Chapter 20 Flashcards
What is a Major Mountain Belt?
A long chain of mountain ranges.
What is a mountain range?
A group of closely spaced mountains or parallel ridges.
What is an orogeny?
used to describe mountain building.
What is a Craton?
The term to describe the structurally stable portion of a continent.
What is a Precambrian Shield?
A complex of old precambrian metamorphic and plutonic rocks exposed over a large area.
What is a reverse fault?
A thrust fault is a low-angle fault.
What is an accretionary wedge?
They develop where newly formed layers of marine sediment are folded and faulted as they are scraped off the subducting oceanic plate.
What is Lithospheric Delamination in the context of mountain ranges?
The detachment of part of the mantle portion of the lithosphere beneath a mountain belt.
What is Orogeny?
An episode of intense deformation of the rocks in a region.
What is Isostasy?
how things float specifically referring to plates.
In what areas has arc-continent collision played a role in the geology of the United States?
- Western United States
- Appalachians
- California
What is the overall movement of the himalayas?
mostly to the north although some of this movement is deflected to the east into China.
What are terranes when referring to mountain regions?
A region in which the geology is different from that in adjoining regions.
What is a suspect Terrane?
A terrane that may not have formed at its present site.
What is an accreted Terrane?
Terrane that did not form at its present site on a continent.
