storied (sto'-ried). Said of a landform or landscape characterized by two or more adjacent levels; e.g. a storied peak plain with summit levels at different altitudes.
GeoWord of the Day
The GeoWord of the Day is a free service of the American Geosciences Institute. All of the terms and definitions are from the Glossary of Geology, 5th Edition Revised.
alp . (a) A high, rugged, steep-sided mountain, esp. one that is snow-covered, resembling topographically those in the European Alps. (b) A high pasture or meadowland on a mountain side, between timberline and snowline, like those in the Swiss Alps; also a high shoulder [glac geol] or gentle slope, esp. in the Swiss Alps, commonly above a glaciated valley at a marked change of slope. Cf: alb.
wearing (wear'-ing). The gradual destruction of a landform or surface by friction or attrition. Cf: wasting. See also: backwearing; downwearing; wear.
common-midpoint stack . A sum of seismic traces that have the same common midpoint. The summing is done after appropriate statics and normal-moveout corrections have been applied to each trace. The objective is to attenuate noise and multiple reflections while accentuating reflection events.
error (er'-ror). (a) The difference between an observed, calculated, or measured value of a quantity and the ideal or true value of that quantity or of some conventional or standard value determined by established procedure or authority and used in lieu of the true value. (b) An inaccuracy or variation in the measurement, calculation, or observation of a quantity due to mistakes, imperfections in equipment or techniques, human limitations, changes of surrounding conditions, or other uncontrollable factors. (c) The amount of deviation of a measurement from some standard, arbitrary, estimated, or other reference value. See also: random error; systematic error; personal error.
semibolson (sem-i-bol'-son). A wide desert basin or valley that is drained by an intermittent stream flowing through canyons at each end and reaching a surface outlet (such as another stream, a lower basin, or the sea); its central playa is absent or poorly developed. It may represent a bolson where the alluvial fill reached a level sufficient to permit occasional overflow across the lowest divide.
maikainite . A metallic cubic mineral of the germanite group: Cu10(Fe,Cu)3MoGe3S16.
row stack nacreous structure . A nacreous structure in which mutually parallel, elongate tablets show vertical stacking in vertical sections taken perpendicular to the tablet lengths but stair-step and/or brick-wall stacking in vertical sections taken parallel to the tablet lengths (Wise, 1970).
end member . (a) One of the two or more simple compounds of which an isomorphous (solid-solution) series is composed. For example, the end members of the plagioclase feldspar series are albite, NaAlSi3O8, and anorthite, CaAl2Si2O8. Syn: minal. (b) One of the two extremes of a series, e.g. types of sedimentary rock or of fossils.
neuston (neus'-ton). Animals floating on or living attached to surface film of water either on the air side or water side. Most animals are on the water side and are called hyponeuston.
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