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flowage

flowage

9.9
Slow movement inside rock or metal when heat and pressure push it
  • noun
  • /ˈfloʊɪdʒ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : flujo
  • The flowage within the rock caused it to reshape over time under intense heat and pressure.

Examples

  • Currently, the poplars form a dense mass on these thick earthflows, but continued flowage is evidenced by displaced, toppled trees.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Shallow earth flowage is common on moderate or even gentle slopes in the same lithologies.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Deep mass flowage, so widespread in the eastern hill country, is another intractable problem.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Thus, poplar and willow planting, intended to inhibit flowage by encouraging drying, may actually promote movement.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Large-scale, deep-seated earth flowage, however, is basically restricted to areas of crushed argillites and bentonitic mudstones located in East Cape and southern Hawke's Bay-Wairarapa.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Geologists study flowage in solid materials to understand how they change under different environmental conditions.

  • Observing the flowage of magma can provide insights into volcanic activity and the earth's internal processes.

Synonyms

creep
vsflowage
  • Specialized
10 8.6

A slow change in a material's shape caused by long pressure or heat

is specifically about internal motion inside solid bodies like rock due to heat or pressure

Antonyms

stability
363 3.1

Being steady and not likely to change

rigidity
  • Specialized
3 6.0

Not able to bend or change shape easily

How Deformed

flowage
  • Specialized
9.9
creep
  • Specialized
10 8.6

Surface Forms

flowage singular
flowages plural

Morphology

flowage = flow (semi-transparent) = flow + age

While 'flow' is clear, the suffix '-age' adds a specialized meaning related to geological deformation, which may not be immediately obvious.

Etymology

Flowage comes from flow ('to move like water') plus the ending -age that makes a thing or process. So, when rocks or ice move very slowly inside themselves, like a liquid, we call that slow internal motion 'flowage'.