Crustal Deformation

I. Introduction
A.  Deformation of rocks in the Earth's crust can take many forms. Sedimentary and some
igneous rocks are initially deposited in layers - usually very close to horizontal. When these
layers are found tilted, folded, or broken they indicate that deformation has occurred.
B. Changes of volume
1. Compression due to ever increasing weight of pile of sediments on top
2. Compression due to plate collisions
C. Changes of shape
1. Shearing due to plate interactions and movement of materials.
D. Relocations of adjacent blocks of rock due to movement along faults
E. A combination of these 3 forms of deformation can occur
 
II. Stress and Strain
A. STRESS = applied force  = cause
1. Force  =  pressure applied/unit area
2. Types of stress
a. Tensional  =  increased volume  =  stretching
b. Compressional  =  Decreased volume  =  squeezing
c. Shear  =  change in shape
B. STRAIN = result of stress = effect
1. Change in length, width or height
 
III. Types of deformation
A. Ductile deformation
1. Elastic
a. Recoverable (over a period of time)
b. Small amounts of stress
c. Like a stretched rubber band
d. Rocks do not deform in this manner          

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 2. Plastic
a. Permanent
b. Deformation occurs by movement along small structural defects within the
rocks and minerals
1) Recrystallization
c. When rocks begin to deform plastically they flow
d. Different from liquids which flow at the slightest application of stress.
B. Brittle Deformation
1. Results in fracturing and faulting which is movement of rock in opposite directions on
either side of the break. (Rupture)
 
IV. Effect of time
A. If the stress is applied rapidly, brittle deformation and rupture usually occur.
B. If stress is applied for a short period of time, elastic behavior is likely to result.
C. If stress is applied for longer periods of time plastic     behavior ensues.
   
V. Strike and dip
A. Geologists describe the orientation of planar features in terms of dip and strike. These are the
lines necessary to define the orientation of a plane.
1. Geologists measure strikes and dips on outcrops, which are site where rocks are
exposed at the Earth's surface.
B. DIP- the inclination of a layer of strata off horizontal. Since the inclination of a bed can
change depending on the direction from which its viewed, dip is taken as the maximum found
and this direction of maximum dip is perpendicular to the strike.
1.  The direction of maximum dip is often difficult to          determine for relatively flat-
lying strata. What I used to do when I was doing field work out west was to pour a few
drops of water out of my canteen and watch it run down the surface of the bed.  The path
the water took was the direction of maximum dip and the STRIKE is perpendicular to
that line of maximum dip.

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C. STRIKE-the bearing of any horizontal line on the plane -perpendicular to the dip.
1. Therefore, a bed that dips either due East or due west, strikes North-south.
2. Alternatively, a bed that dips due North or due south, strikes East-west.
D. Flat-lying strata have no strike or dip and are called horizontal.
E. Strata with a dip of 90o are vertical.
F. By determining the strike and dip of strata, geologists can infer their subsurface orientation.
 
VI. FEATURES OF PLASTIC DEFORMATION - FOLDS
A. Folds are produced by horizontal compressive stresses such as continent-continent collisions
or collisions at any convergent plate boundary.
B. They come in all sizes from microscopic to folds of rock     layers involving 1000's of meters
of thickness and extending for 100's of kilometers.
C.  They usually occur in groups rather than as isolated features.
D. They are broad to tight and narrow
E. The kind of fold that forms depends on:
1. Amount of stress
2. Strength of the rock layers
3. Temperature
4. Confining pressure
F. Nomenclature of folds
1. Axial plane-a plane through a rock fold that includes the axis and divides the fold as
symmetrically as possible.
2. Axis-the ridge or place of sharpest folding of the upwarped or downwarped rock
layers.        
3. Limb-one of two parts of the upwarped and downwarped          rock layers, on either
side of the axis.
4.  Plunge-acute (<90o) angle that axis of folded rock mass makes with horizontal plane.

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G. Types of folds
1. Monocline-a double flexure of rock layers connecting strata at one level with same
strata at another level.
a. Many in the Colorado Plateau
b. Some as long as 250 kilometers.
c. First photo in chapter
2. Anticline-an arching or upwarping of rocks where the limbs dip away from each other.
a. When erosion removes the top of the arch, in a map view, the oldest strata are
found in the middle of the fold and youngest strata towards the outside.
b. When an anticline is plunging the map view shows this pointed feature at the
end.
3. Syncline-a downwarping of rocks where the limbs dip towards each other.
a. When erosion removes the tops of the adjacent anticlines the oldest strata are
found on the outside and the youngest strata are found in the middle.
4. Dome - anticlinal fold without clearly developed linearity of crest so that beds
involved dip in all directions away from a central high area.
a. Pressure from below produces bowed up portion of the crust.  When erosion
removes top of the dome, a concentric pattern of beds is revealed.
5. Basin-the opposite of a dome. Frequently generated when large sediment loads are
poured into a region by rivers flowing in from all directions
H. Description of Folds
1. Concentric folds or parallel folds
a. The thickness of concentrically folded beds stays the same, as does their
volume, throughout the extent of fold
2. Similar folds or flow folds
a. Thickness and volume of fold changes along its length.
b. The beds are thickened in the hinge region and thinned along the limbs due to
flow of material out of the limbs and into the hinge.
3. Symmetrical fold-the opposite sides of the fold have approximately equal dips.
a. Asymmetrical folds one limb dips more steeply than the other.
4. Isoclinal-limbs of the fold are nearly parallel.

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 5. Inclined fold - axial plane not vertical
6. Overturned fold - asymmetrical fold with one limb tilted beyond vertical
7. Recumbent fold - fold with horizontal axis.
8. Plunging fold - fold axis penetrates the ground

 
VII. Features of brittle deformation-Joints and faults
A. When rocks break or rupture instead of flowing into folds cracks develop. If there is no
slippage along these cracks (i.e., no differential movement on opposite sides of the crack) they
are called JOINTS. If there is slippage or differential movement, they are called FAULTS.
 
B. Joints
1. Occur in all kinds of rocks
2. Can be parallel to bedding or perpendicular to bedding.
3. Can occur in unbedded rocks such as basalts.
4. Commonest rock feature
5. Often occur in parallel or sub-parallel sets
6. Often occur in sets with non-parallel orientations
7. SHEET JOINTS are found in EXFOLIATION DOMES
C. Faults
1. Differential movement of blocks on either side of break     occurs.
2. Classified on the basis of the relative movement of the     blocks on either side of
the fault.
3. DIP-SLIP FAULTS- movement of the two blocks is up and down the dip.
a. Hanging wall - block of rock involved in fault movement that would be
hanging overhead for person standing in tunnel along or across fault.
b. Footwall - block of rock involved in fault movement that would be under feet
of person standing in tunnel along or across fault (opposite of hanging wall).
4.  NORMAL FAULT-dip-slip fault in which footwall appears to have moved upward
relative to hanging wall.

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 a. Regions of stretching and tensional rifting.
b. Vertical stress is greater than horizontal stress.
c. Horst-uplifted block bordered by two normal faults
d. Graben-downdropped block bordered by two normal faults.
e. Large regions of the Earth have been extensively disturbed by lots of normal
faulting.
1) In these regions lots of horsts and grabens often occur.
2) African Rift zone (6000 km N-S)
3) Basin and range in the Western USA. (Nevada, SW half of Arizona, SE
corner of California)
5. THRUST  OR REVERSE FAULTS-dip-slip faults in which the     hanging wall
appears to have moved upward relative to the     footwall.
a. Regions of compressional (largely horizontal) stresses.
b. Closely associated with folding
1) Margins of mountain chains near current and old plate boundaries.
 
c. Thrust fault-low angle of fault plane.
d. Reverse fault- high angle of fault plane.
e. Overthrust-far-traveled, low-angle thrust.
1)Central and Northern Rockies and Southern Appalachians
6. STRIKE-SLIP FAULTS-faults on which the movement occurs along the strike.
a. Left lateral
b. Right lateral
1) San Andreas fault = transform plate boundary that is a right-lateral,
strike-slip fault.
2) Transform faults are so-called because they transform from active faults
between ridge crests to inactive fracture zones past the ridge axes.
7. OBLIQUE  SLIP FAULTS-faults along which movement occurs along both the dip
and the strike.
 
VIII. Deformation of the earth's crust can occur abruptly or gradually

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A. Abrupt movements
1. Due to earthquakes, which displace the surface up or down or horizontally and cause
landslides.
2. Vertical movements - each successive earthquake can contribute an increment of a few
meters of vertical displacement, which can amount to 1000's of meters over the course of
geologic time.
3. Horizontal movements- San Andreas 7 meters in one quake-     up to 500 kilometers
during the past 150 million years.
B. Gradual movements
1. Occur semi-continuously and aren't tied to earthquakes.
a. California - 5 cm/year CREEP along some faults
2. Geologists think that doming around the San Andreas indicates the "approach" of
another big quake
3. Doming often occurs around volcanoes before eruptions

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