CRUSTAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does crustal mean? 

• CRUSTAL (adjective)
  The adjective CRUSTAL has 1 sense:

1. of or relating to or characteristic of the crust of the earth or moon

  Familiarity information: CRUSTAL used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CRUSTAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or characteristic of the crust of the earth or moon

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

crust (the outer layer of the Earth)

 Context examples 

The scarps formed as Mercury’s interior cooled; the planet’s shrinking was accommodated by the crustal rocks being pushed together, thrusting them upward along fault lines.

(‘Great Valley’ Found on Mercury, NASA)

Although this global field somehow shut down, local spots of increased magnetic fields, called crustal magnetic anomalies, still remain in Mars' surface.

(Blue Aurorae in Mars’ Sky Visible to the Naked Eye, NASA)

Research using data from NASA's ARTEMIS mission — short for Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun — suggests how the solar wind and the Moon's crustal magnetic fields work together to give the Moon a distinctive pattern of darker and lighter swirls.

(NASA Mission Reveals Origins of Moon's 'Sunburn', NASA)

Crustal rocks were thrust upward while the emerging valley floor sagged downward.

(‘Great Valley’ Found on Mercury, NASA)