denudation
Wearing away layers
Denudation is the process of stripping something bare or the state of being stripped.
In geology, it refers to the wearing away of land surface by erosion, weathering, and other natural forces: Centuries of denudation exposed the underlying rock formations.
More generally, any removal of covering or protection: the denudation of forests by logging.
Atmospheric breakdown of materials
- abrasionShallow surface wound
- scouringVigorous abrasive cleaning
- sedimentParticles settling in liquid
- runoffExcess water drainage
siltation · gully · downcutting · deflation · fluvial · glacial · corrosion · detritus
Study of terrain formation
- chemical weatheringRocks altered by reactions
- karstEroded soluble rock terrain
- alluviumWater-deposited loose sediment
- screeLoose rock debris
talus · uplift · subsidence · base level · exhumation · isostasy · regolith · stratigraphy
Large-scale woodland elimination
- clearcuttingHarvesting every standing tree
- barrenUnable to produce
- terrainLand's physical features
- topographyPhysical feature mapping
plateau · canyon · valley · escarpment · slope · hillside · desertification · aridity
Lacking any covering
stripped · unprotected · unshielded · open · laid bare · cleared · treeless · raw
Coming off in strips
- removalAct of taking away
- uncoveringRevealing something hidden
- exfoliationShedding surface skin cells
- defoliationLoss of foliage
skinning · shucking · husking · paring · shedding · sloughing · flaking · scaling
State of utter depletion
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
- lossBeing without something
- reductionMaking something smaller
- diminutionReduction in size
degradation · soil depletion · resource depletion · wastage · decline · deterioration · thinning · stripping away
weathering
Atmospheric breakdown of materials
runoff · siltation · gully · downcutting · deflation · fluvial · glacial · corrosion · detritus · attrition
geomorphology
Study of terrain formation
- chemical weatheringRocks altered by reactions
- karstEroded soluble rock terrain
- alluviumWater-deposited loose sediment
scree · talus · uplift · subsidence · base level · exhumation · isostasy · regolith · stratigraphy
deforestation
Large-scale woodland elimination
- clearcuttingHarvesting every standing tree
- barrenUnable to produce
- terrainLand's physical features
topography · plateau · canyon · valley · escarpment · slope · hillside · desertification · aridity · wasteland
bare
Lacking any covering
bald · stripped · unprotected · unshielded · open · laid bare · cleared · treeless · raw · stark
peeling
Coming off in strips
- removalAct of taking away
- uncoveringRevealing something hidden
- exfoliationShedding surface skin cells
defoliation · skinning · shucking · husking · paring · shedding · sloughing · flaking · scaling
exhaustion
State of utter depletion
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
- lossBeing without something
- reductionMaking something smaller
diminution · degradation · soil depletion · resource depletion · wastage · decline · deterioration · thinning · stripping away
- Earth processesplate tectonics, erosion, weathering, volcanism, sedimentation
- erosionerosion, wearing, wearing down, beach erosion, river erosion
- erosion typesabrasive, weathering, scouring, leaching, attrition
- mass lossevaporation, sublimation, ablation, erosion, corrosion
- landformsmountain, cliff, valley, volcano, mountain ridge
- removalremove, elimination, delete, erasing, erase
denudationdeposition
Formal testimony under oath
accumulation · sedimentation · accretion · infilling · buildup
denudationcoverage
Extent of inclusion
covering · blanketing · mantling · burial · concealment