Molasse refers to the sandstones, or less commonly shales formed as shore deposits, for example that left from the rising Alps, or erosion in the Himalaya. More generally, the term means the terrestrial deposits eroded from a mountain chain and deposited in a foreland basin, especially on top of flysch. These deposits are typically the non-marine alluvial and fluvial sediments of lowlands, as compared to deep-water flysch sediments.