the.com/rocky outcrop
A rock that pushed through the earth's skin just to show off.
means A rocky outcrop is a section of bedrock or rock formation that juts out from the surrounding soil or landscape, exposed rather than buried.
from 'Outcrop' is a straightforward compound from mining and geology, built from 'out' plus 'crop' in its old sense of the visible top or head of something — like a crop of hair or a crop of grain poking up from below. Miners used 'crop out' as early as the 18th-19th century to describe a vein or stratum of rock breaking the surface, visible before any digging began. Over time the verb phrase hardened into the noun 'outcrop,' and 'rocky' was simply tacked on to specify the material, since the word can technically apply to any exposed geological layer, not just stone.
- geology
- bedrock exposed where erosion stripped the soil away
- ecology
- hosts plants and animals found nowhere else nearby
- survival edge
- microclimates let desert and alpine species coexist feet apart
- human use
- ancient peoples favored them for lookouts and shelter