Exhumation is the geological process by which rocks that were buried at depth rise to shallower levels of the Earth's crust.
Exhumation generally occurs through a combination of tectonic uplift, erosion, faulting, and isostatic rebound.
As the surface erodes, deep-seated rocks are progressively exposed.
As a rock rises, its pressure and temperature decrease; the minerals that compose it pass through different closure temperatures, and different thermochronological clocks are activated.
That is why exhumation is a central concept in thermochronology, geodynamics, and tectonics.