cliff

The Trango Towers in Pakistan. Their vertical faces are the world's tallest cliffs. Trango Tower center; Trango Monk center left; Trango II far left; Great Trango right.

A view from the top of a cliff: The stonyman summit at Shenandoah Valley Virginia

In geography and geology, a cliff or bluff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are categorized as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually formed by rock that is resistant to erosion and weathering. Sedimentary rocks most likely to form sandstone, limestone, chalk, and dolomite. Igneous rocks, such as granite and basalt also often form cliffs.

An escarpment (or scarp) is a type of cliff, formed by the movement of a geologic fault, or a landslide.

Most cliffs have some form of scree slope at their base. In arid areas or under high cliffs, these are generally exposed jumbles of fallen rock. In areas of higher moisture, a soil slope may obscure the talus.

Many cliffs also feature tributary waterfalls or rock shelters. Sometimes a cliff peters out at the end of a ridge, with tea tables or other types of rock columns remaining.

Given that a cliff need not be exactly vertical, there can be ambiguity about whether a given slope is a cliff or not, and also about how much of a certain slope to count as a cliff. (For example, given a truly vertical rock wall above a very steep slope, one could count only the rock wall, or the combination.) This makes listings of cliffs an inherently uncertain endeavor.

According to some sources, the highest cliff in the world, about 1,340 m high, is the east face of Great Trango in the Karakoram mountains of northern Pakistan. (This uses a fairly stringent notion of cliff, as the 1,340 m figure refers to a nearly vertical headwall; adding in a very steep approach brings the total height to over 1,600 m.) The highest sea cliffs, 1,010 m high, are located at Kalaupapa, Hawaii^[1]. (This uses a less stringent definition, as the average slope of these cliffs is about 1.7, corresponding to an angle of 60 degrees.)

Considering a truly vertical drop, Mount Thor on Baffin Island in Arctic Canada is the highest at 1,370 m (4,500 ft) high in total (the top 480 m (1,600 ft) is overhanging). This is said to give it the longest purely vertical drop on Earth at 1,250 m (4,100 ft).

Large and famous cliffs

Baintha Brakk (The Ogre) near Snow Lake, Pakistan

The Cliffs of Moher in Ireland

Cliffs near Sortavala, Russia

Close-up view of Verona Rupes, a 20 km high fault scarp on Miranda, a moon of Uranus.^[2]

The highest cliff in the solar system may be Verona Rupes, an approximately 20 km (12 mile) high fault scarp on Miranda, a moon of Uranus. The following is an incomplete list of cliffs of the world. (see also Category:Cliffs)

Asia

Preikestolen not far from Stavanger, Norway.

Above Sea

• Masada, Israel 400m above Dead Sea

Above Land

• Trango Towers, Baltoro Muztagh, Northern Areas, Pakistan
• Uli Biaho Towers, Baltoro Glacier, Northern Areas, Pakistan
• Baintha Brakk (The Ogre), Panmah Muztagh, Northern Areas, Pakistan
• The Latok Group, Panmah Muztagh, Northern Areas, Pakistan
• Various cliffs in the Ak-Su Valley of Kyrgyzstan

Europe

Above Sea

• Cape Enniberg, Faroe Islands, 750 m above North Sea
• Croaghaun, Achill Island, Ireland, 668 m above Atlantic Ocean
• Vixía Herbeira, Northern Galicia, Spain, 621 m above Atlantic Ocean
• Dingli Cliffs, Malta
• Preikestolen, Norway, 604 m above Lysefjorden
• Slieve League, Ireland, 601 m above Atlantic Ocean
• Cabo Girão, Madeira, 589 m above Atlantic Ocean
• Conachair, St Kilda, Scotland 427 m above Atlantic Ocean
• St John's Head (Hoy Orkney Islands Scotland) at 335m is the most vertical sea cliff in the UK
• Cliffs of Moher, Ireland, 217 m above Atlantic Ocean
• Cap de la Nau, Spain, 200 m above Mediterranean sea
• Beachy Head, England, 162 m above the English Channel
• Møns Klint, Denmark, 143 m above Baltic Sea
• White cliffs of Dover, England, 100 m above the Strait of Dover
• Strunjan cliff, Slovenia, 80 m above the Jadran sea

Above Land

• Troll Wall, Norway 1100 m above base
• Mięguszowiecki Szczyt north face rises to 1043 m above Morskie Oko lake level, High Tatras, Poland
• Mały Kieżmarski Szczyt (north face), Tatra Mountains, Slovakia about 900 m denivelation (vertical rise)
• Giewont (north face), Tatra Mountains, Poland, 852 m above Polana Strążyska glade
• Kazalnica Mięguszowiecka, Tatra Mountains, Poland 576 m above the Czarny Staw pod Rysami
• The six great north faces of the Alps (Cima Grande di Lavaredo, Eiger, Grandes Jorasses, Matterhorn, Petit Dru and Piz Badile)

North America

Southwest face of El Capitan from Yosemite Valley

• El Capitan, Yosemite Valley, Sierra Nevada, California, United States; about 900 m (3,000 ft) high
• Northwest Face of Half Dome, near El Capitan; 1,340 m (4,400 ft) total, vertical portion about 610 m (2,000 ft)
• All faces of Devil's Tower, Wyoming, United States
• Various faces of Shiprock, New Mexico, United States
• The North Face of North Twin Peak, Rocky Mountains, Alberta, Canada
• Mount Thor, Baffin Island, Canada; 1,370 m (4,500 ft) total; top 480 m (1,600 ft) is overhanging. This reputedly gives it the largest purely vertical drop on Earth at 1,250 m (4,100 ft).
• Mount Asgard, Baffin Island
• Painted Wall in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado, United States; 685 m (2,250 ft)
• The west face of Notch Peak in southwestern Utah, United States; a limestone cliff of about 670 m (2,200 ft)
• All walls of the Stawamus Chief, Squamish, British Columbia, Canada
• Calvert Cliffs along the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland

Greenland

• Nalumasortoq, Tasermiut Fjord, Greenland; over 800 m high

South America

Salto Angel from Raton.

• Auyan Tepui (Angel Falls), about 1000 m (the falls are 979 m, the highest in the world)
• All faces of Cerro Torre, Patagonia, Chile-Argentina
• All faces of Cerro Chalten (Fitz Roy), Patagonia, Argentina
• Various faces of the Torres del Paine group, Patagonia, Chilef

References

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