surface features
What's visibly there
Surface features are the visible characteristics of a terrain, object, or body—the things you can observe from the outside.
In geography, surface features include mountains, valleys, rivers, and plains: The map showed the surface features of Mars.
The term applies wherever external appearance matters: The doctor examined the surface features of the skin lesion.
Surface features contrast with what lies beneath or within.
- embossmentsRaised ornamental designs
- colorVisual hue property
- groovesNarrow carved channels
- fracturesBreaks in rigid material
- pitFruit's hard seed
bump · roughness · scratches · wear and tear · gloss · ridges · crack · pores · corrugations · textures · natural texture · grain pattern · iridescence · patina · weathering · smoothness · high polish · striations
- Inner Planetsatmosphere, orbit, core, mantle, crust
- Mars studyMars, red planet, canals, craters, polar caps
- planetary featuresvolcano, mountain, crater, canyon, cliff
- geospatial analysisGIS, remote sensing, terrain analysis, coordinate systems, map projections
- mars moonsPhobos, Deimos