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Longstreet Highroad Guide to the North Georgia Mountains By The Georgia Conservancy

Sherpa Guides > Georgia Mountains > Appendices > Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms

• Anticline—Arching rock fold that is closed at the top and open at bottom. Oldest formation occurs in the center of an anticline.
• Basement—Complex of igneous and metamorphic rock that underlies the sedimentary rocks of a region.
• Biotic—Pertaining to plants and animals.
• Boreal—Relating to the northern biotic area characterized by the dominance of coniferous forests.
• Carbonate rock—Collective term including limestone and dolomite.
• Coniferous—Describing the cone-bearing trees of the pine family; usually evergreen.
• Continental drift—Theory that the continental land masses drift across the earth as the earth’s plates move and interact in a process called plate tectonics.
• Deciduous—Plants that shed their leaves seasonally and are leafless for part of the year.
• Endemic—Having originated in and being restricted to one particular environment.
• Escarpment—Cliff or steep rock face formed by faulting that separates two comparatively level land surfaces.
• Extinct—No longer existing.
• Extirpated—Extinct in a particular area.
• Feldspar—Complex of silicates that make up bulk of the earth’s crust.
• Fold—Warped rock including synclines and anticlines.
• Gneiss—Metamorphic granitelike rock showing layers.
• Granite—Igneous rock composed predominantly of visible grains of feldspar and quartz. Used in building.
• Igneous—Rock formed by cooled and hardened magma within the crust or lava on the surface.
• Karst—Area of land lying over limestone and characterized by sinkholes, caves, and sinking streams.
• Lava—Magma which reaches the surface of the earth.
• Magma—Molten rock within the earth’s crust.
• Metamorphic—Rock which has been changed into present state after being subjected to heat and pressure fromthe crust, or chemical alteration.
• Monadnock—Land that contains more erosion-resistant rock than surrounding area and therefore is higher.
• Orogeny—A geologic process which results in the formation of mountain belts.
• Outcrop—Exposed bedrock.
• Overthrust belt—An area where older rock has been thrust over younger rock.
• Rapids—Fast-moving water that flows around rocks and boulders in rivers; classified from I to VI according to degree of difficulty navigating.
• Schist—Flaky, metamorphic rock containing parallel layers of minerals such as mica.
• Sedimentary—Rocks formed by the accumulation of sediments (sandstone, shale) or the remains of products of animals or plants (limestone, coal).
• Shale—Sedimentary rock composed of clay, mud, and silt grains which easily splits into layers.
• Syncline—A rock fold shaped like a U that is closed at the bottom and open at the top. The youngest rock is at the center of a syncline.
• Talus—Rock debris and boulders that accumulate at the base of a cliff.
• Watershed—The area drained by a river and all its tributaries.

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Published (print): 1999, Published (Web): March 2000, Revised (Web): November 2002, ISBN: 1-56352-461-9

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