COMPETENCY:

EXPLAIN HOW THE MOVEMENT OF

PLATES LEADS TO THE
FORMATION OF FOLDS AND FAULT
Fold
•  is defined as a bend in rock that is the response to
compressional forces
• A bent layer or series of layers that were originally
horizontal and subsequently deformed
Folds are most visible in rocks that contain
layering. For plastic deformation of rock to occur
a number of conditions must be met, including:

• The rock material must have the ability to

deform under pressure and heat.
• The higher the temperature of the rock the more
plastic it becomes.
• Pressure must not exceed the internal strength
of the rock. If it does, fracturing occurs.
• Deformation must be applied slowly.
Types of folds
1. Monocline
• The simplest type of fold
• This fold involves a slight bend in otherwise
parallel layers of rock
Types of folds

2. anticline
• is a convex up fold in rock that resembles an arch like structure with
the rock beds (or limbs) dipping way from the center of the structure
• Upward fold
Types of folds
3. syncline is a fold where the rock layers are
warped downward.
• Downward fold
More complex fold types can develop in
situations where lateral pressures become
greater.
The greater pressure results in anticline and
synclines that are inclined and asymmetrical
• Types of Folds

4.  recumbent fold 
 develops if the center of the fold moves from being
once vertical to a horizontal position
 commonly found in the core of mountain ranges and
indicate that compression and/or shear forces were
stronger in one direction.

• Extreme stress and pressure can sometimes cause the

rocks to shear along a plane of weakness creating a 
fault. We call the combination of a fault and a fold in a
Faults
•  form in rocks when the stresses overcome the
internal strength of the rock resulting in a
fracture.
• the displacement of once connected blocks of
rock along a fault plane.
• occur in any direction with the blocks moving
away from each other. Faults occur from both
tensional and compressional forces. 
There are several different kinds of faults. These
faults are named according to the type of stress that
acts on the rock and by the nature of the movement
of the rock blocks either side of the fault plane.
1. Normal faults occur when tensional forces act in
opposite directions and cause one slab of the rock to
be displaced up and the other slab down
2. Reverse faults develop when
compressional forces exist .Compression
causes one block to be pushed up and over
the other block.
3. graben fault
 is produced when tensional stresses result in the 
subsidence of a block of rock. On a large scale these
features are known as Rift Valleys.
4. horst fault
• the development of two reverse faults causing a
block of rock to be pushed up.
5.  strike-slip or transform fault.
These faults are vertical in nature and are
produced where the stresses are exerted parallel
to each other. A well-known example of this type
of fault is the San Andreas fault in California