| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Deformation | The bending, tilting, and breaking of Earth's crust. |
| Isostasy | A condition of gravitational and buoyant equilibrium between Earth's lithosphere and asthenosphere. |
| Uplift | What happens to a mountain when isostasy raises it up. |
| Subsidence | A process in which the deposited material from an ocean/river causes the ocean floor to sink by isostasy. |
| Stress | The amount of force that is exerted on each unit of area. |
| Compression | The type of stress thar squeezes and shortens a body. |
| Tension | The stress that stretches and pulls a body apart. |
| Shear stress | A stress that distorts a body by pushing parts of a body in opposite directions. |
| Strain | Any change in the shape or volume of a rock that results from stress. |
| Brittle | An adjective used to describe materials that respond to stress by breaking or fracturing. |
| Ductile | An adjective used to describe materials that respond to stress by bending or deforming without breaking. |
| Fold | A bend in rock layers that results from stress. |
| Limb(s) | The sloping side/s of a fold. |
| Hinge | Where the limbs meet on a fold. |
| Axial plane | The line of symmetry on a fold. |
| Overturned | An adjective used to describe a fold that appears to be lying on its side. |
| Anticline | A fold in which the oldest layer is in the center of the fold. |
| Syncline | A fold in which the youngest layer is in the center of the fold. |
| Monocline | A fold in which both limbs are horizontal or almost horizontal. |
| Fracture | A break in a fold in which there is no movement of the surrounding rock. |
| Fault | A break in a body of rock along which one block slides relative to another; a form of brittle strain. |
| Fault plane | The surface or plane along which the motion occurs. |
| Hanging wall | In a nonvertical fault, the rock above the fault plane. |
| Footwall | The rock below the fault plane. |
| Normal fault | A fault in which the hanging wall moves downward relative to the footwall. |
| Reverse fault | A fault in which the hanging wall moves upward relative to the footwall. |
| Thrust fault | A special type of reverse fault in which the fault plane is at a low angle or is nearly horizontal. |
| Strike-slip fault | A fault in which the rock on either side of the fault plane slides horizontally in response to shear stress. |
| Slip | A verb meaning to slide. |
| Strike | The length of a fault. |
| Mountain range | A group of adjacent mountains that are related to each other in shape and structure. |
| Mountain system | A group of adjacent mountain ranges. |
| Mountain belts | A group of two mountain systems (the circum-Pacific belt to the West and the Eurasian-Melanesian belt to the East). |
| Folded mountains | Mountains that form when tectonic movements squeeze rock layers together into accordion-like folds. |
| Plateaus | Large, flat areas of rock high above sea level. |
| Fault-block mountains | Mountains that form where faults break Earth's crust into large blocks and some blocks drop down relative to other blocks. |
| Grabens | Long, narrow valleys formed by the process of fault-blocking. |
| Dome mountain | A circular or elliptical, almost symmetrical, elevation or structure in which the stratified rock slopes downward gently from the central point of folding. |
| Volcanic mountains | Mountains that form when magma erupts onto Earth's surface. |
| Hot spots | Volcanically active areas that lie from tectonic plate boundaries. |
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