Ol. 8 Continued.

Phy. Geol.
8 Continued
Deformation, Mountain Building and
Earth’s Crust
Chapter Layouts
• Introduction
• How deformation occurs?
• Strike and Dip: Orientation of strata.
• Geologic maps and geologic cross sections.
• Brittle and ductile behavior of rocks.
• Basic deformation structures: Folds, faults,
joints.
Introduction
• Most sedimentary rocks were originally deposited as horizontal
layers at the bottom of the seas and hardened over time. Ever
since, plate tectonics changed the relatively stable feature of
these rocks with the appearance of different deformation
structures that contributed to the appearance of many features
at the surface of the globe such as mountains, valleys,
plateaus….
• One of the practical reasons to study deformation and
mountain building is to have a better understanding of the
different forces that crumpled rock layers during its history. The
second reason is that such studies provide a good feedback on
where to find oil and gas deposits, and help engineers choose
where to build dams, bridges, and nuclear power plants.
Rock Deformation: How does it occur?
• We defined the term deformation as any change in
the volume or shape of rocks.
• Rock layers may be crumpled into folds or fractured
as a result of stress, which results from force
applied to a given area of rock. The rock’s internal
strength resists stress, but if the stress is great
enough the rock undergoes strain, which is simply
deformation caused by stress.
Stress Applied to Rocks
• Remember that stress is the force applied to a given
area of rock, usually expressed in kilograms per square
centimeter. For example, the stress, or force, exerted by
a person walking on an ice-covered pond is a function of
the person’s weight and the area beneath her or his feet.
• The rock’s internal strength resists the stress unless the
stress is too great, in which case the rock may bend or
crack as it is strained.
• Although stress is force per unit area, it comes in three
varieties: compression, tension, and shear, depending on
the direction of the applied forces.
Stress Applied to Rocks (cont..)
 In compression: rocks or any other object are squeezed
or compressed by forces directed toward one another
along the same line, as when you squeeze a rubber ball
in your hand. Rock layers in compression tend to be
shortened in the direction of stress by either folding or
fracturing.
 Tension results from forces acting along the same line,
but in opposite directions. Tension tends to lengthen
rocks or pull them apart.
 In shear stress, forces act parallel to one another, but in
opposite directions, resulting in deformation by
displacement along closely spaced planes.
Strain of rocks
• Geologist characterize strain as elastic if
deformed rocks return to their original shape
when the deforming forces are relaxed.
• As stress is applied, rocks respond first by
elastic strain, but when strained beyond their
elastic limit, they undergo plastic strain as
when they yield by folding, or they behave
like brittle solids and fracture.
The Orientation of Deformed Rock Layers: Strike and
Dip of layers
• According to the principal of original horizontality

developed by Nicolas Steno, sediments accumulate in
horizontal or nearly horizontal layers. However,
deformation change their original setting, and geologists
use strike and dip to describe the orientation of strata
with respect to a horizontal plane:
- Strike: It is the compass direction of a rock layer as it
intersects with a horizontal surface.
- Dip: It is measured at right angles to the strike, and
represents the amount of tilting or angle at which the bed
inclines from the horizontal position.
Strike and Dip of Rock Layers
Dipping limestone and shale beds on the coast of summerset, England.
Beds are dipping to the
right at an angle of 15 degrees.
Geologic maps and Geologic cross sections
• Geologic maps: Are 2D representations of the rock
formations exposed at the surface of the Earth.
When preparing a geologic map, geologists must
choose the adequate scale, that is the ratio of
distance on the map to the true surface distance. A
common scale in geologic field mapping is 1:24 000,
meaning one inch on the map corresponds to 24 000
inches on the field.
• Geologic cross sections: Once a region is mapped,
the 2D map must be interpreted in terms of 3D
geology. Geologic cross sections are diagrams
showing the feature that would be visible if vertical
slices were made through parts of the crust.
A geological map and cross section, make up of a 2-D
representation from a 3-D geologic structure.
Brittle and ductile behaviors of rocks in the crust
• Tectonic forces have been acting on rocks for millions of
years. The kind of deformation of these rocks depends on
the way they behave.
• Some of the rocks are brittle. It means that they can’t
withstand the tectonic force and break immediately,
fracturing along fault lines.
• Other rocks behave differently. They are more pliable or
ductile materials that do not break but tend to fold.
• Rock type affects the way the rocks deform. In particular, the
old igneous and metamorphic rocks that form the crystalline
basement act as brittle materials, while the younger softer
sediments that overlie them fold gradually as a ductile
material.
Basic Deformation Structures
• Deformation or strain of rocks refers to the changes

in shape or volume of these rocks.
• Depending of the scale of deformation and the
behavior of the rock, they can be crumpled into
folds, show some joints, or eventually fracture by
faulting. Any of these features is referred to as a
geologic structure.
Folds
• Folds are common forms of deformations observed in

relatively ductile rocks. The folding can be produced by
horizontally or vertically directed forces in the crust
acting in a compressive mode.
• During folding, layered rocks that upfold into arches are
called anticlines. The layered rocks that downfold into
troughs are called synclines.
• The 2 sides of a fold are its limbs. The axial plane is an
imaginary surface that divides a fold as symmetrically
as possible, with limb both sides of the axial plane.
• The center of an anticline is filled with the oldest rocks.
• The center of a syncline is filled with the youngest
rocks.
Anticlines and Synclines
Figure 10-8 p238
Rock folding
Anticline
Youngest
Anticlines fold
rock
upward
Oldest
Syncline rock
Synclines fold
downward
Joints
• Joints are cracks or small fractures found in almost every
outcrop, along which there has been no appreciable
movement. Almost all near surface rocks have joints that
form in response of compression, tension and shearing.
Circular Structures
• Circular structures are types of deformations that take place
far away from active boundaries, in the interior of plates.
They are divided into :
- Domes: In which all of the folded strata dip outward from
a central point.
- Basins: Is a circular counterpart of a syncline in which all
of the folded strata dip inward from a central point
Faults
• Faults unlike joints are geologic structures in

which blocks in opposite sides of fracture
move parallel with regard to the fault plane.
• The displacement caused by the fault is
called the fault offset.
Classification of Faults
• Faults are classified by their slip direction into:
- Normal faults: When the rocks above the fault plane move
down relative to the rocks below the fault plane, extending the
structure horizontally.
- Reverse faults: When the rocks above the fault plane move
upward relative to the rocks below, causing a shortening of the
structure.
- Thrust faults: They are low angle reverse faults, with a dip
less than 450, so that the overlaying block moves almost
horizontally.
- Strike-slip faults: Where the rocks both sides of the fault
plane move. If the movement of the blocks both sides of the fault
is clockwise, the fault is called right-lateral SSF. If the movement is
counterclockwise, the fault is called a left lateral SSF.
Unconformities
• Layers of rock that have been deposited without
interruption are called conformable.
– A complete set of conformable strata for all of
Earth history does not exist.
• Interrupting the deposition of sediment creates a
break in the rock record called an unconformity that
represents a period when deposition stopped,
erosion occurred, and then deposition resumed
Different Types of Unconformities
 Disconformity: unconformity between parallel strata (layers

missing). Missing layers are due to the erosion process.
 Angular unconformity: units below the unconformity were

deformed, not horizontal at the time younger units deposited.
 Nonconformity: unconformity between igneous intrusions

and sedimentary
Mountain Building
• Mountains form in several ways, some involving little or no
deformation. For example, differential weathering and erosion yield
high area with adjacent lowlands in the southwestern United States,
but these erosional remnants are flat-topped or pinnacle-shaped and
go by the names mesa and butte, and most are less than 300 m high.
• Block-faulting is another way that mountains form, but this is caused
by deformation of the crust. It involves movement on normal faults so
that one or more blocks are elevated relative to adjacent blocks.
• Volcanic outpourings form chains of volcanic mountains such as the
Hawaiian lands Islands, where a plate moves over a hot spot. Some
mountains such as the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest are
made up almost entirely of volcanic rocks.
Plate Tectonics and Mountain Building
• Deformation and associated activities at

convergent boundaries are important processes
in mount building. The present- day topographic
expression of mountains is related to several
surface processes such as mass wasting, and
erosion.
• Geologists define the term orogeny as an episode
of the mountain building during which
deformation takes place.
The Principle of Isostasy
• Geologists realized long ago, that mountains not only

project above sea level, but they also project far below
the surface, and thus have low density root that extends
in the higher density mantle.
• This phenomena of low density crust material floating on
denser mantle material is called principal of Isostasy.
Earth crust is similar to the iceberg in that it sinks into
the mantle to its equilibrium level. Where this crust is
thickest as beneath mountains, it sinks deeper. It is
estimated that only 10% of the whole volume rises
above the earth surface.
Isostasy

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Phy. Geol.

• According to the principal of original horizontality

• Deformation or strain of rocks refers to the changes

• Folds are common forms of deformations observed in

• Faults unlike joints are geologic structures in

 Disconformity: unconformity between parallel strata (layers

 Angular unconformity: units below the unconformity were

 Nonconformity: unconformity between igneous intrusions

• Deformation and associated activities at

• Geologists realized long ago, that mountains not only

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