The term Albtrauf (Alp escarpment) refers to the northwest facing escarpment of the Swabian Alps, situated in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. It is the most distinctive stepped slope within the alpine region of the South German Scarplands, leading roughly from the southwest to the northeast.
The Albtrauf has its geological extension in the northeast, in the stepped slopes of the Franconian Jura and in the southwest and west among the Jurassic period stepped slopes of the Baaralb, Hegaualb, Randen, Klettgau, Aargau as well as the Table Jura stretches from the city of Basel to the Ajoie and the French Scarplands.
In geology and geomorphology, however, the term “Trauf” merely describes the brink of the stepped slopes where various stepped surfaces meet (which is not developed in hipped steps).