Isere.fr

adret : sunny side of a valley

alluvial cone : mass of sediment accumulated at the foot of a slope where a stream meets the valley floor

alluvium : deposits left by watercourses (e.g., fluviatile) or meltwater from glaciers (fluvio-glacial deposits) composed, depending on the terrain crossed and the force of the current, of pebbles, gravel, sand, silt or clay

anticline : an arch-shaped (convex-upward) fold

arête : knife-edged ridge between two mountain slopes

aven, chasm (locally "scialet") : deep hole opening onto a karstic cavity

balcon (in French) : terrace, rock step or shoulder on the valleyside in a mountainous terrain

block : a structural term designating a rock mass that behaves as a rigid unit in comparison with other more deformable or downfaulted units. Also designates an uplifted zone or horst

catchment area : a basin where all the slopes are drained by watercourses running into a single river system

cirque : rocky ampitheatre

clay : very fine-grained sedimentary material

conglomerate : sedimentary rock formed of coarse debris bound by a cement

corniche (in French) : plateau edge, summit scarp or ledge dominating the surrounding landscape

crystalline basement, bedrock : an extensive unit of highly eroded ancient rocks at the core of a mountain chain, often covered discordantly by sedimentary layers

crystalline massif : large mass of igneous and/or metamorphic rocks

cuvette : closed depression or basin

doline : circular karstic depression, often leading down into a cave system

glacial cirque : rocky ampitheatre hollowed out by glacial action

glacial overdeepening : scouring of a glacial valley upstream from a rock bar, also corresponds to the enlarging of a valley (overdeepened glacial basin)

glacial rock bar : narrow part of a glacial valley that also forms a sill because it has been less eroded

habert : building found in Alpine meadows, i and including a shelter, barn and animal shed

karst : landforms related to the action (largely subterranean) of water dissolving limestone rocks (e.g. doline, scialet, etc.)

loess : wind-borne (eolian) fine-grained sediment accumulated on the land

mardelle : local term for a small closed depression due to the melting of a lens of ice, often called a kettle-hole in English

marl : sedimentary rock composed of a mixture of limestone and clay

molard : local name ("Terres Froides") designating finger-shaped hills

moraine : layer on ridge of rock debris deposited by a glacier

pebble : rock fragment rounded by mechanical wear, 16-32 mm in size

schist : general name for rocks with a foliated texture (not to be confused with shale)

scree (UK), talus (US) : accumulation of rocky fragments moved by gravity and creating a layer or mass of loose debris on the mountainside

silt or loam : loose detrital deposit, finer than sand but coarser than clay

substratum, bedrock : very general term designating the material underlying the near-surface geological formations or soil cover

syncline : a U-shaped (concave-upward) fold

tectonics : the structural process of the deformation of the Earth's crust (the term designates both the dynamics of deformation as well as their study)

trough : narrow, elongated depression

ubac : shady side of a valley

uplift : gradual upward movement of the Earth's crust

veneer : thin residual layer of superficial deposits, with only very limited extent