Orogeny

Geologic provinces of the world (USGS)

Orogeny (/ɒˈrɒdʒəni/) is a mountain-building process that takes place at a convergent plate margin when plate motion compresses the margin. An orogenic belt or orogen develops as the compressed plate crumples and is uplifted to form one or more mountain ranges. This involves a series of geological processes collectively called orogenesis. These include both structural deformation of existing continental crust and the creation of new continental crust through volcanism. Magma rising in the orogen carries less dense material upwards while leaving more dense material behind, resulting in compositional differentiation of Earth's lithosphere (crust and uppermost mantle).[1][2] A synorogenic (or synkinematic) process or event is one that occurs during an orogeny.[3]

The word orogeny comes from Ancient Greek ὄρος (óros) 'mountain' and γένεσις (génesis) 'creation, origin'.[4] Although it was used before him, the American geologist G. K. Gilbert used the term in 1890 to mean the process of mountain-building, as distinguished from epeirogeny.[5]

  1. ^ Waltham, Tony (2009). Foundations of Engineering Geology (3rd ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-415-46959-3.
  2. ^ Kearey, Philip; Klepeis, Keith A.; Vine, Frederick J. (2009). "Chapter 10: Orogenic belts". Global Tectonics (3rd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. p. 287. ISBN 978-1-4051-0777-8.
  3. ^ Allaby, Michael (2013). "synorogenic". A dictionary of geology and earth sciences (Fourth ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199653065.
  4. ^ "orogeny". Chambers 21st Century Dictionary. Allied Publishers. 1999. p. 972. ISBN 978-0550106254.
  5. ^ Friedman, G. M. (1994). "Pangean Orogenic and Epeirogenic Uplifts and Their Possible Climatic Significance". In Klein, G. O. (ed.). Pangea: Paleoclimate, Tectonics, and Sedimentation During Accretion, Zenith, and Breakup of a Supercontinent. Geological Society of America Special Paper. Vol. 288. Geological Society of America. p. 160. ISBN 9780813722887.