peneplain

American  

[pee-nuh-pleyn, pee-nuh-pleyn] / ˈpi nəˌpleɪn, ˌpi nəˈpleɪn /

Or peneplane

noun

Geology.

1. an area reduced almost to a plain by erosion.

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peneplain British  

/ ˈpiːnɪˌpleɪn, ˌpiːnɪˈpleɪn /

noun

1. a relatively flat land surface produced by a long period of erosion

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Other Word Forms

• peneplanation
  noun

Etymology

Origin of peneplain

First recorded in 1885–90; pene- + plain ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

peneplain

Peace does not reign in a science, they say, until its peaks and valleys have worn to a featureless peneplain grazed by placid ruminants.

From Time Magazine Archive

Geologists call it a peneplain, which means nearly-a-plain; it is from fragmentary remains of peneplains that they trace ranges long ages washed away.

From The Book of the National Parks by Robert Sterling Yard

A peneplain, therefore, is a surface which has been brought toward, but not to base-level.

From The Geography of the Region about Devils Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin by Wallace W. Atwood

The bottoms of the broad depressions represent the Shenandoah peneplain, which is sharply trenched by the modern river channels.

From North America by Israel C. (Cook) Russell

Along the Atlantic coast the Mesozoic peneplain may be traced shoreward to where it disappears from view beneath an unconformable cover of early Tertiary marine strata.

From The Elements of Geology by William Harmon Norton