foreland basin

American  

[fawr-land bay-suhn, fohr-] / ˈfɔrˌlænd ˈbeɪ sən, ˈfoʊr- /

noun

1. Geology. an area of depression adjacent and parallel to a mountain system, formed when a collision of two tectonic plates causes a downward flexing of the lithosphere. Compare rift basin.

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foreland basin Scientific  

/ fôr′lənd /

1. A low-lying region that is adjacent and parallel to a mountain belt formed as the result of the collision of tectonic plates. Foreland basins form when the lithosphere flexes downward in front of a mountain belt in response to the added load of thickened crust that results from the collision of the two plates. Sediments eroded from the mountain belt accumulate in the foreland basin, causing it to further subside and make room for additional sediments.

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Example Sentences

The area that the meteorite struck was the North Alpine foreland basin, a low point in Earth’s surface where a package of sediments was being deposited and, over geologic timescales, compressed into rock.

From Scientific American • Aug. 9, 2019

A foreland basin is a feature that develops near mountain belts, as the combined mass of the mountains forms a depression in the lithospheric plate.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

The western edge of the basin, which has about 4,500 m of Mesozoic rock alone, is a foreland basin.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

A foreland basin is caused by the mass of the volcanic range depressing the crust on either side.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015