Geology term

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On this page you will find short definitions of words used in Geology which non professionals may not know.

alluvium - deposits of sand or clay that settled out of running water.
aqueous rock - A sedimentary rock laid down by water or laid down in water.
bathymetry - the measurement of depth of water in lakes and oceans.
breaching event - when a lake of water is formed by a dam of earth, rock or ice, sometimes water rises to the point that a small stream starts to cut a larger exit channel. This allows more water to flow, cutting a larger channel and resulting in a sudden very large flow of water, often draining the whole lake in a short time.
breccia - (pron. BREH chee ya, or BREH shee ya) a kind of rock made up of angular pieces of rock held together by a cementing material. [1]. Compare conglomerate.
channelized flow -
clay - small sized soil particles less than 0.002 mm in diameter. See soil
cliff-sapping - the process where erosion of softer layers at the base of a cliff causes the collapse of large masses of overlying material.
conglomerate - a kind of rock made up of smooth, rounded stones held together by a cementing material. Compare breccia.
cuesta - an asymmetrical ridge with a long, gentle slope on one side and a steep or cliff-like face on the other.
epigenesis - change in the minerals of a rock after it is formed because of external (usually surface) influences.
erosion - the process of wearing down and transporting away material of planetary crust by natural agencies such as wind, water, ice, and corrosion.
fluvial - having to do with rivers, streams, or creeks.
flysch
fossil - a remnant or trace of an organism from the past, typically embedded and preserved in sedimentary rock. There are three types of fossils: imprints, casts, and mineralization.

fossiliferous - containing fossils

unfossiliferous - not containing fossils

geochronology
hydrologic basin
isochron -
lacustrine - having to do with lakes
lake -

bayou

oscillating lake

limestone -
meander -

enclosed meander -

incised meander - a sinuous, relatively deep, valley or canyon cut by a river.

stream meander -

monocline -
mudstone - sedimentary rock with particles smaller than 0.0625 mm. Sometimes called siltstone if the particles are on the large size, or claystone if smaller. Shale is a mudstone that splits easily into layers. [2]
orogenic
sand - large size soil particles, 2 - 0.05 mm in diameter. See soil
sandstone -
silt - medium size soil particles, 0.05 - 0.002 mm in diameter. See soil
soil texture - Soil texture is the proportion of sand, silt and clay particles. The particle sizes are determined by diameter; sand being 2 - 0.05 mm, silt 0.05 - 0.002 mm and clay is less than 0.002 mm.
strata - the plural of the word "stratum" which generally means the same thing as "layer" or "level". In geology, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock that generally has the same sediment throughout and normally has other layers above and below it.
stream -

braided stream - a stream that forms shallow branching and reuniting channels because the speed or quantity of water cannot carry its load of sediment.

intermittent stream -

underfit stream - a stream that appears too small to have eroded the valley or canyon through which it presently flows.