terrain (teran)

[Also sometimes terrane; of which the English word "ground" is most properly ployed; as, gagner du terrain," to gain ground; "perdre " du terrain," to lose ground, favor, or credit; also with various metaphorical significations: as, "être sur son terrain," to have to do with, or to speak of, that with which one is thoroughly familiar; "sonder le terrain," examine the conditions, or look into the matter, etc. As used by French geologists, the word terrain has a somewhat vague meaning, and is usually limited by some qualifying term: as, " terrain de transition," " terrain primitif." This word was introduced into English geological literature by the translator of Humboldt's "E ai Géognostique," where it was used, as he remarks, "because we have no word in the English language which will accurately expre terrain as used in geology by the French." Also spelled (but rarely) terrane. • Rocks which alternate with each other, and which are found usually together, and which display the same relations of position, constitute the same formation; the union of several formations constitutes a geological series or a district ( terrain ); but the terms rocks, formations, and terrains are used as synonymous in many works on geognosy. Humboldt, Geognostical E ay on the Superposition of [Rocks (trans.), p. 2. This term [ terrane ] is used for any single rock or continuous series of rocks of a region, whether the formation be stratified or not. It is applied especially to metamorphic and igneous rocks, as a basaltic terrane , etc. J. D. Dana , Man. of Geol. (rev. ed.), p. 81. terramara (ter-a-mä'rä), n.; pl. terramare (-re). [ terra amara , bitter earth (a term used in the vicinity of Parma): terra , terra , earth; amara , fem. of amaro , amarus , bitter.] Any stratum or deposit of earthy material containing organic or mineral matter (such as bones or phosphates) in sufficient quantity to furnish a valuable fertilizer; hence, a deposit containing prehistoric remains, as fragments of bones and pottery, cinders, etc., of similar character to the deposits called in northern Europe kitchen - mid dens. There are large numbers of these terramare on the plain traversed by the Via Emilia between the Po and the A pennines; some of them are intermediate in character between the kitchen-middens of Denmark and the palafittes of Switzerland, appearing to mark sites of settlements originally built on piles in shallow lakes (or perhaps on marshy ground subject to frequent inundation), which have gradually become desiccated while the stations continued to be occupied.