Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun Geology.
- an anticlinal rock structure.
noun
- a formation of stratified rock raised up, by folding, into a broad arch so that the strata slope down on both sides from a common crestCompare syncline
1867, earlier anticlinal (1849, by ellipsis from anticlinal fold), from anti- “against” + Greek klinein “to lean, slope” (see lean (v.)). Form assimilated to incline.
- A fold of rock layers that slope downward on both sides of a common crest. Anticlines form when rocks are compressed by plate-tectonic forces. They can be as small as a hill or as large as a mountain range. Compare syncline.