GC: n

S: http://ngom.usgs.gov/pubs/pubs/Morton.Holmes_GCAGS09.pdf (last access: 27 September 2015); http://ruby.colorado.edu/~smyth/G101-7.html (last access: 27 September 2015).

N: 1. 1845, from sediment (1540s, “matter which settles at the bottom of water or other liquid,” from Middle French sédiment (16c.) and directly from Latin sedimentum “a settling, sinking down,” from stem of sedere “to settle, sit”, see sedentary) + -ation (word-forming element for making nouns of action; see -ion).
2. In the geological sciences, process of deposition of a solid material from a state of suspension or solution in a fluid (usually air or water). Broadly defined it also includes deposits from glacial ice and those materials collected under the impetus of gravity alone, as in talus deposits, or accumulations of rock debris at the base of cliffs. The term is commonly used as a synonym for sedimentary petrology and sedimentology.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=-ation&allowed_in_frame=0 (last access: 27 September 2015); FCB. 2. EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/science/sedimentation-geology (last access: 27 September 2015).

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CR: erosion.