denudatory

English

Etymology

denude +‎ -atory

Adjective

denudatory (comparative more denudatory, superlative most denudatory)

1. Synonym of denudative
   • 1858, G. Poulett Scrope, The Geology and Extinct Volcanos of Central France, page 37:

     My observations of the general features of the country in 1821 led me not merely to doubt, but to deny altogether, that there is any reason for referring the denudatory action to which its valleys are due to any single cataclysm or diluvial phenomenon.

   • 1873, Sir Warington Wilkinson Smyth, A Rudimentary Treatise on Coal and Coal Mining, page 105:

     Not even the underclay, with its matted, carbonised roots, is sufficient evidence of the nearness of a bed of coal, for such a material has sometimes been deposited, and either the conditions for the abundant growth of the coal-plants have not supervened, or the coal may have been formed, and subsequently been removed by natural denudatory action.

   • 1977, Anthony Hallam, Planet Earth: an Encyclopedia of Geology, page 305:

     His awareness of the denudatory power of water enabled him to recognize fossils as organic remains buried in strata debris, and he pointed to the similarities between fossil and living specimens.