Plural of diapir; structures in geology where lighter rock material forces its way upward through denser overlying rock, creating dome-shaped formations.
From Greek 'dia-' (through) + 'apeirein' (to push through). The term was coined in geology to describe the mechanical process of buoyant material penetrating upward through rock layers, commonly used for salt domes and magma intrusions.
Salt diapirs are why some salt deposits are found far above where they originally formed—imagine pushing a wet finger up through flour and you've got the basic idea of how 300 million-year-old salt keeps rising through rocks!
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