Talus

Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 10: Swastika to Zyrianovsk and Index, p. 56

Talus, a term employed in Geology to designate the sloping heap which accumulates at the base of a rock or precipice, from fragments broken off by the weather, or materials in any way carried over it. The term is also applied to the slope of a wall which diminishes in thickness as it rises.

Source scan(s): p. 0075