Definition
In planetary sciences, accretion is the complex process of formation of a planet, either rocky or gaseous, from the disk of dust and gas around a protostar. In geology, accretion is a process by which rocks and sediments are added to a tectonic plate (plate accretion) or a landmass (landmass accretion). When subduction of an oceanic plate under a continental plate occurs, plate accretion is the process of scraping oceanic floor sediments against the continental plate which form a prism of material called accretionary wedge. Landmass accretion is the process of adding sediments (alluvium) to a coastline or a riverbank, increasing land area surface.
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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Pinti, D.L. (2015). Accretion. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_5156
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_5156
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