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muela

English translation: butte

19:48 Oct 8, 2019
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Science - Geology / Landscape Units and features
Spanish term or phrase: muela
SPAIN. I'm familiar with the term in dentistry, where it means a molar tooth, but I'm not sure if the translation will be the same in the geography/geology area.

"En geografía, muela es un término que identifica a las mesetas o mesas de estratos casi horizontales formados generalmente por rocas calizas, y que han sido recortadas por ríos o ramblas que forman profundos desfiladeros o gargantas. En algunas ocasiones, las muelas aparecen completamente aisladas cuando la erosión ha ido eliminando la meseta de la cual formaba parte."
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 13:59
English translation:butte
Explanation:
I think it's this, from the description:

Vocabulario geomorfológico
https://books.google.es › books -
MUELA Cerro alto, de superficie plana, escarpado y de poca extensión, que recuerda por su forma a las muelas... Sinónimo: MESA PEQUEÑA..

La muela es una formación mesetaria plana o cóncava como resultado de la erosión.
The butte is a flat or concave plateau formation that is a result of erosion.
https://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=mue...

butte | National Geographic Society

https://www.nationalgeographic.org › encyclopedia › butte
Aug 1, 2013 - Buttes are tall, flat-topped, steep-sided towers of rock. Buttes were created through the process of erosion, the gradual wearing away of earth by water, wind, and ice. Buttes were once part of flat, elevated areas of land known as mesas or plateaus.
Butte - Wikipedia

What Is A Butte In Geography? - WorldAtlas.com

https://www.worldatlas.com › articles › what-is-a-butte-in-geography
May 8, 2018 - A butte refers to an isolated hill that is steep with a relatively flat top and vertical sides. Usually, a butte is a bit smaller when you compare it to a mesa, a plateau or a table landform.



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Note added at 2 days 20 hrs (2019-10-11 16:43:44 GMT) Post-grading
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Well mesa it is then. I'm sure butte will come in handy one day!
Selected response from:

Marie Wilson
Spain
Local time: 13:59
Grading comment
Thanks again to everyone for helping out on this one. Butte was the closest, although in the end the client prefers "mesa" this time round.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +3butte
Marie Wilson
4hillock
Andrea Sacchi
3flat-topped hill/peak
Robert Carter
Summary of reference entries provided
Findings
Helena Chavarria

  

Answers


19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
flat-topped hill/peak


Explanation:
Tureng has it as a flat-topped hill, but "peak" might be better as a broader term (to include mountains).

flat-topped hill muela
https://tureng.com/es/espanol-ingles/flat-topped

Robert Carter
Mexico
Local time: 05:59
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 20
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12 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
hillock


Explanation:
"A hillock or knoll is a small hill, usually separated from a larger group of hills such as a range. Hillocks are similar in their distribution and size to small mesas or buttes. The term is largely a British one. This particular formation occurs often in Great Britain and China."

A Partial Glossary of Spanish Geological Terms (link below)

muela nf hillock



    https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1991/0579/report.pdf
Andrea Sacchi
United Kingdom
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
Notes to answerer
Asker: I I'd usually think of a hillock as just a small hill, without the shape component of "muela". I've just sent the client a list of some similar terms to confirm and he will probably reply soon.

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23 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
butte


Explanation:
I think it's this, from the description:

Vocabulario geomorfológico
https://books.google.es › books -
MUELA Cerro alto, de superficie plana, escarpado y de poca extensión, que recuerda por su forma a las muelas... Sinónimo: MESA PEQUEÑA..

La muela es una formación mesetaria plana o cóncava como resultado de la erosión.
The butte is a flat or concave plateau formation that is a result of erosion.
https://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=mue...

butte | National Geographic Society

https://www.nationalgeographic.org › encyclopedia › butte
Aug 1, 2013 - Buttes are tall, flat-topped, steep-sided towers of rock. Buttes were created through the process of erosion, the gradual wearing away of earth by water, wind, and ice. Buttes were once part of flat, elevated areas of land known as mesas or plateaus.
Butte - Wikipedia

What Is A Butte In Geography? - WorldAtlas.com

https://www.worldatlas.com › articles › what-is-a-butte-in-geography
May 8, 2018 - A butte refers to an isolated hill that is steep with a relatively flat top and vertical sides. Usually, a butte is a bit smaller when you compare it to a mesa, a plateau or a table landform.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 days 20 hrs (2019-10-11 16:43:44 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Well mesa it is then. I'm sure butte will come in handy one day!

Marie Wilson
Spain
Local time: 13:59
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24
Grading comment
Thanks again to everyone for helping out on this one. Butte was the closest, although in the end the client prefers "mesa" this time round.
Notes to answerer
Asker: This rings a bell… I'll ask the client, who knows more about it than I do.

Asker: Client (Professor, head of dept) says "El término MESA creo que también se puede utilizar. Creo que se ajusta más que el término buttes..."


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Helena Chavarria: I was just going to post the same! // Don't worry. I only mentioned it to give more weight to my 'agree' :-)
2 mins
  -> Thanks, Helena :-) Sorry, I beat you to it.
neutral  Robert Carter: I thought you had it there, but now I'm not sure Marie. From all the photos of "muelas", they don't seem to be tall, just slightly raised from the hill or mountain below them, and flat, rather like a molar tooth, but not like those buttes in Arizona.
42 mins
  -> I don't know if there is an exact equivalent, maybe it's a shallow butte.
agree  franglish
11 hrs
  -> Thanks, franglish :-)
agree  bigedsenior: in the US SW they are called mesas
1 day 21 hrs
  -> Thanks, bigedsenior :-)
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Reference comments


29 mins
Reference: Findings

Reference information:
The steps that led me to butte.

En Venezuela, en particular, en la Guayana venezolana se encuentran formaciones mesetarias similares denominadas tepuyes (tepuy es un nombre procedente del idioma pemón), de mayores dimensiones que las muelas y formadas en estratos de arenisca

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muela_(geografía)

A tepui /ˈtɛpwi/, or tepuy (Spanish: [teˈpui]), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in the Guiana Highlands of South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran Sabana.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tepui

A table or tableland is a butte, flank of a mountain, or mountain, that has a flat top.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(landform)

In geomorphology, a butte (/bjuːt/) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word "butte" comes from a French word meaning "small hill"; its use is prevalent in the Western United States, including the southwest where "mesa" is used for the larger landform. Because of their distinctive shapes, buttes are frequently landmarks in plains and mountainous areas. In differentiating mesas and buttes, geographers use the rule of thumb that a mesa has a top that is wider than its height, while a butte has a top that is narrower than its height.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butte

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Note added at 2 days 22 hrs (2019-10-11 18:41:31 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

My pleasure :-)

Helena Chavarria
Spain
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
Note to reference poster
Asker: Great research, cheers :-)

Asker: Thanks again for the great references. The client prefers "mesa" for this article, which is about the Cofrentes-Ayora Valley.

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