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accretion
(redirected from accretionary)

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accretion

In astrophysics, process by which an object gathers up surrounding material by gravitational attraction, thus simultaneously increasing in mass and releasing gravitational energy. Accretion onto compact objects, such as white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes, can release large amounts of gravitational energy and is believed to be the power source for active galaxies. Accreted material falling towards a star may form a swirling disc of material known as an accretion disc that can be a source of X-rays. Earth, and other planetary bodies in the Solar System, are thought to have formed by accretion of nebular material and planetesimals.



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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
The bodies may represent dismembered, complexly sheared and metamorphosed material caught up in an accretionary wedge during the Appalachian Taconie Orogeny (Williams, 1984).
Geology of the Parliament Buildings 5: Geology of the Manitoba ... by Young, Jeff / Geoscience Canada
250 Ma) Paleozoic accretionary orogen, punctuated by accretion of small oceanic terranes and four major oblique collisional events: Taconic, Salinic, Acadian and Alleghenian.
PanLITHOPROBE workshop IV: IntraOrogen correlations and comparative ... by van Staal, C. / Geoscience Canada
The Barga Terrane is interpreted as having formed in ocean-margin environment with active island-and-Andean type magnetic arcs, rifted basis, accretionary wedges and continental margins.
Apiva Announces It Has Acquired An Interest In Mineral Exploration ... by Business Wire
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