noun
- the process of deformation of the Earth's crust that produces continents, ocean basins, and other large-scale features; large-scale crustal movement and folding
Usage: geology; technical
Examples
- Diastrophism over millions of years created the Rocky Mountains.
- The study of diastrophism helps geologists understand how mountain ranges form.
- Plate tectonics is the modern framework for explaining diastrophism.
- Diastrophism involves both uplift and subsidence of crustal blocks.
- Ancient diastrophic events left visible evidence in rock layers and fault lines.