Cuesta

In structural geology and geomorphology, a cuesta (from Spanish: "slope") is a ridge formed by gently tilted sedimentary rock strata in a homoclinal structure.Monkhouse, F. J. A Dictionary of Geography. London: Edward Arnold, 1978 Cuestas have a steep slope, where the rock layers are exposed on their edges, called an escarpment or, if more steep, a cliff. Usually an erosion-resistant rock layer also has a more gentle slope on the other side of the ridge called a dip slope. The steeper slopes face inside anticlines and outside eroded synclines.Arthur N. Strahler. Physical Geography. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1960, Second Edition, p. 473.

Examples of cuestas

Two well-known cuestas in western New York and southern Ontario are the Onondaga escarpment and the Niagara escarpment, respectively. The dip of the Onondaga is about 40 feet per mile (about 7.6 m/km) to the south. The escarpment edge faces north and, in its most populated section, runs roughly parallel to the southern Lake Ontario shoreline.

The Gulf Coastal Plain in Texas is punctuated by a series of cuestas that parallel the coast, as are most coastal plains. The Reynosa Plateau is the most coast-ward cuesta, which sees surface expression with the Bordes-Oakville...
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