obduction

noun — 3 senses

obduction

noun

Etymology Latin obductio; see Latin ob, ductio.

1

Obsolete The act of drawing or laying over, as a covering.

2

An autopsy.

Largely obsolete

3

Geography, Geology, Natural sciences The overthrusting of continental crust by oceanic crust or rocks from the mantle, such that the oceanic crust is thrust onto the continental crust, as occurs at a convergent plate boundary when the continental crust is caught in a subduction zone.

  • Around Arabia - as well as in the Himalayas - these obductions completely obliterated the Neotethyan ocean, which in this time frame is represented only by a few exotic blocks and by Permo-Triassic pelagic sediments found at the sole of the Cretaceous ophiolites.2004, Gérard M. Stampfli, Gilles D. Borel, “Chapter 3: The TRANSMED Transects in Space and Time”, in William Cavazza, François M. Roure, Wim Spakman, Gérard M. Stampfli, Peter A. Ziegler, editors, The TRANSMED Atlas: The Mediterranean Region from Crust to Mantle, Springer, page 73:
  • These frictional forces slowed the obduction of the ophiolite onto the continental margin and obduction ceased after the nappe was transported 100–200 km.2011, Wolfgang Frisch, Martin Meschede, Ronald C. Blakey, Plate Tectonics: Continental Drift and Mountain Building, Springer, page 72:
1 more example
  • Ongoing accretion at a subduction zone, and the obduction of intact ophiolite slabs, are not considered to be collision.2012, Joseph A. DiPietro, Landscape Evolution in the United States, →ISBN, page 340:
Related terms
obduce, obduct
Coordinate terms
subduction

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.