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Anescarpment is a steepslope or longcliff that forms as a result offaulting orerosion and separates two relatively level areas having differentelevations.
Similarity causes the termscarp to be incorrectly used interchangeably withescarpment, which refers to the margin between twolandforms as opposed toscarp, which refers to a cliff or a steep slope.[1][2][3] In this usage, an escarpment is a ridge that has a gentle slope on one side and a steep scarp on the other side.
More loosely, the termscarp also describes a zone between a coastallowland and a continentalplateau that shows a marked, abrupt change in elevation[4] caused bycoastal erosion at the base of theplateau.
Scarps are generally formed by one of two processes: by differentialerosion ofsedimentary rocks or by movement of theEarth's crust at ageologic fault. The former is the more common type: the escarpment is a transition from one series ofsedimentary rocks 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, afault scarp is created. That can occur indip-slip faults, astrike-slip fault that brings a piece of high ground adjacent to an area of lower ground.
Earth is not the only planet with escarpments. They are believed to occur on other planets when thecrustcontracts, as a result of cooling. On otherSolar System bodies such asMercury,Mars, and theMoon, the Latin termrupes is used for an escarpment.
When sedimentary beds are tilted and exposed to the surface,erosion andweathering may occur. Escarpments erode gradually and overgeological time. Themélange tendencies of escarpments results in varying contacts between a multitude of rock types. The different types of rock weather at different speeds, according toGoldich dissolution series, and so different stages of deformation can often be seen in the layers in which the escarpments have been exposed to the elements.