Karst:
A landscape that is characterized by the features of solution weathering and erosion in the subsurface. These features include caves, sinkholes, disappearing streams and subsurface drainage.
Kerogen:
Solid organic substances frequently found in shales. The organic component of an oil shale.
Kettle:
A depression formed in glacial deposits when a buried block of ice, left behind by a retreating glacier, melts.
Kettle Lake:
A lake that forms in a kettle.
K-feldspar:
A potassium feldspar such as orthoclase, microcline, sanidine or adularia. Also referred to as potash feldspar.
Kilobar:
A unit of pressure equal to 1000 bars (the mean atmospheric pressure at 100 meters above sea level is one bar).
Kimberlite:
A variety of peridotite that is found in volcanic pipes which are thought to be intrusions from the upper mantle. Many diamond deposits are found in kimberlite pipes.
Knickpoint:
An abrupt change in slope. A point on a stream profile where a change in gradient occurs. This could be caused by a change in underlying bedrock or bedrock structure.
Knob:
A small hilltop that is round in shape.