A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion. [1] Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. [1] Ravines may also be called a cleuch, dell, ghout ( Nevis), gill or ghyll, glen, gorge, kloof ( South Africa), and chine ( Isle of Wight)
A ravine is generally a fluvial slope landform of relatively steep (cross-sectional) sides, on the order of twenty to seventy percent in gradient. Ravines may or may not have active streams flowing along the downslope channel which originally formed them; moreover, often they are characterized by intermittent streams, since their geographic scale may not be sufficiently large to support a perennial stream. [2]