Klippe - Misplaced Pages

Geological feature For the style of coin, see Klippe (coin).

A klippe (German for cliff or crag) is a geological feature of thrust fault terrains. The klippe is the remnant portion of a nappe after erosion has removed connecting portions of the nappe. This process results in an outlier of exotic, often nearly horizontally translated strata overlying autochthonous strata.

Examples

Chief Mountain, Montana
Mount Yamnuska, Alberta
The Rock of Gibraltar
Acropolis of Athens, Greece
Bac Grillera, Catalonia, Spain. The nappe of which this klippe once formed part had its root in the northern part of the Pyrenees mountain range.

Klippes may also be found in the Pre-Alps of Switzerland and some of the isolated mountains in Assynt, Sutherland, in NW Scotland.

Beckov Castle, Slovakia, perched on a limestone klippe
Serra de Bac Grillera, Catalonia, Spain (Lower Jurassic limestone resting on younger autochthonous Tertiary formations)

References

DiPietro, Joseph A. (December 21, 2012). Landscape Evolution in the United States: An Introduction to the Geography, Geology, and Natural History. Newnes. p. 343. ISBN 9780123978066. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
Marc Calvet, Yanni Gunnell, Bernard Laumonier. Denudation history and palaeogeography of the Pyrenees and their peripheral basins: an 84-million-year geomorphological perspective. Earth Science Reviews, 2021. See map, page 195. Online at insu.hal.science.
Estevez, A. (1968). Tectónica de las unidades alóctonas del Castell de Bac Grillera (Pirineo oriental, España). Acta Geológica Hispànica, t. III, núm. 5, p. 138-141. Online at revistes.ub.edu.
Whittow, John (1984). Dictionary of Physical Geography. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 294. ISBN 0-14-051094-X.

v t e Structural geology
Underlying theory	Deformation mechanism Lamé's stress ellipsoid Mohr–Coulomb theory Mohr's circle Overburden pressure Rock mechanics Strain Strain partitioning Stress Stress field Tension
Measurement conventions	Brunton compass Inclinometer Orthographic projection Rake Stereographic projection Strike and dip
Large-scale tectonics	Accretionary wedge Allochthon Autochthon Back-arc basin Continental collision Convergent boundary Décollement Divergent boundary Extensional tectonics Fault block Fenster Fold and thrust belt Fold mountains Foreland basin Graben Half-graben Horse Horst Horst and graben Intra-arc basin Inversion Klippe List of tectonic plate interactions Mélange Mountain formation Nappe Obduction Orogeny Passive margin Plate tectonics Pull-apart basin Rift valley Rift Saddle Strike-slip tectonics Structural basin Suture Syneclise Terrane Thick-skinned deformation Thin-skinned deformation Thrust tectonics
Fracturing	Columnar jointing Dike Exfoliation joint Fissure Joint Vein
Faulting	Asperity Cataclasite Cataclastic rock Detachment fault Disturbance Fault friction Fault mechanics Fault scarp Fault trace Thrust fault Transfer zone Transform fault
Foliation and lineation	Cleavage Compaction Crenulation Fissility Oblique foliation Pressure solution Rock microstructure Slickenside Stylolite Tectonic phase Tectonite
Folding	Anticline Chevron Detachment fold Dome Homocline Monocline Syncline Vergence
Boudinage	Competence
Kinematic analysis	3D fold evolution Paleostress inversion Paleostress Section restoration
Shear zone	Mylonite Pure shear Shear
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