🪨 Rock changes 🪐 Normal movement 🏖️ Building outward

prograde

8.1

Building outward into the sea as land or a delta grows

adjective
/ˈproʊɡreɪd/

Specialized

: progresivo

A prograde delta forms when a river deposits more material, extending the land into the sea.

Examples

The prograde movement of the shoreline has been evident over the past decade.
Many coastal areas are experiencing prograde sedimentation.
The coastline experienced prograde development as new sediments built up over time.
Geologists studied the prograde movement of the shoreline after the construction of the dam.
A prograde delta forms when a river deposits more material, extending the land into the sea.
The coastline experienced prograde development as new sediments built up over time.
Many coastal areas are experiencing prograde sedimentation.

Antonyms

retrograde

2 7.9

Moving backward or against the usual direction

How Far

extended

4 3.5

prograde

Specialized

8.1

advancing

3.4

Surface Forms

prograde positive

Morphology

prograde = grade (semi-transparent) = pro + grade

Formally built from pro- + grade, but the sense 'advancing seaward' is a specialized geological usage that is not obvious to general learners.

Etymology

Prograde comes from the parts pro- 'forward' and grad 'step', the same root you see in grade and graduate. So when a coastline or delta builds outward it is taking a 'forward step' into the sea, which is why we call that growth 'prograde'.