GuilinGuilin (Standard Zhuang: Gveilinz; alternatively romanized as Kweilin) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the west bank of the Li River and borders Hunan to the north. Its name means "forest of sweet osmanthus", owing to the large number of fragrant sweet osmanthus trees located in the region. The city has long been renowned for its scenery of karst topography.
MassifA massif (pronmæˈsiːf or ˈmæsɪf) is simply a principal mountain mass, for example, a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (See for example, France's Massif Central.). In mountaineering literature, a massif is frequently used to denote the main mass of an individual mountain. As a purely scientific term in geology, however, a "massif" is separately and more specifically defined as a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures.
Joint (geology)A joint is a break (fracture) of natural origin in a layer or body of rock that lacks visible or measurable movement parallel to the surface (plane) of the fracture ("Mode 1" Fracture). Although joints can occur singly, they most frequently appear as joint sets and systems. A joint set is a family of parallel, evenly spaced joints that can be identified through mapping and analysis of their orientations, spacing, and physical properties. A joint system consists of two or more intersecting joint sets.
Šar MountainsThe Šar Mountains (Serbian and Macedonian: Шар Планина, Šar Planina; colloquially also Шара, Šara) or Sharr Mountains (Malet e Sharrit) is a mountain range extending from southern Kosovo to northwestern North Macedonia. The sections in Kosovo, and in Šar Mountains National Park (North Macedonia) are national parks. Rugged and barren, the mountains are among the highest on the Balkans, with 30 peaks higher than .
TufaTufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertine. Tufa is sometimes referred to as (meteogene) travertine. It should not be confused with hot spring (thermogene) travertine. Tufa, which is calcareous, should also not be confused with tuff, a porous volcanic rock with a similar etymology that is sometimes also called "tufa".
Depression (geology)In geology, a depression is a landform sunken or depressed below the surrounding area. Depressions form by various mechanisms. Erosion-related: Blowout: a depression created by wind erosion typically in either a partially vegetated sand dune ecosystem or dry soils (such as a post-glacial loess environment). Glacial valley: a depression carved by erosion by a glacier. River valley: a depression carved by fluvial erosion by a river. Area of subsidence caused by the collapse of an underlying structure, such as sinkholes in karst terrain.
Base levelIn geology and geomorphology a base level is the lower limit for an erosion process. The modern term was introduced by John Wesley Powell in 1875. The term was subsequently appropriated by William Morris Davis who used it in his cycle of erosion theory. The "ultimate base level" is the plane that results from projection of the sea level under landmasses. It is to this base level that topography tends to approach due to erosion, eventually forming a peneplain close to the end of a cycle of erosion.
