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

Researchers have determined that the Peruvian region known as the Pastaza-Marañón Foreland basin contains the largest peat swamp in the Amazon, stabilizing about three billion metric tons of captured carbon.

From Scientific American

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