DIASTROPHISM

JOHANNA QUIMSON CUARES

1 MAED Sci. Ed.
 DIASTROPHISM
 Comes from a Greek word that means “twisting”

 Also called TECTONISM

 large-scale deformation of the Earth’s crust by natural

processes (tectonic stress).

 leads to the formation of continents and ocean basins,

mountain systems, plateaus, rift valleys, and other
features.

 The deformations are caused by mechanisms such as

lithospheric plate movement (plate tectonics), volcanic
loading, or folding.
TYPES OF STRESS AND STRAIN
*Stress is force acting on rock
*Strain is rock’s response to stress

 Compression (shortening)

 Extension (stretching)
TYPES OF DIASTROPHISM

• Folding (bending)
 When the earth’s crust is pushed up from its
sides; occurs at a very slow rate

• Faulting (breaking and displacement)

 FOLDING
 Compressional stress causes rocks to
buckle and fold
• Anticline: arch-shaped fold
• Syncline: sink-shaped fold
 Anticlines begin as ridges ; synclines
begin as valleys.
 Differential erosion leads to:
• Anticlinal ridges and valleys
• Synclinal ridges and valleys

 Differential erosion: less-resistant types of

rock strata will weather and erode more
rapidly than more-resistant rock strata
Anticlinal
mountain/ridge
Synclinal
valley
 FAULTING
 Rock is strained beyond ability to
remain intact; rock fractures; one
side is displaced with respect to the
other .

• Fault plane: surface along which 2 sides

move
• Fault scarp: cliff formed along fault face
 Types of Faults
1. Normal Fault:
from extensional stress

Vertical movement along an inclined fault plane

 Horst and Graben
(result of normal faulting)

Horst : up-
faulted block

Graben: down-
faulted block
2. Reverse Fault
- from compressional stress
- Vertical movement along inclined fault
plane such that one side rides up over the
other.
- often creates landslides
 3. Overthrust fault
 Reverse fault with very low angle
 More horizontal than vertical movement
3. Transcurrent (Strike-slip) Fault
 horizontal movement

 no fault scarp
TRANSCURRENT
 OTHER LANDFORMS
ASSOCIATED WITH FAULTS
 Fault Scarp
• A cliff produced when the earth’s
surface on one side of the fault plane
rises relative to the surface on the other
side of the fault

• Rift Valley
 Valley comprised of the graben and the fault
scarps on either side
(left) Fault Scarps and (right) Rift Valley
 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
FOLDING AND FAULTING
Consider also that ductile rocks may eventually
fracture under high stress. These rocks may fold
up to a certain point then fracture to form a fault.
 Mountain Ranges - The Result of
Deformation of the Crust

Mountains originate by three processes, two of

which are directly related to deformation.

Thus, there are three types of mountains:

 Fault Block Mountains - As the name implies,

fault block mountains originate by faulting. As
discussed previously, both normal and reverse
faults can cause the uplift of blocks of crustal
rocks. i.e. The Sierra Nevada mountains of
California
 Fold & Thrust Mountains
Large compressional stresses can be
generated in the crust by tectonic
forces that cause continental crustal
areas to collide. When this occurs the
rocks between the two continental
blocks become folded and faulted
under compressional stresses and are
pushed upward to form fold and thrust
mountains. i.e. The Himalayan
Mountains (currently the highest on
Earth) are mountains of this type and
were formed as a result of the Indian
Plate colliding with the Eurasian plate.
 Volcanic Mountains
The third type of mountains,
volcanic mountains, are not formed
by deformational processes, but
instead by the outpouring of magma
onto the surface of the Earth. The
Cascade Mountains of the western
U.S., and of course the mountains of
the Hawaiian Islands and Iceland are
volcanic mountains