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been eroded are either nearly vertical, moderately dipping, or gently dipping. Because of their gradational nature, the exact angle of the backslope that separates these landforms is arbitrary and some differences in the specific angles used to define these landforms occur in the scientific literature. It also can be difficult to sharply distinguish immediately adjacent members of this series of landforms because of their gradational nature.
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128:: "flank or slope of a hill; hill, mount, sloping ground". In geology and geomorphology, cuesta refers specifically to an asymmetric ridge with a long and gentle backslope called a dip slope that conforms with the dip of a resistant stratum or strata, called caprock. The outcrop of the caprock forms a steeper or even cliff-like frontslope (escarpment), cutting through the dipping strata that comprise the cuesta.
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comprise a sequence of landforms that form a gradational continuum. These landforms differ only on the steepness of their backslopes and the relative differences in the inclination of their backslopes and frontslopes. These differences depend upon whether the dip of the strata from which they have
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is punctuated by a series of cuestas that parallel the coast, as are most coastal plains. The
Reynosa Plateau is the most coast-ward cuesta, which has surface expression with the Bordes-Oakville escarpment, on the northwest side and a low ridge on the eastern boundary, called the Reynosa Cuesta,
160:. The surfaces of the hard, erosion-resistant rock strata form the caprock of the backslope (dip-slope) of the cuesta, where erosion has preferentially removed the weaker strata. The frontslope of the cuesta consists of an escarpment that cuts across the
224:. The dip of the Onondaga is about 40 feet per mile (about 7.6 m/km) to the south. In their most populated sections both escarpments edges face north, running roughly parallel to the southern
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of the strata comprising it. Because of the gently dipping nature of the strata that forms a cuesta, a significant shift in horizontal location will take place as the landscape is lowered by
269:, sometimes called the Cotswold Edge. Other examples include the Brecon Beacons, Wenlock Edge, the Chilterns, the North and South Downs and the Greensand Ridge of Kent and Surrey
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In general usage, a cuesta is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope (backslope) on one side, and a steep slope (frontslope) on the other. The word is from
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168:. Because the slope of a cuesta dips in the same direction as the sedimentary strata, the dip angle of this bedding (θ) can be calculated by (
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with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology, the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder
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Cuestas have less dramatic expression in the United
Kingdom, with two notable examples being the northwest-facing escarpment of the
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overlies a softer layer, the whole being tilted somewhat from the horizontal. This results in a long and gentle backslope called a
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Schematic cross section of three cuestas, dip slopes facing left, and harder rock layers in darker colors than softer ones
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Cuestas are the expression of extensive outcrops of gently dipping strata, typically
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strata, that consist of alternating beds of weak or loosely cemented strata, i.e.
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Fairbridge, R. W. (1968). "Hogback and
Flatiron". In Fairbridge, R. W. (ed.).
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is equal to the horizontal distance perpendicular to the strike of the beds.
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Hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side and a steep slope on the other
365:(Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences, Volume III), Reinhold, New York, 1296 pp.
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459:(2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
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American
Geological Institute, Alexandria, Virginia. 800 pp.
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288:. Notable French cuestas are the wine-growing regions of
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has exposed the frontslope of this, a steep slope or
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432:Australian Landforms: Structure, Process and Time
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513:(2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
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276:offers particularly good views of cuestas in
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261:and the similarly aligned escarpment of the
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381:Jackson, JA, J Mehl and K Neuendorf (2005)
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307:cuesta topography—dating back to Cambrian.
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295:The Machinchang Formation outcrops in the
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19:For people with the surname Cuesta, see
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343:John Wiley and Sons, New York. 505 pp.
299:islands off the coast of northwestern
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152:and hard, well-lithified strata, i.e.
240:where the deposits dip below later
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482:The Encyclopedia of Geomorphology
363:The Encyclopedia of Geomorphology
361:In RW Fairbridge, ed., pp. 233,
457:Surface Processes and Landforms
60:Range, Transvaal, South Africa
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455:Easterbrook, D. J. (1999).
409:Principles of Geomorphology
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72:for 'slope') is a
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405:Thornbury, W. D. (1954).
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383:Glossary of Geology.
357:Simonett, SD (1968)
218:Onondaga escarpment
548:Structural geology
528:Escarpment geology
509:Physical Geography
339:Cotton, CA (1952)
265:limestones in the
233:Gulf Coastal Plain
222:Niagara Escarpment
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558:Erosion landforms
259:White Horse Hills
189:homoclinal ridges
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537:Categories
324:References
253:Cretaceous
120:Definition
106:escarpment
46:Cuesta in
305:anticline
290:Côte d'Or
280:rock. In
267:Cotswolds
187:Cuestas,
158:limestone
154:sandstone
132:Formation
114:scarpland
96:, called
86:dip slope
311:See also
301:Malaysia
297:Langkawi
278:Jurassic
263:Jurassic
242:Pliocene
220:and the
216:are the
210:New York
200:Examples
193:hogbacks
146:mudstone
100:. Where
359:Cuesta.
214:Ontario
166:erosion
162:bedding
126:Spanish
110:terrain
102:erosion
98:caprock
70:Spanish
563:Ridges
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282:France
191:, and
148:, and
94:strata
66:cuesta
48:Crimea
256:chalk
237:Texas
142:shale
78:ridge
486:ISBN
461:ISBN
436:ISBN
387:ISBN
367:ISBN
286:côte
231:The
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150:marl
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