Scree or detritic cone is a term given to broken rock that appears at the bottom of crags, mountain cliffs or valley shoulders. The maximum inclination of such deposits corresponds to the friction angle of the mean debris size. Download high resolution version (480x640, 111 KB)Scree clopes in Corrie Laggan (Skye) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Sedimentary, volcanic, plutonic, metamorphic rock types of North America. ... The Abbey Craig, a crag with tail near The University of Stirling. ... Cliffs on the banks of the River Severn, near Bristol, England In geography, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. ... Schematic cross section of an quarterny Alpine valley. ... Debris (French, pronounced (IPA) dibri) is a word used to describe the remains of something that has been otherwise destroyed. ...

The term scree is generally used interchangeably with talus, though talus may be used more specifically to refer to scree in the context of a slope or a deposit of a side valley - that is, talus is scree accumulated on, or at the bottom of a slope. Talus (which is Latin for ankle-bone) may refer to: Talus bone (anatomy), connecting the leg to the foot. ... Look up Slope in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The slope or the gradient is commonly used to describe the measurement of the steepness, incline or grade of a straight line. ... The terms side valley and tributary valley refer to valleys whose brook or river is confluent to a greater one. ...

The formation of scree is often a result of frost heaving, one of the physical erosion processes that slowly wear mountains down. During the day, water can flow into cracks and crevices in the rock. If the temperature drops sufficiently, for example with the onset of evening, the water freezes. Since water expands when it freezes, it forms a powerful wedge which can eventually break out pieces of rock. (Also known as frost action) A repeated cycle of freeze-thaw can lead to significant erosion and most of the loose rock or scree slopes so common in the mountains have been formed in this way. Frost heaving (or frost heave) occurs when soil expands upward or outward and contracts due to freezing and thawing. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and other particles) by the agents of wind, water, ice, movement in response to gravity, or living organisms (in the case of bioerosion). ... The word Freeze has several meanings A freeze is a particularly cold spell of weather, a snow storm or an ice storm. ...

For mountaineers screes may be a danger to break one's legs. On the other hand, experienced mountaineers often rush down a scree by balancing on a large boulder which slides down by its increased weight (exceed of the mean friction angle). In a similar way, gravity causes an almost constant scree inclination by the impulse of falling rocks. Mountaineering is an umbrella term that can variously be used to describe the actions of climbing, hillwalking and scrambling. ... In geology, a boulder is a rock with grain size of more than 256 mm (10 inches) diameter. ... Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ...

Formation of scree can occur on planets or moons other than the Earth. For example it is fairly common for fresh craters on the Moon to have piles of talus along the base of the inner wall. A planet is generally considered to be a relatively large mass of accreted matter in orbit around a star that is not a star itself. ... Earth is the third planet from the Sun. ... Bulk composition of the moons mantle and crust estimated, weight percent Oxygen 42. ...

See also

• Angle of repose, cirque (landform), gravel
• Mass wasting, landslide