Hey Aaron,
first, take a look at these two pictures (both were taken in Spring, different maps):
Pictured here are two slopes. In the first one you can clearly see that the strata data (heh) used is bumpmapped (?) and reacts to the sun direction, creating a 3D-esque effect. The second picture is included for comparison, and is what can be achieved with current L3DT features (although I strongly suspect that the texture wasn't generated with L3DT as the strata in the slope looks very detailed). So, in a nutshell, strata can be used to create detail in slopes even though it's not it's original purpose.
And now, since we're here, it would be nice to see similar lighting effects in textures generated by L3DT. I haven't asked the guy who made those maps (he did make both of them) what kind of application he is using to generate the texture since map making methods are considered to be trade secrets in the Spring mapping community. But yeah, bump mapped strata would be sweet.
Cheers.