Colloquial
81piedmont slope — (colloquial: western USA) The dominant gentle slope at the foot of a mountain; generally used in terms of intermontane basin terrain in arid to subhumid regions. Main components include: 1) An erosional surface on bedrock adjacent to… …
82pimple mound — (colloquial: Gulf Coast USA) Low, flattened, approximately circular or elliptical features composed of sandy loam that is coarser than, and distinct from, the surrounding soil; the basal diameter ranges from 3 m to more than 30 m, and the… …
83playa dune — (colloquial: Southern High Plains) A linear or curvilinear ridge of windblown, granular material (generally sand or parna) removed from the adjacent basin by wind erosion (deflation), and deposited on the leeward (prevailing downwind)… …
84playa floor — (colloquial: Southern High Plains) The lowest extensive, flat to slightly concave surface within a playa basin, consisting of a dry lake bed or lake plain underlain by stratified clay, silt or sand, and commonly by soluble salts. Compare …
85playa rim — (colloquial: Southern High Plains) The convex, upper margin (shoulder) of a playa basin where the playa slope intersects the surrounding terrain. Compare: playa slope. SW …
86playa slope — (colloquial: Southern High Plains) The generally concave to slightly convex area within a playa basin that lies between the relatively level playa floor below (or playa step, if present) and the convex playa rim above. Overland flow is… …
87playa step — (colloquial: Southern High Plains) The relatively level or gently inclined “terrace like” bench or toeslope within a large playa basin flanking and topographically higher than the playa floor and below the playa slope; a bench or step like… …
88pocosin — (colloquial: southeastern USA) A large wet area, commonly a swamp, which occurs on broad, nearly level interfluves in the Atlantic coastal plain with distinctive, native vegetation relative to adjacent areas. Soils may be either mineral or… …
89semi-bolson — (colloquial: western USA) A wide desert basin or valley that is drained by an intermittent stream, an externally drained (open) intermontane basin. Compare: bolson. GG …
90slickrock — (colloquial: southwestern USA) A barren, highly smoothed and subrounded bedrock pavement with considerable, irregular topography sculpted primarily by wind in an arid or semiarid climate; a type of rock outcrop commonly formed on massive… …
