Orogeny millions of years and build mountains from plains or from the seabed. The topographic height of orogenic mountains is related to the principle of isostasy, that is, a balance of the downward gravitational force upon an upthrust mountain range (composed of light, continental crust material) and the buoyant upward forces exerted by the dense underlying mantle. Frequently, rock formations that undergo orogeny are severely deformed and undergo metamorphism. Orogenic processes may push deeply buried rocks to the surface. Sea-bottom and near-shore material may cover some or all of the orogenic area. If the orogeny is due to two continents colliding,
Petermann Orogeny a set of vertically arcuate thrust faults which dip toward each other and accommodate vertical movement by essentially "squeezing" the central block up and out. Several northeast trending discontinuities including the Mundrabilla lineament divide the Petermann orogeny, with extensive vertical offsets across them, usually west-side-up, though the timing of this event is unknown. Six deformations are known (to be completed) Foliations associated with the Petermann Orogeny are typically steeply to gently south-dipping and subparallel to the thrust faults upon which they were developed. S regionally pervasive stretching lineation is potentially associated with some of these faults, especially in the deeper