The release of confining pressure associated with the removal of overlying material. May result in expansion of rock, accompanied by the development of joints or sheeting
Iowa State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Glossary of Geologic Terms (based on the glossary in Earth: An Introduction to Geologic Change, by S. Judson and S.M. Richardson, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice Hall, 1995), Iowa, USA 2004. http://www.ge-at.iastate.edu/courses/Geol_100/old_ files/glossary.v2.html, (ND/ Geol - Amer) {111}