Epeirogeny

epeirogeny

[‚e‚pī′räj·ə·nē]

(geology)

Movements which affect large tracts of the earth's crust.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Epeirogeny

 

slow secular uplifts and/or subsidences of vast areas of the crust that do not alter the crust’s structure. The term “epeirogeny” was introduced in 1890 by the American geologist G. Gilbert in contrast to the term “orogeny.” In the broad sense, epeirogeny corresponds to the concept of oscillatory movements of the earth’s crust (seeOSCILLATORY MOVEMENTS OF THE EARTHSCRUST).

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.