noun
definition
A steep descent or declivity; steep face or edge of a ridge; ground about a fortified place, cut away nearly vertically to prevent hostile approach.
Examples of escarpment in a Sentence
Another range, or escarpment, crosses the state from east to west, but is broken into two principal divisions, each having several local names.
It climbed gently along the escarpment above the river and was devoid of traffic.
In localities the slope is a true escarpment falling 150 and even 250 ft.
On the eastern side it presents a fairly continuous escarpment.
Each escarpment stands forth where a resistant formation overlies a weaker one; each escarpment is separated from the next higher one by a broad step of weaker strata.
To the north the districts of Saugor and Damoh form the southern boundary of the Vindhyan escarpment.
The mass of Elgon can be seen from the northeast coast of Victoria Nyanza, from near the main Nile stream, from the heights overlooking Lake Rudolf and from the Kikuyu escarpment.
Niagara Falls, with rapids above and below, carry the waters of the upper lakes over the Niagara escarpment.
The Carboniferous lavas of the Campsie and Fintry Hills and of the south of Dumfriesshire and Roxburghshire likewise rise in lines of bold escarpment.
The mountain region has a width of 70 to 150 m., and is filled with short parallel ranges trending parallel to the plateau escarpment.
The towns of the belt are comparatively small, not one attains a population of 75,000, and the favourite site is on the Lias plain below the great escarpment.
North of the gap in the low escarpment in which the town of Lincoln centres, a close fringe of villages borders the escarpment on the west; and throughout the belt the alternations of clay and hard rock are reflected in the grouping of population.
The dominating surface-feature formed by the Cretaceous rocks is the Chalk escarpment, the northern edge of the great sheet of chalk that once spread continuously over the whole south-east.
The cut edges of the escarpment forming the Hog's Back and North Downs on the north, and the South Downs on the south, meet the sea in the fine promontories of the South Foreland and Beachy Head.
Within the Chalk ring, and at the base of the steep escarpment, there is a low terrace of the Upper Greensand, seldom so much as a mile in width, but in most places crowded with villages scarcely more than a mile apart, and ranged like beads on a necklace.
Within the Upper Greensand an equally narrow ring of Gault is exposed, its stiff clay forming level plains of grazing pasture, without villages, and with few farmhouses even; and from beneath it the successivOeds of the Lower Greensand rise towards the centre, forming a wider belt, and reaching a considerable height before breaking off in a fine escarpment, the crest of which is in several points higher than the outer ring of Chalk.
The Lower Greensand escarpment looks inwards in its turn over the wide plain of Weald Clay, along which the Medway flows in the north, and which forms a fertile soil, well cultivated, and particularly rich in hops and wheat.
Next in order come the Greensands and Gault, which lie at the base of the Chalk escarpment, between that formation and the Oolites.
This effect is well seen in the way in which the wind blowing directly up the Severn estuary is directed along the edges of the Oolitic escarpment north-eastward, thus displacing the centre of cold in winter to the east coast, and the centre of heat in summer to the lower Thames, from the position which both centres would occupy, if calms prevailed, in a beit running from Birmingham to Buckingham.
The eastern escarpment is precipitous, but on its western face it slopes more gently into the Congo basin.
The southern escarpment of the plateau is highly irregular, but has a general direction N.W.
The eastern escarpment is the best defined of these outer ranges.
Parallel with the eastern escarpment are the heights of Baila (12,500 ft.), Abuna Josef (13,780 ft.), and Kollo (14,100 ft.), the last-named being S.W.
The valley between these hills and the eastern escarpment is one of the longest and most profound chasms in Abyssinia.
It reaches the Afar (Danakil) lowlands through a broad breach in the eastern escarpment of the plateau, beyond which it is joined on its left bank by its chief affluent, the Germama (Kasam), and then trends round in the direction of Tajura Bay.
The three last-named places are on the high plateau near its eastern escarpment and on the direct road south from Massawa to Shoa.
The Burlington escarpment, which in places is as much as 250 to 300 ft.
Flowing south-east, it is joined by the Kariega on the left, and breaking through the escarpment of the Great Karroo, on the lower level changes its name to the Groote, the hills which overhang it to the north-east being known as Groote River Heights.
The Nzoia (150 m.), the largest of the three, rises in the foothills of the Elgeyo escarpment and flows swiftly over a rocky bed in a south-westerly direction, emptying into the lake south of Berkeley Bay.
The Chol-tagh marks the northern escarpment, as the Kuruk-tagh, farther south, marks the southern escarpment, of the great Pe-shan swelling of the desert of Gobi.
Its highest point and great escarpment are in North Carolina.
This block of country lies just west of the line of the great East African trough, the northern continuation of which passes along its eastern escarpment as it runs up to join the Red Sea.
The Inferior Oolite, somewhat narrower than the Lias, extends from the boundary with Rutland due north past Lincoln to the vicinity of the Humber; it forms the Cliff of Lincolnshire with a strong escarpment facing westward.
From opposite the western end of the falls to Danger Point, which overlooks the entrance of the gorge, the escarpment of the chasm is covered with great trees known as the Rain Forest; looking across the gorge the eastern part of the wall (the Knife Edge) is less densely wooded.
Along the north-west border of the valley a steep escarpment, known as the Cumberland Scarp, rises to the Cumberland Plateau.
As we climb the escarpment onto the plateau the dirt road degenerates into a couple of wheel ruts.
The part of the WEA on the west facing escarpment should not be proposed for development.
This was so named because it followed the escarpment.
To access the beach you must descend the rocky escarpment that shelters the bay, via a steep flight of steps.
From where we stood we could see the escarpment of the African Rift Valley.
In a local context, it is understood that parts of the magnesian limestone escarpment are potentially suitable for designation.
Below the cretaceous Tertiary escarpment, the low ground is underlain by soft sedimentary rocks of the Triassic Mercia Mudstone Group.
The wooded escarpment of Wenlock Edge, today managed by the National Trust, is the remnants of the Royal ' Long Forest ' .
The rocky escarpment behind our hotel was home to many pigeons.
A group of eight of us walked to a pub along a steep escarpment.
However, the summits along the edge of the basalt escarpment have much steeper slopes which plummet toward Belfast.
To the south is the chalk escarpment, which runs from the south coast to Norfolk.
Houghton Le Spring Houghton le Spring sits at the foot of the magnesium limestone escarpment northeast of Durham.
This is a sandstone escarpment the line of which we follow for a good number of miles.
View of quarry looking west from the top of the rock escarpment, October 1936.