formation

for·ma·tion

F0264700 (fôr-mā′shən)n.1. The act or process of forming something or of taking form.2. Something formed: beautiful cloud formations.3. The manner or style in which something is formed; structure: the distinctive formation of the human eye.4. A specified arrangement or deployment, as of aircraft, troops, or players on a sports team.5. Geology A primary unit in the mapping of rock strata, consisting of a set of contemporaneous rocks having the same characteristics and origin.

for·ma′tion·al adj.

formation

(fɔːˈmeɪʃən) n1. the act of giving or taking form, shape, or existence2. something that is formed3. the manner in which something is formed or arranged4. a. a formal arrangement of a number of persons or things acting as a unit, such as a troop of soldiers, aircraft in flight, or a football teamb. (as modifier): formation dancing. 5. (Geological Science) geology a. the fundamental lithostratigraphic unitb. a series of rocks with certain characteristics in common6. (Botany) ecology a community of plants, such as a tropical rainforest, extending over a very large area forˈmational adj

for•ma•tion

(fɔrˈmeɪ ʃən)

n. 1. the act or process of forming or the state of being formed. 2. the manner in which a thing is formed; formal structure or arrangement. 3. a. a particular arrangement or disposition of persons, as of troops or players on a team. b. any required assembling of the soldiers of a unit. 4. a. a body of rocks classed as a stratigraphic unit for geologic mapping. Compare member (def. 8). b. the process of depositing rock or mineral of a particular composition or origin. [1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin] for•ma′tion•al, adj.

for·ma·tion

(fôr-mā′shən) A long layer of sediments or rocks that look alike and were formed at the same time. Formations are shown on geological maps, much as highways are shown on road maps.

formation

1. An ordered arrangement of troops and/or vehicles for a specific purpose.
2. An ordered arrangement of two or more ships, units, or aircraft proceeding together under a commander.

Formation

a formal assembly of troops; arrangement of rocks in a geological setting, 1815.Examples: formation of clouds, 1808; of troop, 1796.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	formation - an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit; "a defensive formation"; "a formation of planes"arrangement - an orderly grouping (of things or persons) considered as a unit; the result of arranging; "a flower arrangement"flight - a formation of aircraft in flightmilitary formation - a formation of troopsbackfield - the offensive football players who line up behind the linemensecondary - the defensive football players who line up behind the linemenline - a formation of people or things one behind another; "the line stretched clear around the corner"; "you must wait in a long line at the checkout counter"line - a formation of people or things one beside another; "the line of soldiers advanced with their bayonets fixed"; "they were arrayed in line of battle"; "the cast stood in line for the curtain call"center - the middle of a military or naval formation; "they had to reinforce the center"flank, wing - the side of military or naval formation; "they attacked the enemy's right flank"head - the front of a military formation or procession; "the head of the column advanced boldly"; "they were at the head of the attack"rear - the back of a military formation or procession; "infantrymen were in the rear"
	2.	formation - the act of fabricating something in a particular shapeshapingmanufacturing, manufacture, fabrication - the act of making something (a product) from raw materials; "the synthesis and fabrication of single crystals"; "an improvement in the manufacture of explosives"; "manufacturing is vital to Great Britain"filing - the act of using a file (as in shaping or smoothing an object)forging - shaping metal by heating and hammeringmetalworking, metalwork - the activity of making things out of metal in a skillful mannergranulation - the act of forming something into granules or grains; "the granulation of medicines"grooving, rifling - the cutting of spiral grooves on the inside of the barrel of a firearmturning - the activity of shaping something on a lathe
	3.	formation - the act of forming or establishing something; "the constitution of a PTA group last year"; "it was the establishment of his reputation"; "he still remembers the organization of the club"establishment, constitution, organisation, organizationcommencement, start, beginning - the act of starting something; "he was responsible for the beginning of negotiations"unionisation, unionization - act of forming labor unions; "the issue underlying the strike was unionization"collectivisation, collectivization - the organization of a nation or economy on the basis of collectivismcommunisation, communization - the organization of a nation of the basis of communismfederation - the act of constituting a political unity out of a number of separate states or colonies or provinces so that each member retains the management of its internal affairscolonisation, colonization, settlement - the act of colonizing; the establishment of colonies; "the British colonization of America"
	4.	formation - (geology) the geological features of the earthgeological formationobject, physical object - a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow; "it was full of rackets, balls and other objects"geology - a science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocksaquifer - underground bed or layer yielding ground water for wells and springs etcbeach - an area of sand sloping down to the water of a sea or lakecave - a geological formation consisting of an underground enclosure with access from the surface of the ground or from the seacliff, drop-off, drop - a steep high face of rock; "he stood on a high cliff overlooking the town"; "a steep drop"delta - a low triangular area of alluvial deposits where a river divides before entering a larger body of water; "the Mississippi River delta"; "the Nile delta"diapir - a domed rock formation where a core of rock has moved upward and pierced through the more brittle overlying stratafolium - a thin layer or stratum of (especially metamorphic) rockforeshore - the part of the seashore between the highwater mark and the low-water markice mass - a large mass of icelakefront - land bordering a lakemassif - a block of the earth's crust bounded by faults and shifted to form peaks of a mountain rangemonocline - a geological formation in which all strata are inclined in the same directionmouth - the point where a stream issues into a larger body of water; "New York is at the mouth of the Hudson"natural depression, depression - a sunken or depressed geological formationnatural elevation, elevation - a raised or elevated geological formationoceanfront - land bordering an oceanchain of mountains, mountain chain, mountain range, range of mountains, range, chain - a series of hills or mountains; "the valley was between two ranges of hills"; "the plains lay just beyond the mountain range"relict - geological feature that is a remnant of a pre-existing formation after other parts have disappearedridgeline, ridge - a long narrow range of hillsridge - a long narrow natural elevation on the floor of the oceanshore - the land along the edge of a body of waterincline, slope, side - an elevated geological formation; "he climbed the steep slope"; "the house was built on the side of a mountain"natural spring, outpouring, fountain, spring, outflow - a natural flow of ground waterscree, talus - a sloping mass of loose rocks at the base of a cliffmineral vein, vein - a layer of ore between layers of rockcrater, volcanic crater - a bowl-shaped geological formation at the top of a volcanowall - a vertical (or almost vertical) smooth rock face (as of a cave or mountain)groundwater level, water table, water level - underground surface below which the ground is wholly saturated with water; "spring rains had raised the water table"
	5.	formation - a particular spatial arrangementraster - the rectangular formation of parallel scanning lines that guide the electron beam on a television screen or a computer monitorrigging, rig - formation of masts, spars, sails, etc., on a vesselsplit - (tenpin bowling) a divided formation of pins left standing after the first bowl; "he was winning until he got a split in the tenth frame"placement, arrangement - the spatial property of the way in which something is placed; "the arrangement of the furniture"; "the placement of the chairs"
	6.	formation - natural process that causes something to form; "the formation of gas in the intestine"; "the formation of crystals"; "the formation of pseudopods"encrustation, incrustation - the formation of a crustnatural action, natural process, action, activity - a process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings); "the action of natural forces"; "volcanic activity"reticulation - (photography) the formation of a network of cracks or wrinkles in a photographic emulsion
	7.	formation - creation by mental activity; "the formation of sentences"; "the formation of memories"creating by mental acts - the act of creating something by thinkingaffixation - formation of a word by means of an affix

formation

noun1. establishment, founding, forming, setting up, starting, production, generation, organization, manufacture, constitution the formation of a new government2. development, shaping, constitution, evolution, moulding, composition, compilation, accumulation, genesis, crystallization The formation of my character and temperament.3. arrangement, grouping, figure, design, structure, pattern, rank, organization, array, disposition, configuration He was flying in formation with seven other jets.

formation

nounA way or condition of being arranged:arrangement, categorization, classification, deployment, disposal, disposition, distribution, grouping, layout, lineup, order, organization, placement, sequence.

Translations

组成队形

form¹

(foːm) noun1. (a) shape; outward appearance. He saw a strange form in the darkness.形状2. a kind, type or variety. What form of ceremony usually takes place when someone gets a promotion?类型3. a document containing certain questions, the answers to which must be written on it. an application form.表格4. a fixed way of doing things. forms and ceremonies.仪式5. a school class. He is in the sixth form.年级 verb1. to make; to cause to take shape. They decided to form a drama group.组成2. to come into existence; to take shape. An idea slowly formed in his mind.形成3. to organize or arrange (oneself or other people) into a particular order. The women formed (themselves) into three groups.排列4. to be; to make up. These lectures form part of the medical course.成为forˈmation noun1. the act of forming or making. He agreed to the formation of a music society.组成2. (a) particular arrangement or order. The planes flew in formation.队形be in good form to be in good spirits or health. She's in good form after her holiday.情况良好in the form of having the shape, character, style etc of. He wrote a novel in the form of a diary.用...的形式

Formation

formation

1. Geologya. the fundamental lithostratigraphic unit b. a series of rocks with certain characteristics in common 2. Ecology a community of plants, such as a tropical rainforest, extending over a very large area

Formation

the basic unit of local stratigraphic subdivisions, composed of strata of sedimentary, igneous, or metamorphic rocks, sometimes homogeneous in composition but other times represented by an alternation of different types of rocks. Formations have their own geographic names, are joined into series, and are subdivided into members and bands. A formation is principally defined by its lithological composition, which is homogeneous throughout the formation. Some formations are defined by the presence of animal and plant fossils. The age of a formation is relatively uniform throughout the distribution, although the boundaries may shift somewhat in time. The term “formation” as understood by American geologists is essentially a synonym of the Russian term svita but allows a much greater spread in time.

REFERENCES

Stratigraficheskaia klassifikatsiia, terminologiia i nomenklatura. Leningrad, 1965.
Dunbar, C, and J. Rodgers. Osnovy stratigrafii. Moscow, 1962. (Translated from English.)

Formation

a disposition of military personnel, subunits, or units established by regulations for the coordination of operations. A formation promotes stronger military discipline and ensures rapid, organized troop movements and control of troops.

Formations usually consist of rows of men or lines of vehicles, in which the men or vehicles are arranged in a single line at set intervals on either side and in front and back. The direction that the men or vehicles face is the front of the formation; the opposite of the front is the rear. The right and left sides of the formation are the flanks; when formations turn, the designations of the flanks do not change. The distance between flanks is the width of the formation, and the distance from the first to the last row is the depth of the formation.

Depending on the number of rows, a formation may be singleranked or double-ranked; in the latter, the men in the second row are arranged at a distance of one pace to the rear of the men in the first row. In addition to these types of formations, the column is also used. In a column, the men are arranged behind one another, and units or vehicles follow each other. Columns and ranks are used in the disposition of subunits and units in deployed or march formations. In deployed formations, subunits are disposed on a single line along the front in single-rank or doublerank formation or in a line of columns at intervals established by the Drill Manual or the commander’s order. In march formations, units are disposed in columns.

Formation

in geology, a natural assemblage of rocks, minerals, and ores that are paragenetically related and that are of similar age and geological origin.

The concept of the formation arose in the 18th century to designate large strata of sedimentary rocks identified by the predominance of certain rock types or combination of types and by position in the general sequence of geological bedding, for example, chalk and the Old Red Sandstone in Europe. The term later lost its stratigraphic meaning, especially in Russian and Soviet geology, and took on a genetic or paragenetic meaning; only in the American literature is the term “formation” used to designate subdivisions of regional lithostratigraphic scales, in a sense approximately corresponding to the Russian term svita (“series”). The French geologist M. Bertrand in 1897 considered formations to be rock facies, such as flysch and molasse, representing distinct stages in the development of geosynclines.

The concept of the formation has been supplied to magmatic rocks (F. Iu. Levinson-Lessing, Iu. A. Kuznetsov, F. Turner, J. Verhoogen), metamorphic rocks (A. A. Marakushev, N. L. Dobretsov, V. S. Sobolev), and metasomatic rocks (D. S. Korzhinskii, V. A. Zharikov, B. I. Omel’ianenko).

Russian and Soviet researchers have made major contributions to the theory of the formation. In the work of V. V. Belousov, N. B. Vassoevich, A. B. Ronov, V. E. Khain, N. P. Kheraskov, and N. S. Shatskii, among others, the term “sedimentary formation” denotes a large, regularly recurring combination of specific rocks attesting to the stability of the conditions of rock development approximately corresponding in size to geological systems or series or their parts. Each formation is characterized by similar composition, structure, and distribution, which reflect its origin under certain paleogeographic conditions that predominated at a certain stage in the development of the particular tectonic province or zone with its characteristic tectonic conditions and climate. Formations are assemblages of facies and genetic types of deposits. The boundaries of a formation may alter in time; the characteristics of different types of formations, recurring in beds of different age, alter somewhat as well.

Formations are identified on the basis of the composition of rocks and are classified primarily according to the tectonic features with due regard for climatic conditions, which, in some cases, play a very important part. The three principal groups of formations—sedimentary, volcanic, and magmatic—are often found in distinct combinations. For example, volcanic and intrusive formations linked by common magma centers form what are called volcanic-plutonic associations, such as the trap association of plateau basalts, dolerites, and gabbro-diabases or the association of andesite-rhyolite volcanites and granitoids. Such associations may also form magmatic and sedimentary formations, for example, the ophiolite association of ultrabasic and basic intrusive rocks, basic lavas, and silica-carbonate abyssal sediments and the shale-diabase association of shales, spilites, and diabases.

Formations are combined in lateral (by area) or vertical series. The sequence of lateral formations corresponds to tectonic and climatic zonality; the vertical sequence matches the stages of development of individual major tectonic zones—platforms, eugeosynclines, miogeosynclines, and orogens [from which N. B. Vassoevich derived the term “geogeneration” (1940, 1966), which corresponds to the stage-zonal concept of formation or lithological association]. A typical example of a vertical series of sedimentary geosynclinal formations includes a slate formation, flyschmolasse, and so on. The type of tectonic structure can be determined from a formation, as well as the structure’s stage of development and the general climatic setting in the formative period.

The theory of magmatic formations is being successfully developed in the USSR by Iu. A. Kuznetsov as a special field of research on the boundary between tectonics and petrology. Magmatic formations are aggregates of magmatic rocks that occur in a distinct geological setting and correspond to distinct stages in the development of a particular segment of the earth’s crust.

The principle of the common origin of metamorphic rocks linked with specific tectonic structures (mobile belts or platforms) at different stages of their development also forms the basis for the identification of metamorphic formations. For example, metamorphic formations of spilites form in the early stages of the development of eugeosynclines, while in the concluding stages of geosynclines metamorphic formations of gneisses and migmatites form, as well as slates, shales, schists, and phyllites.

The concept of metasomatic formations, for example, skarn, greisen, and albite formations, is not as well developed; by a number of characteristics, such formations should be classified as secondary formations. Closely linked and associated with magmatic and metasomatic formations are ore formations, which are groups of ore deposits of mineral raw material of similar composition formed under similar geological and physicochemical conditions at the earth’s surface or within the earth’s interior. Examples of ore formations are the chromite and pyrrhotitechalcopyrite-pentlandite formations. The theory of ore formations is developing as a special branch of the science of ore deposits (A. G. Betekhtin, Iu. A. Bilibin, I. G. Magak’ian, R. M. Konstantinov, V. A. Kuznetsov, and V. I. Smirnov).

Certain types of mineral products are linked to certain formations, which makes formation analysis very important not only in lithology, paleogeography, and tectonics but also for ascertaining the regularities in the distribution of various minerals and developing the appropriate scientific foundations for prospecting.

REFERENCES

Shatskii, N. S. Izbr. tr., vol. 3. Moscow, 1965.
Vassoevich, N. B. “Istoriia predstavlenii o geologicheskikh formatsiiakh (geogeneratsiiakh).” Osadochnye i vulkanogennye formatsii. Leningrad, 1966. (Tr. Vses. n.-i. geol. in-ta: Novaiaseriia, vol. 128.)
Kuznetsov, Iu. A. Glavnye tipy magmaticheskikh formatsii. Moscow, 1964.
Kheraskov, N. P. Tektonika i formatsii. Moscow, 1967.
Magak’ian, I. G. Tipy rudnykh provintsii i rudnykh formatsii SSSR. Moscow, 1969.
Problemy magmaticheskoi geologii. Novosibirsk, 1973. (Tr. In-ta geologii i geofiziki, issue 213.)
Marakushev, A. A. Petrologiia metamorficheskikh gornykh porod. Moscow, 1973.

V. E. KHAIN

formation

[fȯr′mā·shən] (geology) Any assemblage of rocks which have some common character and are mappable as a unit.

formation

Some typical formations.An ordered arrangement of two or more aircraft proceeding together under a leader called a formation leader. Separation between aircraft within the formation is the responsibility of the leader and the pilots in the formation. This includes transition periods when aircraft within the formation are maneuvering to attain separation from one another to effect individual control and during join-up and breakaway. A standard formation is one in which a proximity of no more than 1 mile (1.6 km) laterally or longitudinally and within 100 ft (30 m) vertically from the flight leader is maintained by each wingman. Nonstandard formations are those operating under any of the following conditions:
i. When the flight leader has requested and ATC (air traffic control) has approved other than standard formation dimensions.
ii. When operating within an authorized altitude reservation (ALTRV) or under the provisions of a letter of agreement.
iii. When the operations are conducted in airspace specifically designed for a special activity. The formation normally operates as a single aircraft with regard to navigation and position reports.

formation

for·ma·tion

formation

for•ma•tion

for·ma·tion

formation

Formation

formation

formation

form1

Formation

formation

Formation

REFERENCES

Formation

Formation

REFERENCES

formation

formation

formation

formation

for·ma·tion

for·ma·tion

formation

for·ma·tion

formation

Formation

formation

formation

Synonyms for formation

noun establishment

Synonyms

noun development

Synonyms

noun arrangement

Synonyms

Synonyms for formation

noun a way or condition of being arranged

Synonyms

Synonyms for formation

noun an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit

Related Words

noun the act of fabricating something in a particular shape

Synonyms

Related Words

noun the act of forming or establishing something

Synonyms

Related Words

noun (geology) the geological features of the earth

Synonyms

Related Words

noun a particular spatial arrangement

Related Words

noun natural process that causes something to form

Related Words

noun creation by mental activity

Related Words

form¹