crustal

American  

[kruhs-tl] / ˈkrʌs tl /

adjective

1. of or relating to a crust, as of the earth.

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crustal British  

/ ˈkrʌstəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the earth's crust

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Etymology

Origin of crustal

1855–60; < Latin crūst ( a ) shell, crust + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Over the past decade, growing evidence has convinced many researchers that rare earthquakes do originate in the mantle, though they may occur about 100 times less frequently than crustal earthquakes.

From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2026

"Mantle earthquakes offer a novel way to explore earthquake origins and the internal structure of Earth beyond ordinary crustal earthquakes."

From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2026

However, its crustal abundance is nearly 100 times that of Ru, indicating that these new electrocatalytic materials can be synthesized in sufficiently large amounts to enable hydrogen mass-production using water electrolyzers.

From Science Daily • Mar. 2, 2024

However, it was not known that Mars also possessed the diverse, explosive volcanoes that form on Earth due to crustal recycling.

From Science Daily • Feb. 15, 2024

At first people called them "crustal blocks" or sometimes "paving stones."

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson