Earth Heritage Glossary

Welcome to the CCW Earth heritage glossary index page. Over the next year or so, we will be adding more and more terms to the Earth Heritage glossary, and our other glossary chapters.

To find a specific glossary term, try entering the word into the main glossary search box in the right-hand column of the website.

Failing that, you can look for a term by browsing through the glossary index alphabetically, below.

Earth Heritage

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Glossary for letter: O

Olistostrome: a sedimentary mélange created by submarine avalanching, gravity sliding or slumping.
Orogeny: the process of creation of mountain chains, generally through the collision of continental plates.
Outwash plain: an extensive accumulation of rock debris deposited from glacial meltwater the debris is very coarse close to the ice, becoming finer farther away, and its surface is typically cut by braided streams. Also known as a ‘sandur’ which is an Icelandic term.