geology
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Also known as: bute
Mitten buttes in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona.
butte
French:
hillock or rising ground
Also spelled:
bute
Related Topics:
mountain
inselberg
tepui
hill

butte, flat-topped hill surrounded by a steep escarpment from the bottom of which a slope descends to the plain. The term is sometimes used for an elevation higher than a hill but not high enough for a mountain. Buttes capped by horizontal platforms of hard rock are characteristic of the arid plateau region of the western United States. See also mesa.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.