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Crustal Deformation. Review of Chapter 11. Isostasy. Balance in possible vertical movement of the plates Gravity bears down Heated aesthenosphere is buoyant (heat=expand=less dense=rise & cool=shrink=more dense=fall) Usually equal or nearly so
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Crustal Deformation Review of Chapter 11
Isostasy • Balance in possible vertical movement of the plates • Gravity bears down • Heated aesthenosphere is buoyant (heat=expand=less dense=rise & cool=shrink=more dense=fall) • Usually equal or nearly so • Imbalance upsets isostasy and results in a rise or fall of plates • Fall somewhere results in rise elsewhere and vice versa
Isostasy explains the vertical distribution of Earth's crust. George Bedell Airy proposed that the density of the crust is everywhere the same and the thickness of crustal material varies. Higher mountains are compensated by deeper roots. This explains the high elevations of most major mountain chains, such as the Himalayas. G H Pratt hypothesized that the density of the crust varies, allowing the base of the crust to be the same everywhere. Sections of crust with high mountains, therefore, would be less dense than sections of crust where there are lowlands. This applies to instances where density varies, such as the difference between continental and oceanic crust.
Deformation • All changes in volume or shape of rock • Reaction to stress • From confining pressure • Greater with depth • Shallow = brittle • Deeper = ductile
Stress • A force that acts on rocks to change shape and/or volume • Compression – squeeze • Tension – pull apart • Shear – an an angle
Strain • Change in shape or volume of rock as a result of stress • Stress must exceed resistance of rock which is variable • Rock composition • Temperature • Pressure • Amount/type/speed of stress
Types of Deformation Brittle
Types of Deformation Elastic (reversible)
Types of Deformation Plastic (permanent)
Rocks deform elastically when exposed to stresses. Experiments have proven that most rocks at depth deform plastically once their elastic limit is surpassed. Surface rocks also deform elastically, but turn brittle and fracture when they exceed their elastic limit.
Strike and Dip • Strike is the direction in which strata lie • Dip is the angle of inclination from the surface at which strata lie
The structure of a slope is called its strike and dip. Geologists draw these symbols on maps to define the way beds of rock are at angles, or the way they are dipping. Strike and dip are at right angles to each other. The arrow points in the direction of dip.The angle of dip is the angle (in degrees) off of horizontal that the bed is dipping. It is usually measured with a Brunton compass and is given by a number like 28 degrees or 45 degrees.
Folds • Flat rock bent into undulations, usually by compression • Sides are called limbs and come off the axis • May have 1 or 2 limbs • Axis may not be horizontal = plunging
Fold sizes • Small in hand-held sizes • Large; seen only from the air • Ridge • Valley
Domes and Basins • Gentle upwarping or downwarping of crustal rock produce domes and basins • Erosion of these structures results in an outcrop pattern that is roughly circular or elongated
sandstone Crystalline Metamorphic core limestone
Faults • Rock breaks in response to severe stress (fracture or joint) • Movement along fracture (horizontal and/or vertical • Surface of movement is fault plane
Dip-slip faults • Movement is vertical (on the dip) • Footwall below and hanging wall above • Normal, reverse, thrust