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Magnesian Escarpment
The Magnesian escarpment is the most westerly of three prominent escarpments that run north-south in Wisconsin. All three escarpments are formed by the edges of layers of sedimentary rocks. The easternmost and most prominent escarpment is the Niagara Escarpment formed where younger and harder layers of dolomite overlay softer sedimentary rocks. The Black River Escarpment is capped by another layer of relatively harder rocks, overlay older softer rocks. The rocks of the Magnesian layer overlay rocks of the Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ... Period, the oldest sedimentary rocks that contain fossils. References Landforms of Wisconsin Escarpments of the United States {{Wisconsin-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escarpment''. Some sources differentiate the two terms, with ''escarpment'' referring to the margin between two landforms, and ''scarp'' referring to a cliff or a steep slope. 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 lowland and a continental plateau which shows a marked, abrupt change in elevation caused by coastal erosion at the base of the plateau. Formation and description Scarps are generally formed by one of two processes: either by differential erosion of sedimentary rocks, or by movement of the Earth's crust at a geologic fault. The first process is the more common type: the escarpment is a t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
