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Deformation of The Crust

The document discusses how rocks deform due to opposing forces of gravity and buoyancy, known as isostasy. When these forces are balanced, no deformation occurs, but changes can cause isostatic adjustments that result in uplift or subsidence until balance is restored. Stress applied to rocks can result in different types of strain, including brittle fractures, ductile folding, or permanent deformation. Different types of faults and folds form due to compressional, tensional, or shear stresses. Plate tectonics can cause mountain building through collision and compression at convergent boundaries.

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Julius Macaballug
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206 views28 pages

Deformation of The Crust

The document discusses how rocks deform due to opposing forces of gravity and buoyancy, known as isostasy. When these forces are balanced, no deformation occurs, but changes can cause isostatic adjustments that result in uplift or subsidence until balance is restored. Stress applied to rocks can result in different types of strain, including brittle fractures, ductile folding, or permanent deformation. Different types of faults and folds form due to compressional, tensional, or shear stresses. Plate tectonics can cause mountain building through collision and compression at convergent boundaries.

Uploaded by

Julius Macaballug
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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DEFORMATION OF THE CRUST

HOW ROCKS DEFORM


 Deformation
= bending, tilting, or breaking Earth’s crust.
ISOSTASY
Deformation can be due to two opposing forces:
• gravity, or weight, of the lithosphere pressing down on the
asthenosphere.
• And the buoyant force of the asthenosphere pressing up on the
lithosphere.

• When these two forces are in balance = isostasy


• As the earth changes, isostatic adjustments occur until isostasy
(balance) is reached again.
• Isostatic adjustments cause rock to deform.
ISOSTASTIC ADJUSTMENTS
 As the Lithosphere  As the Lithosphere
thickens. becomes thinner.
 Becomes heavier  Becomes lighter
 Sinks deeper into  Rises higher in the
asthenosphere asthenosphere
 Mountain building,  Erosion off mountains and
glaciation, and glacial retreat can cause
deposition of sediments the crust to become
by rivers adds weight = lighter = Uplift
Subsidence
(sinking).
SINKING, UPLIFT, SINKING, UPLIFT, ETC.
STRESS
 The amount of force that is exerted on rock.
 Occurs when crust is squeezed, stretched, and twisted when the lithosphere
moves.
 Compression
 Squeezes and shortens
 Reduces the amount of space a rock occupies
 Reduces the volume of rock
 Pushes rock higher up, uplift
 Near convergent boundaries

 Tension
 Stretches and pulls rock
 Rock becomes thinner
 Occurs near divergent boundaries

 Shear
 Distorts rock by pushing parts of the rock in opposite directions.
 Rocks bend, twist, or break as they slide past each other.
 Common at transform boundaries
STRAIN

 Any change in the shape or volume of rock that


results from stress.
 If stress is applied slowly, the deformed rock may regain
its original shape when the stress is removed.
• Some stress leads to permanent deformation of the rock.
• Type of strain depends on composition of rock, temperature, and
pressure.
 Brittle strain appears as cracks or fractures.
 Occurs mostly at the surface, lower temperature/pressure
 Also occurs when stress is applied more quickly.
 Ductile materials bend or deform without breaking.
 Occur at higher temperature/pressure
DUCTILE: BEND WITHOUT BREAKING
FOLDING
 A form of ductile strain
 A fold is a bend in a rock layer.
 Occurs when rock is compressed and
squeezed.
 Can also occur from shear stress.
 MONOCLINE fold
 Both limbs are horizontal
 Form when one side moves up or down
 ANTICLINE fold
 Oldest layers are in the center, turns
downwards
 SYNCLINE fold
 Youngest layers are in the center, turns
upwards
FAULTS
 Stress (brittle strain) may cause rocks to break.
 If no movement occurs along the break = fracture.
 If movement occurs along the break = fault
 Normal fault
 Hanging wall (which is above fault) moves down compared to footwall (below fault).
 Occur at divergent boundaries
 Great Rift Valley, Africa
 Reverse fault
 Hanging wall moves up compared to footwall
 Occur at convergent boundaries (compression)
 Thrust fault (type of reverse fault) – hanging wall pushed up over the footwall
 Rockies and Alps
 Strike-slip fault
 Rocks slide horizontally to each other
 Due to shear stress at transform boundaries

NORMAL FAULT (TENSIONAL STRESS)
REVERSE FAULT OR THRUST FAULT (COMPRESSIONAL STRESS)
STRIKE-SLIP FAULT (SHEAR STRESS)
HOW MOUNTAINS FORM (OROGENY)
 A mountain is the most extreme type of
deformation.
 Mt. Everest… 8 km and still rising
 Part of the Great Himalaya range
 Mountain ranges: Great Smokey, Blue Ridge,
Cumberland, Green, Appalachian.
 Mountain belts: Circum-Pacific, Eurasian-Melanesian.
PLATE TECTONICS AND MOUNTAINS
• Collisions: continental and oceanic crust
• Melting may also form volcanic mountains
• Cascade range, N. America
• Andes, S. America
Cascade Mountains
Mt. Hood
Mt. Jefferson

Three Sisters
PLATE TECTONICS AND MOUNTAINS
 Collisions: oceanic and oceanic crust
 Melting may form an arc of volcanic mountains.
 Mariana islands
Aleutian Islands
PLATE TECTONICS AND MOUNTAINS
 Collisions: continental and continental crust
 Forms uplift mountains
 Himalayas
HIMALAYAS
FOLDED MOUNTAINS
 Occur when two
continents collide
 Form high mountains
 Alps, Himalayas,
Appalachians, Urals.
PLATEAU
 Occur when large, flat,
areas of rock are slowly
uplifted and remain flat.
 Located near mountain
ranges.
 Tibetan plateau (Himalaya)
 Colorado plateau (Rockies)
 Can also form when layers
of molten rock accumulate.
 Or when large areas of
rock are eroded.
FAULT-BLOCK
MOUNTAINS GRABENS
 Occur where parts of • Also forms long narrow valleys
Earth’s crust have been • Form when steep faults break the
stretched and broken crust into blocks and one block
slips downward relative to the
into large blocks.
surrounding blocks.
 Some blocks tilt or drop • Occur with Fault-Block
relative to other blocks. Mountains.
 Sierra Nevada Range, – Basin and Range Province,
CA Western U.S.
The Grand Tetons
(Fault-Block Mountains)
DOME MOUNTAINS VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS
 Occur when magma erupts onto Earth’s
 Occur when magma surface.
rises through the crust  Common along convergent boundaries
 Cascades (Washington, Oregon, N. CA)
and pushes up the  Mid-Ocean Ridges form volcanic islands
rock layers above the  Azores, N. Atlantic Ocean
• Some also form at hot spots (volcanically
magma. active areas that do not lie near tectonic
plate boundaries).
 Hawaiian Islands

 Black Hills, S.
Dakota
 Adirondack, NY

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