A compressive tectonic process that results in intense folding, reverse faulting, crustal thickening, uplift and deep plutonic activity. A mountain-building episode. The process or processes of mountain formation, especially the intense deformation of rocks by folding and faulting which, in many mountainous regions, has been accompanied by metamorphism, invasion of molten rock, and volcanic eruption; in modern usage, orogeny produces the internal structure of mountains, and epeirogeny produces the mountainous topography. Also known as orogenesis; tectogenesis.
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