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fracture zone

American  
[frak-cher zohn] / ˈfræk tʃər ˌzoʊn /

noun

Geology, Oceanography.

  1. a long, narrow rift on the ocean floor, separating areas of differing depth: where such a zone crosses a mid-ocean ridge, it displaces the ridge by faulting.

Etymology

Origin of fracture zone

First recorded in 1960–65

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.