Gap (landform) in the context of "Col"

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⭐ Core Definition: Gap (landform)

A gap is a geological formation that is a low point or opening between hills or mountains or in a ridge or mountain range.

It may be called a col, notch, pass, saddle, water gap, or wind gap. Geomorphologically, a gap is most often carved by water erosion from a freshet, stream or a river. Gaps created by freshets are often, if not normally, devoid of water through much of the year, their streams being dependent upon the meltwaters of a snow pack. Gaps sourced by small springs will generally have a small stream excepting perhaps during the most arid parts of the year.

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👉 Gap (landform) in the context of Col

A col in geomorphology is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks. It may also be called a gap or pass. Particularly rugged and forbidding cols in the terrain are usually referred to as notches. They are generally unsuitable as mountain passes, but are occasionally crossed by mule tracks or climbers' routes. Derived from the French col ("collar, neck") from Latin collum, "neck", the term tends to be associated more with mountain than hill ranges. The distinction with other names for breaks in mountain ridges such as saddle, wind gap or notch is not sharply defined and may vary from place to place. Many double summits are separated by prominent cols.

The height of a summit above its highest col (called the key col) is effectively a measure of a mountain's topographic prominence.

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Gap (landform) in the context of Wind gap

A wind gap (or air gap) is a gap through which a waterway once flowed that is now dry as a result of stream capture. A water gap is a similar feature, but one in which a waterway still flows. Water gaps and wind gaps often provide routes which, due to their gently inclined profile, are suitable for trails, roads, and railroads through mountainous terrain.

Examples of wind gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia include Swift Run Gap, Rockfish Gap, and Buford's Gap. The last was the original crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Bedford for the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, later the Norfolk and Western Railway, a precursor of today's Norfolk Southern Railway system. Another wind gap with substantial importance in U.S. history is the Cumberland Gap near the junction of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee.

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Gap (landform) in the context of San Gorgonio Pass

The San Gorgonio Pass, or Banning Pass, is a 2,600 ft (790 m) elevation gap on the rim of the Great Basin between the San Bernardino Mountains to the north and the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. The pass was formed by the San Andreas Fault, a major transform fault between the Pacific plate and the North American plate that is slipping at a rate of 7.2 ±2.8 mm/year. The tall mountain ranges on either side of the pass result in the pass being a transitional zone from a Mediterranean climate west of the pass, to a Desert climate east of the pass. This also makes the pass area one of the windiest places in the United States, and why it is home to the San Gorgonio Pass wind farm.

It serves as a major transportation corridor between the Greater Los Angeles region and the Coachella Valley, and ultimately into Arizona and the United States interior. Both Interstate 10, and the Union Pacific Railroad, utilize the pass. When the rail line was completed in January 1883, by the Southern Pacific Railroad, it was billed as the second U.S. transcontinental railroad.

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Gap (landform) in the context of Water gap

A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a practical route for road and rail transport to cross the mountain barrier.

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Gap (landform) in the context of Nesebar Gap

Nesebar Gap (Sedlovina Nesebar \se-dlo-vi-'na ne-'se-b&r\) is a 1.3 km wide gap in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica bounded to the west by Pliska Ridge and to the east by the northern slope of Mount Friesland, Tangra Mountains. It is part of the divide between the glacial catchments of Perunika Glacier to the north and Huntress Glacier to the south. The gap is part of an overland route between Orpheus Gate to the west, and Camp Academia locality and Lozen Saddle to the east.

The Nesebar Gap was first mapped in detail by the Spanish Servicio Geográfico del Ejército in 1991. Nesebar is the name of a town on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.

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