Flatiron (geomorphology)

In geomorphology, a flatiron is a steeply sloping triangular landform created by the differential erosion of a steeply dipping, erosion resistant layer of rock overlying softer strata. Flatirons have wide bases that narrow upward to a point at the summit, and the dissection of a hogback by regularly spaced streams often produces a series of flatirons along the strike of the rock layer that formed the hogback; some flatirons are perched on the slope of a larger mountain, inclined in the same direction as, but often at a steeper angle than, the mountain slope itself. The name comes from the feature's resemblance to an upended household flatiron.