accretionary wedge
Tectonic scraping pile
An accretionary wedge is a mass of sediment and rock that accumulates at the edge of a tectonic plate where one plate slides beneath another.
As the lower plate descends, material gets scraped off and piled up against the overriding plate, forming a wedge-shaped structure.
These formations occur at subduction zones and can grow over millions of years into substantial geological features.
Geological mountain formation
- lithosphereCrust plus upper mantle
- continental crustGranitic lithosphere under landmasses
- metamorphismHeat-pressure mineral alteration
- isostasyGravitational balance of landmasses
Tending toward union
- oceanic trenchDeepest seafloor depression
- plate boundaryWhere Earth's sections meet
- volcanic arcCurved line of volcanoes
- melangeAssorted mixture of elements
prism · backstop · imbrication
Change in shape
- imbricateOverlapping in sequence
- duplexDivided dwelling, shared walls
- nappeHorizontally displaced rock mass
- anticlineArched rock formation
syncline · fault zone · vergence · shortening · stacking
orogeny
Geological mountain formation
- lithosphereCrust plus upper mantle
- continental crustGranitic lithosphere under landmasses
- metamorphismHeat-pressure mineral alteration
convergent
Tending toward union
- oceanic trenchDeepest seafloor depression
- plate boundaryWhere Earth's sections meet
- volcanic arcCurved line of volcanoes
melange · prism · backstop · imbrication
deformation
Change in shape
- imbricateOverlapping in sequence
- duplexDivided dwelling, shared walls
- nappeHorizontally displaced rock mass
anticline · syncline · fault zone · vergence · shortening · stacking
pelagic
Of the open sea
chert · claystone · dewatering
- ocean floorseafloor, ocean floor, deep sea floor, oceanic crust, mid-ocean ridge
- seafloorseabed, seafloor, ocean floor, mid-ocean ridge, sea bed
- tectonicsplate tectonics, tectonic plates, tectonic plate, subduction, plate boundaries
- thrust tectonicsnappe, ramp, duplex
- orogenyorogeny, mountain building, uplift, folding, faulting
- subductionsubduction zone, trench, megathrust, slab, oceanic crust