Cliff

In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually composed of rock that is resistant to weathering and erosion. The sedimentary rocks that are most likely to form cliffs include sandstone, limestone, chalk, and dolomite. Igneous rocks such as granite and basalt also often form cliffs.
An escarpment is a type of cliff formed by the movement of a geologic fault, a landslide, or sometimes by rock slides or falling rocks which change the differential erosion of the rock layers.
Most cliffs have some form of scree slope at their base. In arid areas or under high cliffs, they are generally exposed jumbles of fallen rock. In areas of higher moisture, a soil slope may obscure the talus. Many cliffs also feature tributary waterfalls or rock shelters. Sometimes a cliff peters out at the end of a ridge, with mushroom rocks or other types of rock columns remaining. Coastal erosion may lead to the formation of sea cliffs along a receding coastline.
The British Ordnance Survey distinguishes between cliffs and outcrops.

Etymology

Cliff comes from the Old English word clif of essentially the same meaning, cognate with Dutch, Low German, and Old Norse klif 'cliff'. These may in turn all be from a Romance loanword into Primitive Germanic that has its origins in the Latin forms clivus / clevus.

Large and famous cliffs

Given that a cliff does not need to be exactly vertical, there can be ambiguity about whether a given slope is a cliff or not and also about how much of a certain slope to count as a cliff. For example, given a truly vertical rock wall above a very steep slope, one could count just the rock wall or the combination. Listings of cliffs are thus inherently uncertain.
Some of the largest cliffs on Earth are found underwater. For example, an 8,000 m drop over a 4,250 m span can be found at a ridge sitting inside the Kermadec Trench. Or, some of the largest sea cliffs in the southern hemisphere exist both above and below the waterline on the south-eastern edge of the island state of Tasmania, Australia: these are of the hard, igneous rock dolerite.
According to some sources, the highest cliff in the world, about 1,340 m high, is the east face of Great Trango in the Karakoram mountains of northern Pakistan. This uses a fairly stringent notion of cliff, as the 1,340 m figure refers to a nearly vertical headwall of two stacked pillars; adding in a very steep approach brings the total drop from the East Face precipice to the nearby Dunge Glacier to nearly 2,000 m.
The location of the world's highest sea cliffs depends also on the definition of 'cliff' that is used. Guinness World Records states it is Kalaupapa, Hawaii, at 1,010 m high. Another contender is the north face of Mitre Peak, which drops 1,683 m to Milford Sound, New Zealand. These are subject to a less stringent definition, as the average slope of these cliffs at Kaulapapa is about 1.7, corresponding to an angle of 60 degrees, and Mitre Peak is similar. A more vertical drop into the sea can be found at Maujit Qaqarssuasia which is situated in the Torssukátak fjord area at the very tip of South Greenland and drops 1,560 m near-vertically.
Considering a truly vertical drop, Mount Thor on Baffin Island in Arctic Canada is often considered the highest at 1370 m high in total, and is said to give it the longest vertical drop on Earth at 1,250 m. However, other cliffs on Baffin Island, such as Polar Sun Spire in the Sam Ford Fjord, or others in remote areas of Greenland may be higher.
The highest cliff in the Solar System may be Verona Rupes, an approximately high fault scarp on Miranda, a moon of Uranus.

List

The following is an incomplete list of cliffs of the world.

Africa

Above Sea

Anaga's Cliffs, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, above Atlantic Ocean
Cape Hangklip, Western Cape, South Africa, above False Bay, Atlantic Ocean
Cape Point, Western Cape, South Africa, above Atlantic Ocean
Chapman's Peak, Western Cape, South Africa, above Atlantic Ocean
Karbonkelberg, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, above Hout Bay, Atlantic Ocean
Kogelberg, Western Cape, South Africa, above False Bay, Atlantic Ocean
Los Gigantes, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, above Atlantic Ocean
Table Mountain, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, above Atlantic Ocean

Above Land

Innumerable peaks in the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa are considered cliff formations. The Drakensberg Range is regarded, together with Ethiopia's Simien Mountains, as one of the two finest erosional mountain ranges on Earth. Because of their near-unique geological formation, the range has an extraordinarily high percentage of cliff faces making up its length, particularly along the highest portion of the range. This portion of the range is virtually uninterrupted cliff faces, ranging from to in height for almost. Of all, the "Drakensberg Amphitheatre" is most well known. Other notable cliffs include the Trojan Wall, Cleft Peak, Injisuthi Triplets, Cathedral Peak, Monk's Cowl, Mnweni Buttress, etc. The cliff faces of the Blyde River Canyon, technically still part of the Drakensberg, may be over, with the main face of the Swadini Buttress approximately tall.
*Drakensberg Amphitheatre, South Africa above base, long. The Tugela Falls, the world's second tallest waterfall, falls over the edge of the cliff face.
Karambony, Madagascar, above base.
Mount Meru, Tanzania Caldera Cliffs,
Tsaranoro, Madagascar, above base
Americas

North

Several big granite faces in the Arctic region vie for the title of 'highest vertical drop on Earth', but reliable measurements are not always available. The possible contenders include :
Mount Thor, Baffin Island, Canada; 1,370 m total; top 480 m is overhanging. This is commonly regarded as being the largest vertical drop on Earth ot:leapyear at 1,250 m.

The sheer north face of Polar Sun Spire, in the §74:MTAtoFa

of Baffin Island, rises 4,300 ft above the flat frozen fjord, although the lower portion of the face breaks from the vertical wall with a series of ledges and buttresses.

Ketil's and its neighbor Ulamertorsuaq's west faces in Tasermiut, Greenland have been reported as over 1,000 m high. Another relevant cliff in Greenland is Agdlerussakasit's Thumbnail.

Other notable cliffs include:

Ättestupan Cliff, northern side of Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord, Greenland
Big Sandy Mountain, east face buttress, Wind River Range, Wyoming, 550 m
Calvert Cliffs along the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, U.S. 25 m
Cap Éternité of Saguenay River, Quebec, Canada, 347 m
All faces of Devils Tower, Wyoming, United States, 195 m
Doublet Peak, southwest face, Wind River Range, Wyoming, United States, 370 m
El Capitan, Yosemite Valley, California, United States; 900 m
Grand Teton, north face Teton Range, Wyoming
Northwest Face of Half Dome, near El Capitan, California, United States; 1,444 m total, vertical portion about 610 m
Longs Peak Diamond, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, United States, 400 m
Mount Asgard, Baffin Island, Canada; vertical drop of about 1,200 m.
Mount Siyeh, Glacier National Park north face,
The North Face of North Twin Peak, Rocky Mountains, Alberta, Canada, 1,200 m
The west face of Notch Peak in the House Range of southwestern Utah, U.S.; a carbonate rock pure vertical drop of about 670 m, with from the top of the cliff to valley floor
Painted Wall in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado, United States; 685 m
Raftsmen's Acropolis, a rock face of the Montagne des Érables, Quebec, Canada, 800 m
Rockwall, Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, Canada, 30 km of mostly unbroken cliffs up to 900 m
Royal Gorge cliffs, Colorado, United States, 350 m
Faces of Shiprock, New Mexico, United States, 400 m
All walls of the Stawamus Chief, Squamish, British Columbia, Canada, up to 500 m
Temple Peak, east face, Wind River Range, Wyoming, 400 m
Temple Peak East, north face, Wind River Range, Wyoming, 450 m
Toroweap, Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States; 900 m
Uncompahgre Peak, northeast face, San Juan Range, Colorado, 275 m
East face of the West Temple in Zion National Park, Utah, United States believed to be the tallest sandstone cliff in the world, 670 m
South
All faces of Auyan Tepui, along with all other Tepuis, Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana, Auyan Tepui is about 1,000 m
All faces of Cerro Chalten, Patagonia, Argentina-Chile, 1200 m
All faces of Cerro Torre, Patagonia, Chile-Argentina
Pão de Açúcar/Sugar Loaf, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 395 m
Pared de Gocta, Peru, 771 m
Pared Sur Cerro Aconcagua. Las Heras, Mendoza, Argentina, 2,700 m
Pedra Azul, Pedra Azul State Park, Espírito Santo, Brazil, 540 m
Scratched Stone, São José do Divino/MG, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 1,480 m
Faces of the Torres del Paine group, Patagonia, Chile, up to 900 m
Asia