crustal

American  

[kruhs-tl] / ˈkrʌs tl /

adjective

1. of or relating to a crust, as of the earth.

---

crustal British  

/ ˈkrʌstəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the earth's crust

---

Etymology

Origin of crustal

1855–60; < Latin crūst ( a ) shell, crust + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Over the past decade, growing evidence has convinced many researchers that rare earthquakes do originate in the mantle, though they may occur about 100 times less frequently than crustal earthquakes.

From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2026

They focused on crustal delamination, a process in which sections of Earth's crust become compressed, chemically altered, and dense enough to detach and sink into the mantle below.

From Science Daily • Jan. 23, 2026

However, it was not known that Mars also possessed the diverse, explosive volcanoes that form on Earth due to crustal recycling.

From Science Daily • Feb. 15, 2024

The majority of Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories and Nunavut is made up of Archean crustal fragments that are dominated by TTGs and their slightly younger and more evolved granite counterparts.

From Science Daily • Jan. 31, 2024

The hope was to lower a drill through 14,000 feet of Pacific Ocean water off the coast of Mexico and drill some 17,000 feet through relatively thin crustal rock.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson