FALLLINE

Fall line

A fall line is the geomorphologic break between an upland region of relatively hard crystalline basement rock and a coastal plain of softer sedimentary rock. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls. Many times a fall line will recede upstream as the river cuts out the uphill dense material, often forming “c”-shaped waterfalls. Because of these features riverboats typically cannot travel any farther inland without portaging, unless locks are built there. On the other hand, the rapid change in elevation of the water, and the resulting energy release, makes the fall line a good location for water mills, ...

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fall line

Noun

  1. A geomorphologic unconformity marking a boundary between an upland region and a plane; sometimes marked by a series of waterfalls on rivers that cross it.
  2. The imaginary line downhill that something falling downhill would naturally follow.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: fall line
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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