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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[F.

molasse

, prob. fr.

mollasse

flabby, flimsy, fr. L.

mollis

soft.]

(Geol.)

A soft Tertiary sandstone; – applied to a rock occurring in Switzerland. See Chart of

molasse ‎(plural molasses)

(geology) A shallow deposit of sandstone, shale and conglomerate in front of a rising mountain chain.
- 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society 2011, p. 109:
  The molasse provides a record of the wearing down of the Alpine range at a late stage; unlike the Flysch, it is largely non-marine.

molasse