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

It is not intended by this statement to imply that all of the 70 Atlantic plateau was ever a single great peneplain, but the same general history seems to apply to the entire region.

From North America by Russell, Israel C. (Cook)

The northwest-southeast trends of master streams thus were determined initially by the slope of the peneplain, whereas the north-south trends represent later adjustments to structure.

From Drainage Modifications and Glaciation in the Danbury Region Connecticut State of Connecticut State Geological and Natural History Survey Bulletin No. 30 by Sawyer-Harvey, Ruth

Thus a new cycle of erosion was begun, and the uplifted peneplain was dissected by the quickened streams which sank their valleys promptly into the slightly resistant sandstone.

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

This cycle had not been completed, that is, the work of base-leveling had not been altogether accomplished, when the peneplain was elevated, and the cycle, though still incomplete, brought to a close.

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