Chapter 7

What is Crustal Deformation?

Rocks in the earth's crust have been subjected to severe deformations resulting from tectonic forces.

These tectonic forces produced:

bending, rumpling, overturning and fracturing of rocks.

Sometimes, crustal deformation is:

too large and causes movement of rocks for hundreds of kilometers (Thrusting).

Crustal movement can also be:

only a few meters during earthquakes.

Rifting (Spreading) and extension of the crust produce:

elongated depressions (e. g. The Red Sea) and create ocean basins.

Geologic structures are those geologic features such as:

folds, faults and joints which result from crustal deformation.

They are called:

secondary structures because they are formed after the formation of the rock containing them.

Significance of Studying Geologic Structures

Most occurrence of oil and natural gas are associated with:

geologic structures that act to trap these fluids in valuable "reservoirs “.

Rock fractures can also be the site of:

hydrothermal mineralization, which is a major source of metallic ores.

The orientation and characteristics of rock structures must be considered when:

selecting sites for major construction projects such as bridges, hydroelectric dams and nuclear power
plants.

Deformation means:

all changes in volume and or shape of a rock body.

Most crustal deformation occurs:

along plates margins.

As the plates interact along their boundaries:

tectonic forces deform the involved rock units.

Strain Types (Deformation):

Elastic strain Plastic strain

Happened when pulling a rubber band. Happened when we stretch a lump of soft clay.

the length to which it stretches is a measure of It remains stretched after we release it.
the strain.

when we release one end, the stress vanishes, This permanent deformation is evidence of
and the rubber band snaps back to its plastic strain.
unstretched size.

Types of Deformation (Strain):

 Elastic deformation.
 Plastic deformation.
 Fracturing.

Elastic deformation:

Rocks return to their original shape and size when the stress is removed.

Plastic deformation:

rocks don’t return to their original size and shape when the stress is removed.

Plastic deformation is:

characteristic to ductile rocks and causes folding and flowing.

Fracturing:

fracturing occurs when the rock is brittle and in this case faults are formed.

Folds are structures formed during:

mountain building, where flat-lying sedimentary and volcanic rocks are bent into a series of wave-like
undulations.

Folds result from:

compressional stress and are either broad flexures (bending), in which rock units hundreds of meters
thick have been slightly warped.

Other folds are:

very tight microscopic structures such as those found in metamorphic rocks.

Folds are found singly, but most often they occur:

as a series of undulations.
Limbs:

are the two sides of the fold.

Fold Axis:

is a line drawn along the points of maximum curvature of each layer.

The fold axis is usually horizontal (parallel to the surface):

However, in more complex folding, it is often inclined at an angle known as the plunge.

Axial Plane:

is an imaginary surface that divides a fold as symmetrically as possible.

Types of Folds:

 Anticline.
 Syncline.
 Plunging & Non Plunging Folds,
 Monoclines.
 Homoclines.
 Domes & Basins.

Anticline:

is a structure formed by the up folding or arching of rock layers.

The oldest strata are found in the:

center and the two limbs usually dip away from each other.

Syncline:

is a structure formed by the down folding of rock layers.

The youngest strata are found in the:

center and the two limbs dip towards each other.

Anticlines and synclines are usually found in:

associations where the limb of an anticline is also a limb of the adjacent syncline.

Both anticlines and synclines are described as:

symmetrical when the limbs on either side of the axial plane diverge at the same angle and
asymmetrical when they diverge at different angles.

Folds don't continue forever; rather:

their ends die out much like the wrinkles in a table cloth.
Some folds plunge because the:

axis of the fold penetrates into the ground.

When erosion removes the:

upper layers of the structures, the outcrop pattern of the plunging anticline points in the direction of
plunging, the plunging syncline on the other hand points in the opposite direction of plunging.

Monoclines:

are broad flexures (bendings) that have only one limb.

They usually result from:

vertical displacement and not from compressional stresses as the other folds.

These monoclinal folds are produced from:

vertical faulting in deep-lying basement rocks.

The rigid basement complex responds to:

vertical stress by fracturing, On the other hand the relatively flexible sedimentary strata above these
basement rocks were deformed by folding.

Homocline is a:

group of strata that have a consistent dip over large area.

Homocline have:

the same dip, e.g. one limb of a fold, a tilted fault block, or an isocline.

Domes are:

circular or elongated structures found in sedimentary rocks.

They are formed as a result of:

broad up warping in basement rocks underlying such domes.

Domes are also formed by the:

intrusion of magma (laccoliths) or upward migration of salt formation (salt domes).

Basins:

are down warped structures having a similar shape to domes.

Basins are formed when:

arge accumulations of sediments accumulate, the weight of these sediments caused the crust to
subside.
Some structural basins may have been:

the result of a large asteroid impact.

Faults are:

fractures in rocks across which there has been some relative movement has occurred relative to a flat
surface described as a Fault Plane.

Hanging Wall and Footwall:

 These are the two blocks on either side of an inclined fault.

 The hanging wall lies above the fault plane and the footwall lies below.
Fault Plane:

Is a flat surface along which displacement takes place.

Throw:

Is the amount of relative displacement across a fault plane.

Strike of the fault:

Is the geologic bearing of the line formed by the intersection of the fault with the horizontal plane.

The Dip of the fault:

Is the angle between the fault plane and the horizontal measured perpendicular to the strike.

Normal Faults:

when the hanging wall moves down relative to the footwall.

Reverse Fault:

when the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall.

Reverse faults having a very low angle are also:

referred to as Thrust faults; in such case the fault plane is often parallel to the bedding planes.

Strike-slip fault:

in which the dominant displacement is horizontal and parallel to the strike of the fault surface.

The two blocks of rock simply slide:

past each other with no compression or extension.

If the motion is to the right, it is called:

a Right-lateral fault.

If the motion is to the left, it is called:

a left-lateral fault.
Strike Slip Fault are:

associated with transform plate boundaries.

The faulting can be:

combinations of strike-slip and normal or reverse fault, in such case the fault is called Oblique slip Fault.

Strike-slip faults are the most:

common style of faulting at transform plate margins.

Graben:

when one block of the rock subsides relative to the adjacent blocks.

Horst:

when one block of a rock rises relative to the adjacent blocks.

Joints are:

fractures or discontinuities in a rock with no relative sliding or movement on either side of a joint.

Joints result from:

the releases confining stresses.

fracturing process sheeting is:

If the joints are planar, parallel, and very closely spaced.

fracturing process exfoliation is:

If the joints are curved, concentric, parallel, and with uniform spacing.

Joints can also occur in:

igneous rocks as a result of cooling and are called "Columnar Jointing" in which the rock cracks into
columns with hexagonal cross section.

Most Joints are the result of:

brittle failure when rocks in the outermost crust are deformed.