orogeny (redirected from Mountain making)

orogeny

Mountain-building event, generally one that occurs in a geosyncline. Orogeny tends to occur during a relatively short geologic time frame. It is usually accompanied by folding and faulting of strata and by the deposition of sediments in areas adjacent to the orogenic belt. Orogenies may result from continental collisions, the underthrusting of continents by oceanic plates, the overriding of oceanic ridges by continents, and other causes. See also Acadian orogeny, Alleghenian orogeny, Alpine orogeny, Laramide orogeny, Taconic orogeny.

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orogeny [ȯ′räj·ə·nē]

(geology)

The process or processes of mountain formation, especially the intense deformation of rocks by folding and faulting which, in many mountainous regions, has been accompanied by metamorphism, invasion of molten rock, and volcanic eruption; in modern usage, orogeny produces the internal structure of mountains, and epeirogeny produces the mountainous topography. Also known as orogenesis; tectogenesis.