slickenside: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
Very LowHighly Technical / Academic
Quick answer
What does “slickenside” mean?
A smooth, often polished and striated rock surface created by friction during fault movement or glaciation.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
A smooth, often polished and striated rock surface created by friction during fault movement or glaciation.
In geology, a fault surface or fracture plane that has been worn smooth and grooved by the sliding motion of rocks against each other.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in meaning or usage; it is a precise geological term used identically in both varieties.
Connotations
Purely descriptive and technical.
Frequency
Extremely rare outside of geological texts, fieldwork reports, and academic papers. Frequency is equally negligible in both UK and US English.
Grammar
How to Use “slickenside” in a Sentence
The slickenside [verb: indicates, shows, reveals] the direction of fault slip.A slickenside was [verb: formed, created, polished] along the fault plane.Vocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “slickenside” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- The fault plane has been slickensided by subsequent movements. (Rare, technical usage as past participle adjective)
American English
- The shale is slickensided along the joint surface. (Rare, technical usage as past participle adjective)
adverb
British English
- No adverbial form exists.
American English
- No adverbial form exists.
adjective
British English
- The geologist pointed out the slickenside texture on the exposed fault.
American English
- They collected a sample with a classic slickenside surface.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Never used.
Academic
Exclusively used in geology, seismology, and earth science papers and textbooks.
Everyday
Virtually never used.
Technical
Core term for describing fault mechanics and evidence of rock displacement.
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “slickenside”
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms of “slickenside”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “slickenside”
- Using it as a verb (e.g., 'the rocks slickensided').
- Confusing it with general terms for smooth rock like 'glacial polish' without the specific fault context.
- Misspelling as 'slickenslide' or 'slickensided'.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, it is an extremely rare and highly technical term used almost exclusively in geology.
Not in standard usage. The related form 'slickensided' is sometimes used as a past participle adjective (e.g., 'slickensided surface'), but 'to slickenside' is not a standard verb.
It is a rock surface that is both polished smooth and marked with linear striations or grooves, indicating the direction of past movement.
A slickenside specifically implies the smoothness and striations were created by frictional sliding during faulting or glaciation. A smooth rock surface could be formed by many other processes (e.g., water erosion, weathering).
A smooth, often polished and striated rock surface created by friction during fault movement or glaciation.
Slickenside is usually highly technical / academic in register.
Slickenside: in British English it is pronounced /ˈslɪk(ə)nsʌɪd/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈslɪkənˌsaɪd/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “None. It is a technical term with no idiomatic usage.”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of rocks SLIDing and becoming SLICK against each other's SIDE, creating a SLICKENSIDE.
Conceptual Metaphor
The earth's skin scarred by movement (a polished, scratched surface as evidence of past trauma/force).
Practice
Quiz
In which field is the term 'slickenside' exclusively used?