downfold
Valley-shaped rock layer
A downfold is a trough-shaped bend in rock layers where the strata curve downward, forming a U or V shape.
Geologists call this structure a syncline.
The term appears in technical descriptions of terrain: The valley follows an ancient downfold in the limestone.
The opposite—an upward arch—is an upfold or anticline.
Forcing into smaller space
- convergenceProcess of approaching sameness
- orogenyGeological mountain formation
- crustalOf outer rock layer
- lithosphereCrust plus upper mantle
plate boundary · subduction · collision · stress · strain · shortening · thickening · mountain building
Downward-bowing rock formation
- anticlineArched rock formation
- troughOpen container for animal feed
- basinConcave water receptacle
- strataParallel geological layers
limb · hinge · plunge · nappe · recumbent · overturned · asymmetric · chevron
Materials covering a mattress
- layeringForming successive strata
- sedimentaryFormed from deposited material
- depositionFormal testimony under oath
- rock formationNatural stone arrangement
outcrop · superposition · erosion · unconformity · formation · sequence · facies · fossils
compression
Forcing into smaller space
- convergenceProcess of approaching sameness
- orogenyGeological mountain formation
- crustalOf outer rock layer
lithosphere · plate boundary · subduction · collision · stress · strain · shortening · thickening · mountain building · foreland
syncline
Downward-bowing rock formation
strata · limb · hinge · plunge · nappe · recumbent · overturned · asymmetric · chevron · monocline
bedding
Materials covering a mattress
- layeringForming successive strata
- sedimentaryFormed from deposited material
- depositionFormal testimony under oath
rock formation · outcrop · superposition · erosion · unconformity · formation · sequence · facies · fossils · paleontology