outcrops
Visible geological formations
Outcrops are portions of rock that protrude through the soil surface, exposing what lies beneath.
Geologists study outcrops to understand underground formations without digging.
The word works as both noun and verb: Granite outcrops dotted the hillside; Limestone outcrops along the riverbank.
Figuratively, anything hidden that surfaces can outcrop: Old resentments outcropped during the reunion.
High rocky outcrop
- cragSteep rugged outcrop
- bluffCalculated false front
- escarpmentSteep slope dividing elevations
- ridgeNarrow raised strip
cliff · promontory · butte · mesa · pinnacle · kopje · hogback · spur
Large weathered stone
- anchorSecures ships to seabed
- belayAnchor a rope
- chalkSoft sedimentary writing stone
- harnessStraps controlling an animal
crimp · smear · edging · overhang · traverse · slab · friction · handhold
Solid stone underground
- strataParallel geological layers
- formationCreation or arrangement
- limestoneCarbonate sedimentary rock
- graniteIgneous rock, quartz-rich
basalt · sandstone · quartzite · schist · gneiss · shale · igneous · metamorphic
Searching for mineral wealth
- mappingDiagram of correspondences
- surveyingMeasuring and charting terrain
- samplingExtracting subset for study
- drillingHole-making by rotation
mineralogy · geophysics · excavation · fossils · paleontology · archaeology · fieldwork · hammer
tor
High rocky outcrop
- cragSteep rugged outcrop
- bluffCalculated false front
- escarpmentSteep slope dividing elevations
ridge · cliff · promontory · butte · mesa · pinnacle · kopje · hogback · spur · knoll
boulder
Large weathered stone
harness · crimp · smear · edging · overhang · traverse · slab · friction · handhold · foothold
bedrock
Solid stone underground
granite · basalt · sandstone · quartzite · schist · gneiss · shale · igneous · metamorphic · sedimentary
prospecting
Searching for mineral wealth
- mappingDiagram of correspondences
- surveyingMeasuring and charting terrain
- samplingExtracting subset for study
drilling · mineralogy · geophysics · excavation · fossils · paleontology · archaeology · fieldwork · hammer · hand lens
- geologybedrock, fault lines, faults, rock, basalt
- rocky terraincliffs, boulders, scree, rockfall, rock faces
- Western Terrainplains, prairies, valleys, peaks, ridges
- prominencesprotuberance, protrusion, bulge, bump, swelling
- Canadian Shieldboreal forest, glacial lakes, Hudson Bay, Lake Superior, metamorphic rock
- rockhoundingrock hammer, rock tumbler, geodes, quartz, agate