Definition of "diastrophism" []

• The process of deformation by which the major features of the earth's crust, including continents, mountains, ocean beds, folds, and faults, are formed. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Possibly diastrophism broke the original continent into small islands which would not support so large an animal population; or the drying-out may have progressed still further."