molasse

Etymology

From French molasse, a kind of sandstone, from Latin mollis (“soft”).

noun

  1. (geology) A shallow deposit of sandstone, shale and conglomerate in front of a rising mountain chain.
    The molasse provides a record of the wearing down of the Alpine range at a late stage; unlike the Flysch, it is largely non-marine. 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 109

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/molasse), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.