scablands

/ ˈskæbˌlændz /

plural noun

1. a type of terrain, found for example in the NW US, consisting of bare rock surfaces, with little or no soil cover and scanty vegetation, that have been deeply channelled by glacial flood waters

Example Sentences

For decades, eastern Oregon’s scablands—rocky patches of open terrain—were a refuge for people fighting wildfires in the surrounding forests.

From Science Magazine

Descending from the pass takes you into shrub-steppe landscape and scablands scattered with countless “irregulars,” or giant boulders, ranging from the size of a fridge to two-story houses.

From Seattle Times

They have popped up in the scablands of eastern Washington and along Lake Michigan.

From Los Angeles Times

Then he turned north and descended into the Washington scablands, a tortured landscape shaped by a series of cataclysms between twelve and fifteen thousand years ago.

From Literature

These ripples, formed by fast running water, were strong evidence supporting a catastrophic flood draining Lake Missoula, providing the necessary huge amount of water end energy to carve the scablands into the bedrock.

From Scientific American