Geological Terms Beginning With "K"

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Karst:

A landscape that is characterized by the features of solution weathering and erosion in the subsurface. These features include caves, sinkholes, disappearing streams and subsurface drainage.

Kerogen:

Solid organic substances frequently found in shales. The organic component of an oil shale.

Kettle:

A depression formed in glacial deposits when a buried block of ice, left behind by a retreating glacier, melts.

Kettle Lake:

A lake that forms in a kettle.

K-feldspar:

A potassium feldspar such as orthoclase, microcline, sanidine or adularia. Also referred to as potash feldspar.

Kilobar:

A unit of pressure equal to 1000 bars (the mean atmospheric pressure at 100 meters above sea level is one bar).

Kimberlite:

A variety of peridotite that is found in volcanic pipes which are thought to be intrusions from the upper mantle. Many diamond deposits are found in kimberlite pipes.

Knickpoint:

An abrupt change in slope. A point on a stream profile where a change in gradient occurs. This could be caused by a change in underlying bedrock or bedrock structure.

Knob:

A small hilltop that is round in shape.

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