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Etchplanation


An etchplain is a plain where the bedrock has been subject to considerable "etching" or subsurface weathering. Contrary to what the name might suggest, etchplains are seldom completely flat and usually display some relief, as weathering of the bedrock does not advance uniformly. This means that weathering is unrelated to the flatness which might be derivative of various other processes of planation including peneplanation and pediplanation. Erosion of etchplains can result in the exposure of inselbergs.

The term 'etchplain' or 'etched peneplain' was originally coined to describe surfaces in East Africa by E.J. Wayland in 1933 and Bailey Willis in 1936. This last geologist applied the term etched peneplain to the Tanganyika Plateau. Julius Büdel developed the concept further in the second half of the 20th century, but never did use the term 'etchplain'. The term came for a long time to be associated with landscapes in the tropics or with a tropical climate. Since the 1980s the term has also been used to describe flat weathered landscapes at higher latitudes.

As climate changes arid and semi-arid periods of pediplanation may alternate with more humid periods of etchplanation resulting in the formation of flattish surfaces (peneplains) of mixed origin (polygenetic).

The African Surface formed 70–40 million years ago is an example of an etchplain.



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