Anticlinorium

anticlinorium [‚an·ti‚klī′nor·ē·əm]

(geology)

A series of anticlines and synclines that form a general arch or anticline.

---

Anticlinorium 

a large and complexly structured series of folds in the strata of the earth’s crust that occurs in geosynclines as a result of major and protracted uplifts in the earth’s crust which are accompanied by folding processes and characterized by a general uplift in the center. The anti-clinorium may be many hundreds of kilometers long and scores of kilometers across; a particularly large anti-clinorium is called a meganticlinorium. Emerging on the surface are the more ancient and usually greatly metamorphosed rocks than in the adjacent synclinoria. The axes of the folds are often arranged in a fanlike pattern, with tilting of the folds toward the adjacent synclinoria. Zones of thrust disturbances, along which displacement of the rock masses in the same direction takes place, often develop on the wings of anticlinoria. Outcroppings of large intrusive bodies (granites and so forth) are often found in anticlinoria. Examples are the anticlinoria of the Glavnyi Kavkaz Range, the Uraltau, the Tarbagatai, and the Chingiz.