CRUSTAL DEFORMATION

STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY

Deformation
- - Is the bending, tilting and braking of earth’s
crust.
- - Change in the size / shape of any rock units
due to stress
 STRESS AND STRAIN

Stress –force applied to a given area.

Strain – change in shape/ shape caused by

stress.
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 TYPES OF STRESS

Confining pressure – were stress is applied

uniformly in all directions.

Differential stress – are applied unequally in

different directions.
 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 back
 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. back
 TYPES OF
DIFFERENTIAL STRESS
Compressional
Tensional
Shear
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back

Compressional stress
• Compresses rock.
 Horizontal
compressional stress
causes rock bodies to
shorten horizontally
and thicken vertically.
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Tensional stress
• Pulls apart rocks.
 Horizontal tensional
stress causes rock
bodies to lengthen
hprizontally and thin
vertically.
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Shear stress
• Affect forces.
 Cause
displacements along
fault zones or by
ductile flow.
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 Deformation of rocks

Elastic deformation
- bounce back to original size / shape.
Plastic deformation
- Permanent change
 TWO TYPES OF PLASTIC
DEFORMATION
Brittle
Ductile
 Ductile

- materials bend or deform without

breaking.
* Occur at higher temperature/pressure.
 Brittle strain

- appears as cracks or fractures

* Occurs mostly at the surface, lower
temperature/pressure.
whether rocks have ductile or brittle deformationit
depends on

*temperature
*confining pressure
*rock type
*time
 Folds and faults
Folds - result from ductile deformation
of rocks.
Faults- result from brittle
deformation of rock.
 FOLDING
FAULTS
• Stress (brittle strain) may cause rocks to break.
• If no movement occurs along the break = fracture.
• If movement occurs along the break = fault.
• 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.
 Parts of a Fold

Limbs – The two sides of a fold

Axial plane – Imaginary surface
dividing a fold along it’s hinge line
Parts of a Fold
• 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
Monocline in the
eastern Iran
Raplee Anticline,
Monument Upwarp,
near Mexican Hat,
Utah
Doubly plunging
anticline near
Chahar Gas, Iran
syncline near
Dubinovka, Iran
Note: the image is
rotated so that north
is toward the left.
 Circular folds
Dome – upwarded displacement.

Basin- downward displacement.

Parts of fault
*Where the fault plane is sloping, as with
normal and reverse faults,
The hanging wall-is theupper side.
The footwall-the lower side .
*When the fault plane is vertical, there is
no hanging wall or footwall.
 * The main components of a fault are:
(1) the fault plane
(2) the fault trace
(3) the hanging wall
(4) the footwall
The fault plane - is where the action is. It is a flat
surface that may be vertical or sloping. The line it
makes on the Earth's surface is the fault trace.
 *Any fault plane can be completely described
with two measurements: its strike and its dip.
The strike - is the direction of the fault
trace on the Earth's surface.
The dip- is the measurement of how steeply
the fault plane slopes.
*For example, if you dropped a marble on the
fault plane, it would roll exactly down the
direction of dip.
Types of faults
 Normal fault
-Hanging wall (which is
above fault) moves down
compared
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)
footwall
– Rockies and Alps
 • Strike-slip fault
– Rocks slide
horizontally to each
other
– Due to shear stress at
transform boundaries
– San Andreas fault
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