molasse
The term "molasse" (/məˈlæs/) refers tosandstones,shalesandconglomeratesthat form as terrestrial or shallow marine deposits in front of rising mountain chains. The molasse deposits accumulate in aforeland basin, especially on top offlysch-like deposits, for example, those that left from the risingAlps, or erosion in theHimalaya. These deposits are typically the non-marinealluvialandfluvialsedimentsof lowlands, as compared to deep-water flysch sediments. Sedimentation stops when theorogenystops, or when the mountains have eroded flat.
The molasse can sometimes completely fill a foreland basin, creating a nearly flat depositional surface, that nonetheless remains a structural syncline. Molasse can be very thick near the mountain front, but usually thins out towards the interior of a craton; such massive, convex accumulations of sediment are known as clastic wedges.
| This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Metasyntactic variable, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. |