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Synonyms

unconformity

American  
[uhn-kuhn-fawr-mi-tee] / ˌʌn kənˈfɔr mɪ ti /

noun

plural

unconformities

  1. lack of conformity; incongruity; inconsistency.

  2. Geology.

    1. a discontinuity in rock sequence indicating interruption of sedimentation, commonly accompanied by erosion of rocks below the break.

    2. the interface between such strata.

unconformity British  
/ ˌʌnkənˈfɔːmɪtɪ /

noun

  1. lack of conformity

  2. the contact surface between younger and older rocks representing a discontinuity in the geological record. Most commonly it represents an erosional surface

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
unconformity Scientific  
/ ŭn′kən-fôr′mĭ-tē /

  1. A surface between successive strata representing a missing interval in the geologic record of time, produced either by an interruption in deposition or by the erosion of depositionally continuous strata followed by renewed deposition. An unconformity is a type of discontinuity.

Etymology

Origin of unconformity

First recorded in 1590–1600; un- 1 + conformity

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It echoes James Playfair’s description of the “abyss of time” he glimpsed while viewing a strata unconformity at Siccar Point in 1788, when geology was first emerging as a science.

From The Guardian • Apr. 20, 2019

An unconformity: At Mount Stimson, the rover identified from sol 980 a thick sandstone unit overlying the lake deposits, separated by a geological feature called an unconformity.

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2018

She’s revising a manuscript describing an unconformity in the sedimentary layers of Mount Sharp, within the Gale crater, a record of the alternating wet-dry cycles on the planet.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 29, 2017

Here are three graphical illustrations of the three types of unconformity.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

Eocene strata succeed Cretaceous rocks without serious unconformity in the Libyan area, parts of Denmark, S.E.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 6 "English Language" to "Epsom Salts" by Various

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.