Diapir (Noun)
Meaning
A domed rock formation where a core of rock has moved upward and pierced through the more brittle overlying strata.
Classification
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made).
Examples
- The presence of a diapir in the geological structure was identified through seismic surveys, indicating the presence of salt or mudstone cores that had risen through the surrounding rocks.
- In this region, diapirs often occur where a dense underlying rock has pierced the more brittle and porous rocks that cover it.
- Salt diapirs, composed primarily of salt, had migrated through the Earth's crust to create towering pillars and broad dome shapes in this oil-rich geological basin.
- Under extreme tectonic forces, overburden rock formations have formed the spectacular fold of this exposed diapir on the otherwise smooth seafloor.
- Some rock scientists refer to any anticline produced by upward salt migration as a salt diapir.