crustal

American  

[kruhs-tl] / ˈkrʌs tl /

adjective

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

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crustal British  

/ ˈkrʌstəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the earth's crust

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Etymology

Origin of crustal

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

Example Sentences

"Mantle earthquakes offer a novel way to explore earthquake origins and the internal structure of Earth beyond ordinary crustal earthquakes."

From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2026

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

Some may occur as aftershocks caused by seismic waves traveling outward from crustal earthquakes.

From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2026

However, its crustal abundance is nearly 100 times that of Ru, indicating that these new electrocatalytic materials can be synthesized in sufficiently large amounts to enable hydrogen mass-production using water electrolyzers.

From Science Daily • Mar. 2, 2024

If you had been looking for a very long, geologic time, you could have seen the continents them- selves in motion, drifting apart on their crustal plates, held afloat by the fire beneath.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas