore region. |
| llano |
an extensive plain with or without vegetation: LLANOS. |
| logan |
a rocking-stone. |
| lowland |
an area of land lying lower than the adjacent country. |
| lowveld |
the lower altitude areas of the eastern Transvaal. |
| maar |
a volcanic crater without a cone, usually filled by a lake: MAARS or MAARE(+). |
| machair |
a low-lying sandy beach, esp. in the Hebrides. |
| magma |
molten or partially molten rock material: MAGMAS or MAGMATA. |
| magmatic |
of or like MAGMA, molten or partially molten rock material. |
| mamelon |
a rounded hill or protuberance. [Fr. mamelon, nipple]. |
| maremma |
a marsh; a miasma; an Italian sheepdog: MAREMMAS or MAREMME. |
| marish |
low, wet ground; a marsh; a fen. |
| marsh |
a tract of low, wet land. |
| marshland |
low poorly drained land that is sometimes flooded and often lies at the edge of lakes, streams, etc. |
| marshlike+ |
like a MARSH. |
| marshy |
like MARSH: MARSHIER, MARSHIEST. |
| maskeg muskeg |
a swamp, bog or marsh. [Cree maskek]. |
| massif |
a large mountain-mass; a compact group of mountain heights. |
| merse |
a low flat marshland. |
| mesa |
a flat-topped hill. |
| meseta |
a plateau, esp. that of central Spain. |
| microquake |
a very small earthquake. |
| microseism |
a small earth tremor. |
| microseismic microseismical |
relating to a MICROSEISM, a small earth tremor. |
| mire |
mud; (verb) to bog down: MIRES, MIRING, MIRED. |
| mofette moffette |
a volcanic opening in the earth emitting carbon dioxide. |
| molasse+ |
soft sediment produced by the erosion of mountain ranges in the final stage of mountain building: MOLASSES. |
| monadnock |
a mountain or rocky mass that has resisted erosion and stands isolated in an essentially level area. [From Mount Monadnock, a peak of southwest New Hampshire]. Aka INSELBERG. |
| montane |
mountainous; mountain-dwelling; (noun) the lowest vegetation belt of a mountain. |
| monticle |
a little hill. |
| monticule |
a secondary volcanic cone. |
| monticulus |
a little hill: MONTICULUSES. |
| moorish |
having the characteristics of a moor or heath. |
| moorland |
a tract of marshy land: MOORLANDS. |
| moory |
of or pertaining to moors: MOORIER, MOORIEST. |
| morainal |
of or like a MORAINE. |
| moraine |
a landform made largely of glacial till. |
| morainic |
of or pertaining to a MORAINE, a landform made largely of glacial till. |
| morass |
a very wet or muddy area of ground. |
| morassy |
marshy; fenny. |
| morro |
a rounded hill or headland: MORROS. |
| mossland |
wet, peaty land. |
| motu |
a small reef island in the Pacific: MOTUS. |
| moulin |
a nearly vertical, cylindrical shaft or cavity worn in a glacier, carved by melted surface water falling through a crack in the ice. [Fr. moulin, mill]. |
| mountain |
a large, natural elevation of the earth's surface. |
| mountained |
having mountains. |
| mountainous |
having mountains. |
| mountainousness |
the state of being MOUNTAINOUS. |
| mountainy |
mountainous. |
| moutonnee+ |
of a rock, rounded by the action of a glacier. |
| moya |
volcanic mud. |
| mudflat |
a level tract alternately covered and left bare by the tide. |
| mudhole |
a place that stays damp and muddy. |
| muir |
a moor. |
| muskeg |
see MASKEG. |
| nala nalla nallah nulla nullah |
in India, a ravine, a watercourse. |
| naze |
a headland or cape. |
| nek |
a col, a pass in a mountain range. |
| ness |
a headland. |
| neve |
old compressed snow, aka FIRN. |
| nickpoint |
see KNICKPOINT. |
| nondesert |
not related to or living in a desert. |
| noup |
in the Shetlands, a crag, a steep headland. |
| nulla |
see NALA. |
| nullah |
see NALA. |
| nunatak |
a point of rock appearing above the surface of land ice: NUNATAKS or (Swedish) NUNATAKER. [Inupiaq (Greenlandic) nunataq.] |
| oasis |
a fertile spot in a desert: OASES. |
| oreographic |
relating to OREOGRAPHY, the science of mountains. |
| oreography orography |
the science of mountains. |
| oreological |
relating to OREOLOGY. |
| oreologist orologist |
one versed in OREOLOGY, the study of mountains. |
| oreology orology |
the study of mountains. |
| orogen |
an orogenic belt, a mountain-forming area: OROGENS. |
| orogenesis |
mountain-building. |
| orogenic |
relating to the formation of mountains. |
| orogeny |
the process of mountain making, esp. by folding of the earth's crust. |
| orographer+ |
one who practises OROGRAPHY, the science of mountains. |
| orographic |
showing heights. |
| orography |
see OREOGRAPHY. |
| orologist |
see OREOLOGIST. |
| orology |
see OREOLOGY. |
| ose |
an esker, a narrow ridge of gravel and sand. |
| outback |
the remote, uncultivated, and usu. uninhabited inland districts of Australia; any remote or sparsely populated region. |
| outcrop |
any place where bedrock is visible on the surface of the Earth; (verb) to form an outcrop: OUTCROPS, OUTCROPPING, OUTCROPPED. |
| outwash |
beds of sand and gravel laid down by glacial melt water. |
| overfold |
a fold tilted over so that the dip on both sides of the axis is in the same direction; (verb) of folded strata: to be pushed beyond the vertical, so as to form an overfold. |
| overwash |
material carried by glacier streams over a frontal moraine. |
| oxbow |
a pronounced meander or horseshoe-shaped loop in a river; the land included within such a loop. |
| padi paddy |
a rice field. |
| pahoehoe |
a hardened lava with a smooth or ropy surface. Cf. AA. |
| pakahi+ |
acid land unfit for cultivation: PAKAHIS. |
| pakihi+ |
an area of swampy infertile land: PAKIHIS. |
| paludal paludic paludinal paludine paludinous |
of marshes. |
| paludose paludous |
marshy; living in marshes. |
| palustral palustrian palustrine |
of marshes, inhabiting marshes. |
| pampa |
a vast treeless plain in S. America: PAMPAS. [Quechua = a plain]. |
| paramo |
a bare wind-swept elevated plain in South America: PARAMOS. |
| peak |
the top of a mountain; (verb) to reach a maximum: PEAKS, PEAKING, PEAKED. |
| peakish |
of or relating to a peak. |
| peatary peatery petary |
a region, bog or moor covered with peat. |
| peatland+ |
an area of land consisting of peat bogs. |
| peneplain peneplane |
a low gently, rolling landscape produced by long-continued erosion. |
| peninsula |
a strip of land jutting out into water, a near-island. |
| periglacial |
bordering a glacier. |
| phrygana+ |
an uncultivated open scrubland of the Mediterranean region, aka GARIGUE: PHRYGANAS. |
| picacho |
an isolated peak of a hill: PICACHOS. |
| piedmont |
an area of land formed or lying at the foot of a mountain or mountain range. [From Piedmont in Italy]. |
| pindan+ |
a desert region of Western Australia. |
| pineland |
land on which pine trees grow. |
| pingo |
a cone-shaped mound with an ice core: PINGOS or PINGOES. [Inupiaq pinguq nunatak]. |
| plateau |
a flat highland: PLATEAUX; (verb) to level out: PLATEAUS, PLATEAUING, PLATEAUED. |
| playa |
a basin which becomes a shallow lake after heavy rain, and dries out again. |
| pocosen+ pocosin pocoson+ |
an upland swamp of the coastal plain of the southeastern U.S. |
| poechore |
a semiarid region. |
| polder |
an area of low-lying land reclaimed from a body of water (esp. in the Netherlands); (verb) to reclaim low-lying land: POLDERS, POLDERING, POLDERED. |
| polje+ |
a large elliptical depression in karst regions, sometimes containing a marsh or lake. |
| poort |
a mountain pass. |
| pothole |
a hole or basin cut into bedrock of a stream by the abrasive action of pebbles and sand swirled by turbulent stream flow; (verb) to explore (limestone potholes): POTHOLES, POTHOLING, POTHOLED. |
| prairie |
an extensive tract of treeless grassland, esp. in N. America. |
| prairied |
having prairies. |
| precepit |
a precipice. |
| precipice |
a high vertical or nearly vertical cliff or rock face. |
| puy |
a small volcanic cone. |
| pyroclast |
ash and other debris ejected by a volcano. |
| quag |
a quagmire. |
| quaggy |
boggy, like a quagmire: QUAGGIER, QUAGGIEST. |
| quagmire |
a bog; (verb) to be sunk or stuck in a quagmire: QUAGMIRES, QUAGMIRING, QUAGMIRED. |
| quagmiry |
like a QUAGMIRE: QUAGMIRIER, QUAGMIRIEST. |
| quicksand |
a loose watery sand which swallows up anyone who walks on it. |
| rambla+ |
a dry ravine; a broad avenue esp in Barcelona. |
| ravine |
a narrow, steep-sided valley. |
| ravined |
scored with ravines, trenched. |
| reedbed |
a stand of reeds. |
| reefy |
full of reefs or rocks: REEFIER, REEFIEST. |
| ria |
a drowned valley. |
| ridgeline |
a line marking or following a ridge. |
| rillmark |
a marking produced by water running down a bank or beach. |
| rimaye+ |
a BERGSCHRUND, a crevasse formed where a glacier or snowfield moves away from a mountain wall. |
| rimland |
an outlying land. |
| riparial |
pertaining to or on river bank. |
| riva |
in Shetland, a cleft in rock. [ON rifa]. |
| rivage |
shore; bank. |
| riverbank |
the bank of a river. |
| riverside |
the area at the side of a river. |
| riviera |
a warm coastal district. |
| rockslide+ |
a fall of rocks down a hillside. |
| rognon+ |
an isolated rock outcrop on a glacier. |
| sabkha sabkhah sabkhat |
a broad, salt-encrusted coastal plain above the level of normal tides. |
| salina |
a salt lagoon. |
| salse |
a mud volcano. |
| salting |
an area of land regularly flooded by tides. |
| sandbank |
a large mass of sand. |
| sandbar |
a sandbank, esp. formed at the mouth of a river or harbour. |
| sandhill |
a hill of sand. |
| sault |
a leap; a waterfall or rapid in some rivers; as, the Sault Ste. Marie. |
| savanna savannah |
tropical grassland. |
| scabland |
an area of bare, usu. volcanic rock in the N. W. US that has been deeply channelled by glacial meltwater. |
| scarping |
a steep slope; the rocky face of a hill. |
| scaw skaw |
a low cape or headland |
| scoria |
a slag-like mass of lava: SCORIAE. |
| scrubland |
land covered by scrub. |
| seabank |
a bank beside the sea. |
| seabeach |
a beach lying along the sea. |
| seaboard |
the line where land and sea meet, the coastline. |
| seacoast |
the shore or border of the land adjacent to the sea or ocean. |
| seamount |
a volcanic mountain on the seafloor. If flat-topped, it is a GUYOT. |
| seashore |
land bordering on the sea. |
| seaside |
the seashore. |
| seastrand |
the seashore. |
| sedgeland |
land where sedge grows. |
| seif |
a long sand-dune lying parallel to the direction of the wind that forms it: SEIFS. [Arabic sayf, sword]. |
| seism |
an earthquake. |
| seismal seismic seismical |
relating to earthquakes. |
| seismicity |
degree of vulnerability to earthquakes. |
| seismism |
seismic phenomena collectively. |
| seismograph |
instrument for recording earthquakes. |
| seismology |
the study of earthquakes. |
| seismometer |
instrument for measuring earthquake intensity. |
| seismoscope |
an instrument for detecting earthquakes. |
| semicirque |
a semicircular hollow or opening among trees or hills. |
| serac |
a large mass of ice broken off a glacier and remaining behind in a crevasse. |
| shore |
the seaward edge of coast between low tide and effective wave action; (verb) to prop up: SHORES, SHORING, SHORED. |
| shoreline |
the line separating land and water, that fluctuates as water rises and falls. |
| shott |
see CHOTT. |
| shrubland+ |
land covered by shrubs. |
| sidehill |
the side or slope of a hill. |
| sierra |
a ridge of mountain and craggy rocks, with a serrated or irregular outline. |
| sierran |
relating to a mountain range. |
| sinkhole |
a depression in ground surface caused by collapse into a cave below. |
| sinky |
of ground, yielding underfoot: SINKIER, SINKIEST. |
| skaw |
see SCAW. |
| skerry |
a small rocky island. [ON sker]. |
| slade |
a little valley or dell. |
| sleech |
slimy mud; a mudflat. |
| slickenside |
a polished and smoothly striated rock surface that results from friction along a fault plane. |
| slickensided |
in the form of a SLICKENSIDE. |
| slieve+ |
a mountain. |
| slobland |
a mudflat, reclaimed alluvial land. |
| slough |
a quagmire; (verb) to cast off: SLOUGHS, SLOUGHING, SLOUGHED. |
| sloughy |
full of sloughs, miry: SLOUGHIER, SLOUGHIEST. |
| slumpy |
marshy: SLUMPIER, SLUMPIEST. |
| snowbelt |
a region that receives an appreciable amount of snow each year. |
| snowland |
land permanently under snow. |
| snowscape |
a landscape under snow. |
| soakaway |
a depression or pit into which water percolates. |
| soffioni |
volcanic steam-holes. |
| solfatara |
a volcanic vent emitting only gases. |
| solfataric |
relating to a SOLFATARA, a volcanic vent emitting only gases. |
| sowback |
an eroded, steeply tilted ridge of resistant rocks with equal slopes on the sides, aka HOGBACK. |
| spewiness |
the state of being SPEWY, boggy. |
| spewy |
boggy: SPEWIER, SPEWIEST. |
| spit |
a tongue of land projecting out to sea; (verb) to emit saliva: SPITS, SPITTING, SPAT; to pierce with a spit: SPITS, SPITTING, SPITTED, SPITTEN. |
| steppe |
one of the vast plains in Southeastern Europe and in Asia. |
| stoss |
the side of a hill facing upstream. |
| strandflat |
in Norway, a gently sloping coastal platform extending seaward. |
| strata |
a layer, a stratum: STRATAS. (Plural erroneously taken as singular). |
| strath |
a valley of considerable size, through which a river runs. |
| stratovolcano |
a composite volcano: a volcano that is composed of alternating layers of lava and pyroclastic material, along with abundant dikes and sills. Viscous, intermediate lava may flow from a central vent: STRATOVOLCANOS or STRATOVOLCANOES. |
| strond |
a strand; a beach. |
| succussive |
characterized by a shaking motion, especially an up and down movement, and not merely tremulous oscillation; as, the succussive motion in earthquakes. |
| superterranean |
above or on surface of earth. |
| swail |
a marshy hollow or depression; meadow: SWAILS. Also SWALE. |
| swale |
a marshy hollow or depression; meadow. Also SWAIL. (Verb) to scorch, singe: SWALES, SWALING, SWALED. Also SWEAL, SWEEL, SWAYL. |
| swaly |
marshy: SWALIER, SWALIEST. |
| swamp |
a tract of wet, spongy land; (verb) to inundate: SWAMPS, SWAMPING, SWAMPED. |
| swampish |
like a swamp. |
| swampland |
swamp country. |
| swampy |
like a swamp: SWAMPIER, SWAMPIEST. |
| swire |
a hollow between two hills. [OE sweora, neck]. |
| syncline |
a fold that is convex downwards, or that had such an attitude at some stage of its development. Compare ANTICLINE. |
| syrtis |
a patch or area of quicksand: SYRTES. |
| tableland |
a plateau. |
| taiga |
subarctic Siberian evergreen forest. |
| talweg thalweg |
a line following the lowest point of a valley; the middle of a navigable waterway used as boundary line. [Ger. thal (valley) + weg (way)]. |
| taphrogenesis |
vertical movement of the earth's crust: TAPHROGENESES. |
| tel tell |
in Arab lands, a hill or ancient mound formed from the accumulated debris from earlier mud or wattle habitations. |
| temblor |
an earthquake or earth tremor: TEMBLORS or TEMBLORES. |
| tephra |
a general term for all pyroclastic material, i.e. ash and debris ejected by volcano: TEPHRAS. [Gk. tephra, ashes]. |
| terrain |
ground, a tract, regarded as a field of view or of operations, or as having some sort of unity or prevailing character. |
| thalweg |
see TALWEG. |
| thwaite |
a piece of reclaimed wasteland (now only in place-names. [ON thveit]. |
| tideland |
land which is submerged at high tide. |
| timberland |
land covered with trees used for timber. |
| tombolo |
a bar of sand or gravel connecting one island with another: TOMBOLOS. |
| tomo+ |
a shaft formed by the action of water on volcanic or limestone rock: TOMOS. |
| tor |
a hill. |
| tumpy |
hummocky: TUMPIER, TUMPIEST. |
| tumulose tumulous |
full of small hills or mounds; hilly. |
| tumulosity+ |
the state of being TUMULOSE, full of small hills or mounds. |
| tumulous |
see TUMULOSE. |
| tundra |
a vast treeless zone lying between the ice cap and the timber line of North America and Eurasia and having a permanently frozen subsoil. |
| undercliff |
a subordinate cliff on a shore, consisting of material that has fallen from the higher cliff above. |
| upland |
the higher land of a region. |
| uplandish |
of or pertaining to uplands; dwelling on high lands. |
| urman |
swampy pine forest. |
| vae voe |
in Orkney or Shetland, a bay or creek. |
| vale |
a broad VALLEY. |
| valley |
a depression of the earth's surface. |
| valleyed+ |
having VALLEYS. |
| varve |
a seasonal layer of sediment deposited in still water, used in establishing Ice Age chronology. |
| varved |
stratified in VARVES, seasonal layers of sediment deposited in still water, used in establishing Ice Age chronology. |
| vega |
a low fertile plain; a tobacco field. |
| veld veldt |
open grassland: VELDTS. [Afrikaans veld, from Dutch veld, field]. |
| versant |
the general slope of a mountain. |
| vlei vly |
low-lying wet ground, a swamp. |
| voe |
see VAE. |
| volcanian vulcanian |
volcanic. |
| volcanic vulcanic |
pertaining to, of the nature of, produced or caused by a volcano. |
| volcanicity |
the state of being VOLCANIC. |
| volcanise volcanize |
to subject to the action of volcanic heat. |
| volcanism |
volcanic power or action; volcanicity. |
| volcanist vulcanist |
one versed in the history and phenomena of volcanoes. |
| volcanize |
see VOLCANISE. |
| volcano |
a centre of eruption of subterranean matter: VOLCANOS or VOLCANOES. |
| volcanology vulcanology |
the study of volcanoes. |
| vulcanian |
see VOLCANIAN. |
| vulcanic |
see VOLCANIC. |
| vulcanism |
a term given to processes whereby magma is extruded on to the earth's surface. |
| vulcanist |
see VOLCANIST. |
| vulcanology |
see VOLCANOLOGY. |
| wadi wady |
the dry bed of a torrent; a river valley: WADIS, WADIES. |
| wagmoire |
a quagmire. |
| washaway+ |
an erosion of the earth's surface due to running water. |
| washland |
an area periodically flooded by a river. |
| wasteland |
a desolate, barren area. |
| waterside |
the edge of a sea, lake, etc, a shore. |
| wayboard |
a thin geological seam separating larger strata. |
| wetland |
land containing much soil moisture. |
| wildland |
land completely uncultivated. |
| wold |
an open tract of country. |
| woodland |
land covered with trees. |
| yardang |
a ridge formed by wind erosion parallel to prevailing winds. [Turkish ablative of yar, steep bank]. |
