Cliff (geology)

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The Vingerklip in the Ugab -Tal in Namibia (2014)
Tectonic cliff (K) in schematic profile section (black: land surface). The connection to the main ceiling body (D, red) was completely removed by erosion (red dashed line), so that lower-lying units (white) emerge.
Geological structures in the terrain in the event of a thrust : cliff, window , ceiling , thrust

In tectonics, a cliff is the part of a tectonic cover (thrust cover ) that is completely separated from the main body of the cover by erosion and is therefore no longer in physical contact with it. Cliffs are tectonically higher ( hanging walls ) than the side rocks and are surrounded all around by tectonically lower lying rocks , the lying . In active mountains such as the Alps , cliffs are mainly found as peaks ( cliffs ) or high mountain ridges building units or in the core of synclines (hollows).

The myths in the Swiss Alps are a prime example of a tectonic cliff . On the eastern edge of the Alps, from the Austrian Weinviertel to South Moravia , there is a limestone cliff zone ( Leiser Berge , Staatzer Klippe , Falkensteiner Klippe , Pollauer Berge ), the highest elevation of which is the 554 m high Maidenberg in South Moravia.

The counterpart to the tectonic cliff is the tectonic window , the opening or gap in a thrust cover.

See also

literature