A
cuesta is the term used to describe a
hill or
ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology the term is more specific applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer layer, the whole being tilted somewhat from the horizontal. This results in a long and gentle backslope called a
dip slope that conforms with the
dip of resistant
strata, called
caprock. Where erosion has exposed the frontslope of this, a steep slope or
escarpment occurs.