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Glossary
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Below you will find key words and concepts that you should remember from this chapter.
accreted terrane  Terrane that did not form at its present site on a continent.
(See page(s) 128)
accumulation stage  Stage in the evolution of major mountain belts characterized by the accumulation of great thicknesses (several kilometers) of sedimentary or volcanic rocks.
(See page(s) 119)
craton  Portion of a continent that has been structurally stable for a prolonged period of time.
(See page(s) 115)
fault-block mountain range  A range created by uplift along normal or vertical faults.
(See page(s) 123)
fold and thrust belts  A portion of a major mountain belt characterized by large thrust faults, stacked one upon another. Layered rock between the faults was folded when faulting was taking place.
(See page(s) 118)
lithospheric delamination (or delamination)  The detachment of part of the mantle portion of the lithosphere beneath a mountain belt.
(See page(s) 125)
major mountain belt  A long chain (thousands of kilometers) of mountain ranges.
(See page(s) 112)
mountain range  A group of closely spaced mountains or parallel ridges.
(See page(s) 112)
orogeny  An episode of intense deformation of the rocks in a region, generally accompanied by metamorphism and plutonic activity.
(See page(s) 120)
Precambrian shield  A complex of old Precambrian metamorphic and plutonic rocks exposed over a large area.
(See page(s) 116)
suspect terrane  A terrane that may not have formed at its present site.
(See page(s) 128)
terrane (tectonostratigraphic terrane)  A region in which the geology is markedly different from that in adjoining regions.
(See page(s) 128)
gravitational collapse and spreading  term used to describe a hypothetical process during mountain building at convergent plate boundries to account for observed folding and thrust faulting simultaneously with block faulting.
(See page(s) 120)







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