This scarp overlooks the coastal plain of the Rio Grande embayment. Usually "scarp" and "scarp face" are used interchangeably with "escarpment". A typical scalloped depression displays a gentle equator-facing slope and a steeper pole-facing scarp. It is those rocks which form vertical crags along the top edge of the scarp. On the west of this is a porch overhanging the perpendicular scarp. The Hanga O Teo embayment is interpreted to be a 200 m high landslide scarp. This is a normal fault whose fault scarp has been eroded forming a strandflat. Geologically, it is on one of outliers of the Cotswold scarp. On its western scarp is an Iron Age hill fort. Moisture related weathering is what causes scarp recession. Eltham Palace occupies a commanding position on the edge of the scarp. Transverse cracks at the head scarp drain water, possibly killing vegetation. A venusquake may have caused a new scarp and a landslide to form. On all sides it has an exceedingly abrupt scarp, modified only on the south-east. It is like a stone ladder placed at 60 degree along the scarp.