Table of Contents

Table of Contents ................................................. i

1. Glossary ......................................................... 1
1.1 Deltaic Environment .................................. 1
1.2 Plate Tectonics Terms ................................. 2
1.3 Volcanic Features ....................................... 3
2. Plate Tectonics ............................................... 4
2.1 Transform Boundaries ................................ 4
2.2 Divergent Boundaries ................................ 5
2.3 Convergent Boundaries ................................ 6
2.4 Plate Forces ............................................... 8
3. Subduction Processes .................................. 10
3.1 Subduction Zones Overview ......................... 10
3.2 Subduction Initiation ................................... 11
3.3 Modern Subduction Characteristics ................ 12
3.4 Paired Metamorphic Belts ............................. 13
4. Volcanic Activity .......................................... 15
4.1 Volcanic Arcs .............................................. 15
4.2 Island vs. Continental Arcs ............................ 16
4.3 Volcanic Hazards ........................................ 17
5. Rock Formation ........................................... 20
5.1 Oceanic Crust and Layers ............................. 20
5.2 Magnetic Anomalies .................................... 22
5.3 Continental Crust Characteristics .................. 23
6. Mountain Building ........................................ 25
6.1 Orogeny and Accretion ................................ 25
6.2 Subduction-Affected Orogeny ....................... 26
6.3 Obduction ................................................... 28
7. Conclusion ................................................... 30
 1

Glossary
● Deltaic Environment - gradational to both fluvial and coastal environments
● Delta Plain - A deltaic plain consists of active or abandoned deltas, which are either overlapping or contiguous to one
another
● Delta - A delta is a relatively flat area at the mouth of a river or a river system in which sediment load is deposited and
distributed
● Foreset Beds -the inclined part of a delta that is found at the end of the stream
● Delta Front - The sloping portion of a delta, developed offshore from the bar at the mouth and passing at its toe into the
pro-delta
● Bottomset Beds - layers of sedimentary material lying along the bottom of a body of water near the point of entry of a
stream, the material having been carried to the area by the entering stream and being subsequently covered by foreset
beds and topset beds in the formation of a delta
● Permeability - the state or quality of a material or membrane that causes it to allow liquids or gases to pass through it.
● Paleomagnetism - the branch of geophysics concerned with the magnetism in rocks that was induced by the earth's
magnetic field at the time of their formation
● Mantle Plume - a localized column of hot magma rising by convection in the mantle, believed to cause volcanic activity
in hot spots, such as the Hawaiian Islands, away from plate margins.
● Hot Spot - an area of volcanic activity, especially where this is isolated.
● Volcanic Island Arc - long chains of active volcanoes with intense seismic activity found along convergent tectonic plate
boundaries
● Subduction Zone - a region of the Earth's crust where tectonic plates meet
● Suture Zone - a joining together along a major fault zone, of separate terranes, tectonic units that have different plate
tectonic, metamorphic and paleogeographic histories
● Spreading Center - where two plates are moving away from each other, and deep cracks are opened through the crust
● Crater - a circular depression in the surface of a planetary body
● Constant Elevation - a contour line is a line of constant elevation
● Cinder-Cone Volcano - the simplest type of volcano. They are built from particles and blobs of congealed lava ejected
from a single vent
● Shield Volcano - a broad domed volcano with gently sloping sides, characteristic of the eruption of fluid, basaltic lava.
● Lava Dome Volcano - a mound of viscous lava that has been extruded from a volcanic vent.
● Stratovolcanoes - a volcano built up of alternate layers of lava and ash
● Fissure Vents - a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive activity
● Spatter Cones - They are made from lava that was ejected from a vent
● Rift - form fissures, cracks, or breaks, especially through large-scale faulting
● Mohorovicic (Moho) Discontinuity - the boundary between the crust and the mantle
● Gutenberg- Weichert discontinuity - the boundary between the Earth's mantle and core
● Trench - very deep, elongated cavity bordering a continent or an island arc
● Forearc - The area between the trench and the arc
● Pluton - a body of intrusive igneous rock (called a plutonic rock) that is crystallized from magma slowly cooling below the
surface of the Earth
● Accretionary Wedge - a mass of sedimentary material scraped off a region of oceanic crust during subduction and piled
up at the edge of the overriding plate
● Tectonic Plate - pieces of Earth's crust and uppermost mantle, together referred to as the lithosphere
● Banded Iron Formations - chemically precipitated sediment, typically thin-bedded or laminated, consisting of 15 percent
or more iron of sedimentary origin and layers of chert, chalcedony, jasper, or quartz
● Ductile Deformation - When rocks bend or flow, like clay
● Mafic - usually dark in color and have relatively high specific gravities (greater than 3.0)
● Felsic - usually light in color and have specific gravities less than 3.0
● Finely Grained - generally indicate magmas that rapidly cooled at or near the Earth's surface. Fast cooling prevents
crystals from growing very large
● Coarsely Grained - generally indicate magmas that slowly cooled deep underground. Slow cooling gives crystals enough
time to grow to easily visible sizes
 5
Plate Forces

Driving Forces
Slab Pull:
Summary 2.0:
- Force that pulls lithosphere into a convergent margin
- Exists b/c old, cold ocean lithosphere is negatively buoyant relative to the underlying astenosphere, so the
oceanic lithosphere will sink downwards
- Once subducting slab descends into mantle, basalt transforms to a denser eclogite, so a subducted plate is
denser than a plate at Earth’s surface
- Subducted plate thus pulls rest of plate down with it
Summary: part of the motion of a tectonic plate that is caused by its subduction. Plate motion is partly driven by the weight of
cold, dense plates sinking into the mantle at oceanic trenches. This force and slab suction account for almost all of the force
driving plate tectonics. The ridge push at rifts contributes only 5 to 10%.

This force occurs as a subducting plate sinks into the hot mantle beneath it. The subducting plate, usually basalt, is denser than
the material it is subducting into, purely due to its difference in temperature. As the plate sinks into the mantle, it acts to pull the
rest of the plate behind it. This force is considered by some to be the primary force driving plate motion at collisional zones .
However, there are some plates where there is little or no subduction occurring such as the Antarctic Plate. This plate motion
needs to be explained by a different mechanism.
The slab pull force only works when the subducting slab is well attached to the plate it is pulling behind it. When the slab is not
well attached it may set up additional circulation patterns in the mantle that serve to suck the plate downwards. It is also
interesting to note that plates with a slab subducting into the mantle move faster towards the subduction zone than do plates
without a slab. This is thought to be primarily due to the slab pull acting on the plate. This fact tends to support the idea that slab
pull is indeed a dominant force in plate motion.

Ridge Push:
Summary 2.0:
- Outward directed force that pushes plates away from the axis of a mid-ocean ridge
- Exists b/c oceanic lithosphere is higher along ocean ridges than it is in the abyssal plain
- Diff. in elevation means that lithosphere along ridge has more gravitational potential energy than that of the
abyssal plain, and this energy provides an outward push perpendicular to ridge axis
Summary: Ridge push or sliding plate force is a proposed driving force for plate motion in plate tectonics that occurs at mid-
ocean ridges as the result of the rigid lithosphere sliding down the hot, raised asthenosphere below mid-ocean ridges. Although
it is called ridge push, the term is somewhat misleading; it is actually a body force that acts throughout an ocean plate, not just at
the ridge, as a result of gravitational pull. The name comes from earlier models of plate tectonics in which ridge push was
primarily ascribed to upwelling magma at mid-ocean ridges pushing or wedging the plates apart. (not found near subduc.)

Ridge push is the result of gravitational forces acting on the young, raised oceanic lithosphere around mid-ocean ridges, causing
it to slide down the similarly raised but weaker asthenosphere and push on lithospheric material farther from the ridges.
Mid-ocean ridges are long underwater mountain chains that occur at divergent plate boundaries in the ocean, where new
oceanic crust is formed by upwelling mantle material as a result of tectonic plate spreading and relatively shallow (above ~60
km) decompression melting. The upwelling mantle and fresh crust are hotter and less dense than the surrounding crust and
mantle, but cool and contract with age until reaching equilibrium with older crust at around 90 Ma. This produces an isostatic
response that causes the young regions nearest the plate boundary to rise above older regions and gradually sink with age,
producing the mid-ocean ridge morphology. The greater heat at the ridge also weakens rock closer to the surface, raising the
boundary between the brittle lithosphere and the weaker, ductile asthenosphere to create a similar elevated and sloped feature
underneath the ridge.
These raised features produce ridge push; gravity pulling down on the lithosphere at the mid-ocean ridge is mostly opposed by
the normal force from the underlying rock, but the remainder acts to push the lithosphere down the sloping asthenosphere and
away from the ridge. Because the asthenosphere is weak, ridge push and other driving forces are enough to deform it and allow
the lithosphere to slide over it, opposed by drag at the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere boundary and resistance to subduction at
 9
Hydrous Materials of a Subducting Slab
Every year, 1–2 x 10 trillion kilograms of water descend into subduction zones. Approximately 90–95% of that water is contained
in hydrous minerals, including mica, phengite, amphibole, lawsonite, chlorite, talc, zoisite, and serpentine. The most significant
hydrous minerals are lawsonite (11 wt% H2O), phlogopite (2 wt% H2O) and amphibole (2 wt% H2O). Phlogopite does not
release water until approximately 200 km depth whereas amphibole releases water at approximately 75 km depth. Serpentine is
also an important hydrous phase (13 wt% H2O) that is only present in oceanic crust created at a slow spreading ridge where
ultramafic rocks are emplaced at shallow levels. Lawsonite does not release water until approximately 300 km depth and is the
last hydrous mineral to do so. Metamorphic dehydration reactions are prominent within the subducting slab during subduction,
giving rise to liquid phases that contain of fluid-mobile trace elements due to the breakdown of hydrous minerals such as
phengite, lawsonite and zoisite. This creates a unique type of trace element distribution pattern for arc magma. Arc magmas and
the continental crust formed from arc magmas are enriched in boron, lead, arsenic, and antimony derived from the dehydration
within the subducting slab. Hydrothermal fluids released from the slab mobilize these elements and allow them to be
incorporated into arc magmas, distinguishing arc magmas from those produced at mid-ocean ridges and hotspots.

Facies transitions and dehydration reactions of a subducting slab

Zeolite Facies
Basalts may first metamorphose under zeolite facies conditions (50–150 °C and 1–5 km depth) during subduction. Zeolites are
microporous silicate minerals that can be produced by the reaction of pore fluids with basalt and pelagic sediments. The zeolite
facies conditions typically only affect pelitic sediments undergoing burial, but is commonly displayed by the production of zeolite
minerals within the vesicles of vesicular basalt. The glassy rinds on pillow basalts are also susceptible to metamorphism under
zeolite facies conditions, which produces the zeolites heulandite or stilbite and hydrous phyllosilicates such as celadonite,
smectite, kaolinite, or montmorillonite plus secondary quartz. Crystalline igneous rocks of the subducting slab, such as gabbro
and basaltic sheeted dikes, remain stable until greater depth, when the sodium endmember of plagioclase feldspar, albite,
replaces detrital igneous plagioclase feldspar. Also at greater depth in the zeolite facies, the zeolite laumontite replaces the
zeolite heulandite and the phyllosilicate chlorite is common.

Prehnite-pumpellyite facies
At paths up to 220–320 °C and below 4.5 kbars, subducting slabs may encounter the prehnite-pumpellyite facies, characterized
by the presence of the hydrous chlorite, prehnite, albite, pumpellyite, tremolite, and epidote and the loss of the zeolites
heulandite and laumonite. Actinolite may occur at higher grade. Aside from albite, these characteristic minerals are water
bearing, and may contribute to mantle melting. These minerals are also vital in the formation of glaucophane, which is
associated with blueschist facies. The onset of a low-pressure phase of lawsonite is the most significant marker of prehnite-
pumpellyite facies metamorphism. The occurrence of lawsonite is significant because lawsonite contains 11 wt.% H2O which is
released at higher grade and can initiate significant melting.
Laumontite = Lawsonite + Quartz + H2O

Blueschist facies
Blueschist facies is characterized by the formation of a sodic, blue amphibole, namely, glaucophane, for which the blueschist
facies is named. Lawsonite is also diagnostic of blueschist facies and occurs in association with glaucophane.[20] Glaucophane
forming reactions are listed below. Glaucophane producing reactions are significant because they can either release water or
produce the hydrous phase, lawsonite through the breakdown of hydrous phyllosilicates. At high blueschist facies pressures,
albite may break down to form jadeite and quartz. Calcite will commonly pseudomorphose into aragonite under blueschist
conditions. Other common minerals of blueschist facies metabasites are paragonite, chlorite, titanite, stilpnomelane, quartz,
albite, sericite, and pumpellyite.
Tremolite + Chlorite + Albite = Glaucophane + Epidote + H2O
Tremolite + Chlorite + Albite = Glaucophane + Lawsonite
Pumpellyite + Chlorite + Albite = Glaucophane + Epidote + H2O

Eclogite facies
Eclogite facies is typically encountered around 80–100 km depth and is characterized by the presence of green omphacitic
pyroxene and red pyrope garnet. Omphacitic pyroxene is an augite-jadeite solution. At Eclogite facies conditions, plagioclase is
 13
was the first to understand the principle of salt tectonics and plasticity. The term "diapir" may be applied to igneous structures,
but it is more commonly applied to non-igneous, relatively cold materials, such as salt domes and mud diapirs.
Diapirs commonly intrude vertically upward along fractures or zones of structural weakness through denser overlying rocks
because of density contrast between a less dense, lower rock mass and overlying denser rocks.The density contrast manifests
as a force of buoyancy. The process is known as diapirism. The resulting structures are also referred to as piercement
structures.
In the process, segments of the existing strata can be disconnected and pushed upwards. While moving higher, they retain
much of their original properties such as pressure, which can be significantly different from that of the shallower strata they get
pushed into. Such overpressured Floaters pose a significant risk when trying to drill through them. There is an analogy to a
Galilean thermometer.
Rock types such as evaporitic salt deposits, and gas charged muds are potential sources of diapirs. Diapirs also form in the
earth's mantle when a sufficient mass of hot, less dense magma assembles. Diapirism in the mantle is thought to be associated
with the development of large igneous provinces and some mantle plumes.
Explosive, hot volatile rich magma or volcanic eruptions are referred to generally as diatremes. Diatremes are not usually
associated with diapirs, as they are small-volume magmas which ascend by volatile plumes, not by density contrast with the
surrounding mantle.

Orogeny
Orogeny is the process of mountain building. Subducting plates can lead to orogeny by bringing oceanic islands, oceanic
plateaus, and sediments to convergent margins. The material often does not subduct with the rest of the plate but instead is
accreted (scraped off) to the continent resulting in exotic terranes. The collision of this oceanic material causes crustal thickening
and mountain-building. The accreted material is often referred to as an accretionary wedge, or prism. These accretionary
wedges can be identified by ophiolites (uplifted ocean crust consisting of sediments, pillow basalts, sheeted dykes, gabbro, and
peridotite).
Subduction may also cause orogeny without bringing in oceanic material that collides with the overriding continent. When the
subducting plate subducts at a shallow angle underneath a continent (something called "flat-slab subduction"), the subducting
plate may have enough traction on the bottom of the continental plate to cause the upper plate to contract leading to folding,
faulting, crustal thickening and mountain building. This flat-slab subduction process is thought to be one of the main causes of
mountain building and deformation in South America.
The processes described above allow subduction to continue while mountain building happens progressively, which is in
contrast to continent-continent collision orogeny, which often leads to the termination of subduction.

Subduction Angle
Subduction typically occurs at a moderately steep angle right at the point of the convergent plate boundary. However,
anomalous shallower angles of subduction are known to exist as well some that are extremely steep.
Flat-slab subduction (subducting angle less than 30°) occurs when subducting lithosphere, called a slab, subducts nearly
horizontally. The relatively flat slab can extend for hundreds of kilometers. That is abnormal, as the dense slab typically sinks at
a much steeper angle directly at the subduction zone. Because subduction of slabs to depth is necessary to drive subduction
zone volcanism (through the destabilization and dewatering of minerals and the resultant flux melting of the mantle wedge), flat-
slab subduction can be invoked to explain volcanic gaps. Flat-slab subduction is ongoing beneath part of the Andes causing
segmentation of the Andean Volcanic Belt into four zones. The flat-slab subduction in northern Peru and Norte Chico region of
Chile is believed to be the result of the subduction of two buoyant aseismic ridges, the Nazca Ridge and the Juan Fernández
Ridge respectively. Around Taitao Peninsula flat-slab subduction is attributed to the subduction of the Chile Rise, a spreading
ridge. The Laramide Orogeny in the Rocky Mountains of United States is attributed to flat-slab subduction. Then, a broad
volcanic gap appeared at the southwestern margin of North America, and deformation occurred much farther inland; it was
during this time that the basement-cored mountain ranges of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, and New Mexico came
into being. The most massive subduction zone earthquakes, so-called "megaquakes", have been found to occur in flat-slab
subduction zones.
 17
Geochemistry
The most voluminous volcanic rocks of the ocean floor are the mid-oceanic ridge basalts, which are derived from low-potassium
tholeiitic magmas. These rocks have low concentrations of large ion lithophile elements (LILE), light rare earth elements (LREE),
volatile elements and other highly incompatible elements. There can be found basalts enriched with incompatible elements, but
they are rare and associated with mid-ocean ridge hot spots such as surroundings of Galapagos Islands, the Azores and
Iceland.
Prior to the Neoproterozoic Era 1000 Ma ago as world's oceanic crust was more mafic than present-days. The more mafic
nature of the crust meant that higher amounts of water molecules (OH) could be stored the altered parts of the crust. At
subduction zones this mafic crust was prone to metamorphose into greenschist instead of blueschist at ordinary blueschist
facies.

Life Cycle
Oceanic crust is continuously being created at mid-ocean ridges. As plates diverge at these ridges, magma rises into the upper
mantle and crust. As it moves away from the ridge, the lithosphere becomes cooler and denser, and sediment gradually builds
on top of it. The youngest oceanic lithosphere is at the oceanic ridges, and it gets progressively older away from the ridges.
As the mantle rises it cools and melts, as the pressure decreases and it crosses the solidus. The amount of melt produced

depends only on the temperature of the mantle as it rises. Hence most oceanic crust is the same thickness (7±1 km). Very slow
spreading ridges (<1 cm·yr−1 half-rate) produce thinner crust (4–5 km thick) as the mantle has a chance to cool on upwelling
and so it crosses the solidus and melts at lesser depth, thereby producing less melt and thinner crust. An example of this is the
Gakkel Ridge under the Arctic Ocean. Thicker than average crust is found above plumes as the mantle is hotter and hence it
crosses the solidus and melts at a greater depth, creating more melt and a thicker crust. An example of this is Iceland which has
crust of thickness ~20 km.
The age of the oceanic crust can be used to estimate the (thermal) thickness of the lithosphere, where young oceanic crust has
not had enough time to cool the mantle beneath it, while older oceanic crust has thicker mantle lithosphere beneath it. The
oceanic lithosphere subducts at what are known as convergent boundaries. These boundaries can exist between oceanic
lithosphere on one plate and oceanic lithosphere on another, or between oceanic lithosphere on one plate and continental
lithosphere on another. In the second situation, the oceanic lithosphere always subducts because the continental lithosphere is
less dense. The subduction process consumes older oceanic lithosphere, so oceanic crust is seldom more than 200 million
years old. The process of supercontinent formation and destruction via repeated cycles of creation and destruction of oceanic
crust is known as the Wilson cycle.
The oldest large scale oceanic crust is in the west Pacific and north-west Atlantic - both are about up to 180-200 million years
old. However, parts of the eastern Mediterranean Sea are remnants of the much older Tethys ocean, at about 270 and up to 340
million years old.

Magnetic Anomalies
The oceanic crust displays a pattern of magnetic lines, parallel to the ocean ridges, frozen in the basalt. A symmetrical pattern of
positive and negative magnetic lines emanates from the mid-ocean ridge. New rock is formed by magma at the mid-ocean
ridges, and the ocean floor spreads out from this point. When the magma cools to form rock, its magnetic polarity is aligned with
the then-current positions of the magnetic poles of the Earth. New magma then forces the older cooled magma away from the
ridge. This process results in parallel sections of oceanic crust of alternating magnetic polarity.

Continental Crust
the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks that forms the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to
their shores, known as continental shelves. This layer is sometimes called sial because its bulk composition is richer in silicates
and aluminium minerals and has a lower density compared to the oceanic crust, called sima which is richer in magnesium
silicate minerals and is denser. Changes in seismic wave velocities have shown that at a certain depth (the Conrad
discontinuity), there is a reasonably sharp contrast between the more felsic upper continental crust and the lower continental
crust, which is more mafic in character.
 21
OBDUCTION
overthrusting of oceanic lithosphere onto continental lithosphere at a convergent plate boundary where continental lithosphere is
being subducted beneath oceanic lithosphere.

Subsequently, this definition has been broadened to mean the emplacement of continental lithosphere by oceanic lithosphere at
a convergent plate boundary, such as closing of an ocean or a mountain building episode. This process is uncommon because
the denser oceanic lithosphere usually subducts underneath the less dense continental plate. Obduction occurs where a
fragment of continental crust is caught in a subduction zone with resulting overthrusting of oceanic mafic and ultramafic rocks
from the mantle onto the continental crust. Obduction may occur where a small tectonic plate is caught between two larger
plates, with the lithosphere (both island arc and oceanic) welding onto an adjacent continent as a new terrane. When two
continental plates collide, obduction of the oceanic lithosphere between them is often a part of the resulting orogeny.

Most obductions appear to have initiated at back-arc basins above the subduction zones during the closing of an ocean or an
orogeny.
TYPES:
Upwedging in subduction zones
This process is operative beneath and behind the inner walls of oceanic trenches (subduction zone) where slices of oceanic
crust and mantle are ripped from the upper part of the descending plate and wedged and packed in high pressure assemblages
against the leading edge of the other plate.
Weakening and cracking of oceanic crust and upper mantle is likely to occur in the tensional regime. This results in the
incorporation of ophiolite slabs into the overriding plate.
progressive packing of ophiolite slices and arc fragments against the leading edge of a continent may continue over a long
period of time and lead to a form of continental accretion.

Compressional telescoping onto Atlantic-type continental margins

The simplest form of this type of obduction may follow from the development of a subduction zone near the continental margin.
Above and behind the subduction zone, a welt of oceanic crust and mantle rides up over the descending plate. The ocean,
intervening between the continental margin and the subduction zone is progressively swallowed until the continental margin
arrives at the subduction zone and a giant wedge or slice (nappe) of oceanic crust and mantle is pushed across the continental
margin.Because the buoyancy of the relatively light continental crust is likely to prohibit its extensive subduction, a flip in
subduction polarity will occur yielding an ophiolite sheet lying above a descending plate.

If however, a large tract of ocean intervenes between the continental margin the subduction zone, a fully developed arc and
back arc basin may eventually arrive and collide with the continental margin. Further convergence may lead to overthrusting of
the volcanic arc assemblage and may be followed by flipping the subduction polarity.

According to the rock assemblage as well as the complexly deformed ophiolite basement and arc intrusions, the Coastal
Complex of western Newfoundland may well have been formed by this mechanism.

Gravity sliding onto Atlantic-type continental margins

This concept involves the progressive uplift of an actively spreading oceanic ridge, the detachment of slices from the upper part
of the lithosphere and the subsequent gravity sliding of these slices onto the continental margin as ophiolites. This concept was
advocated by Reinhardt for the emplacement of the Semail Ophiolite complex in Oman and argued by Church and Church and
Stevens for the emplacement of the Bay of Islands sheet in western Newfoundland. This concept has subsequently been
replaced by hypotheses that advocate subduction of the continental margin beneath oceanic lithosphere.

Transformation of a spreading ridge to a subduction zone

Many ophiolite complexes were emplaced as thin hot obducted sheets of oceanic lithosphere shortly after their generation by
plate accretion. The change from a spreading plate boundary to a subduction plate boundary may result from rapid
rearrangement of relative plate motion. A transform fault may also become a subduction zone, with the side with the higher,
hotter, thinner lithosphere riding over the lower, colder lithosphere. This mechanism would lead to obduction of ophiolite complex
if it occurred near a continental margin.
 25
Glassy or vitreous textures occur during some volcanic eruptions when the lava is quenched so rapidly that crystallization
cannot occur. The result is a natural amorphous glass with few or no crystals. Examples include obsidian and pumice.
Pegmatitic texture occurs during magma cooling when some minerals may grow so large that they become massive (the size
ranges from a few centimetres to several metres). This is typical of pegmatites.
Porphyritic textures develop when conditions during cooling of a magma change relatively quickly. The earlier formed minerals
will have formed slowly and remain as large crystals, whereas, sudden cooling causes the rapid crystallization of the remainder
of the melt into a fine grained (aphanitic) matrix. The result is an aphanitic rock with some larger crystals (phenocrysts)
imbedded within its matrix. Porphyritic texture also occurs when magma crystallizes below a volcano but is erupted before
completing crystallization thus forcing the remaining lava to crystallize more rapidly with much smaller crystals.
Pyroclastic (pyro = igneous, clastic = fragment) textures occur when explosive eruptions blast the lava into the air resulting in
fragmental, typically glassy material which fall as volcanic ash, lapilli and volcanic bombs.

Metamorphic rocks
arise from the transformation of existing rock types, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form".The
original rock (protolith) is subjected to heat (temperatures greater than 150 to 200 °C) and pressure (100 megapascals
(1,000 bar) or more), causing profound physical or chemical change. The protolith may be a sedimentary, igneous, or
existing metamorphic rock.
Metamorphic rocks make up a large part of the Earth's crust and form 12% of the Earth's land surface.They are classified
by texture and by chemical and mineral assemblage (metamorphic facies). They may be formed simply by being deep
beneath the Earth's surface, subjected to high temperatures and the great pressure of the rock layers above it. They can
form from tectonic processes such as continental collisions, which cause horizontal pressure, friction and distortion. They
are also formed when rock is heated by the intrusion of hot molten rock called magma from the Earth's interior. The study
of metamorphic rocks (now exposed at the Earth's surface following erosion and uplift) provides information about the
temperatures and pressures that occur at great depths within the Earth's crust. Some examples of metamorphic rocks are
gneiss, slate, marble, schist, and quartzite.
Metamorphic minerals are those that form only at the high temperatures and pressures associated with the process of
metamorphism. These minerals, known as index minerals, include sillimanite, kyanite, staurolite, andalusite, and some
garnet.
Other minerals, such as olivines, pyroxenes, amphiboles, micas, feldspars, and quartz, may be found in metamorphic
rocks, but are not necessarily the result of the process of metamorphism. These minerals formed during the crystallization
of igneous rocks. They are stable at high temperatures and pressures and may remain chemically unchanged during the
metamorphic process. However, all minerals are stable only within certain limits, and the presence of some minerals in
metamorphic rocks indicates the approximate temperatures and pressures at which they formed.
The change in the particle size of the rock during the process of metamorphism is called recrystallization. For instance, the
small calcite crystals in the sedimentary rock limestone and chalk change into larger crystals in the metamorphic rock
marble; in metamorphosed sandstone, recrystallization of the original quartz sand grains results in very compact quartzite,
also known as metaquartzite, in which the often larger quartz crystals are interlocked. Both high temperatures and
pressures contribute to recrystallization. High temperatures allow the atoms and ions in solid crystals to migrate, thus
reorganizing the crystals, while high pressures cause solution of the crystals within the rock at their point of contact.
The layering within metamorphic rocks is called foliation (derived from the Latin word folia, meaning "leaves"), and it
occurs when a rock is being shortened along one axis during recrystallization. This causes the platy or elongated crystals
of minerals, such as mica and chlorite, to become rotated such that their long axes are perpendicular to the orientation of
shortening. This results in a banded, or foliated rock, with the bands showing the colors of the minerals that formed them.
The five basic metamorphic textures with typical rock types are slaty (includes slate and phyllite; the foliation is called
"slaty cleavage"), schistose (includes schist; the foliation is called "schistosity"), gneissose (gneiss; the foliation is called
"gneissosity"), granoblastic (includes granulite, some marbles and quartzite), and hornfelsic (includes hornfels and
skarn).
 29
Mudrocks are sedimentary rocks composed of at least 50% silt- and clay-sized particles. These relatively fine-grained
particles are commonly transported by turbulent flow in water or air, and deposited as the flow calms and the particles
settle out of suspension.

Most authors presently use the term "mudrock" to refer to all rocks composed dominantly of mud.[4][5][6][7] Mudrocks can
be divided into siltstones, composed dominantly of silt-sized particles; mudstones with subequal mixture of silt- and clay-
sized particles; and claystones, composed mostly of clay-sized particles.[4][5] Most authors use "shale" as a term for a
fissile mudrock (regardless of grain size) although some older literature uses the term "shale" as a synonym for mudrock.
The term diagenesis is used to describe all the chemical, physical, and biological changes, exclusive of surface
weathering, undergone by a sediment after its initial deposition. Some of those processes cause the sediment to
consolidate into a compact, solid substance from the originally loose material. Young sedimentary rocks, especially those
of Quaternary age (the most recent period of the geologic time scale) are often still unconsolidated. As sediment
deposition builds up, the overburden (lithostatic) pressure rises, and a process known as lithification takes place.
Sedimentary rocks are often saturated with seawater or groundwater, in which minerals can dissolve, or from which
minerals can precipitate. Precipitating minerals reduce the pore space in a rock, a process called cementation. Due to the
decrease in pore space, the original connate fluids are expelled. The precipitated minerals form a cement and make the
rock more compact and competent. In this way, loose clasts in a sedimentary rock can become "glued" together.
When sedimentation continues, an older rock layer becomes buried deeper as a result. The lithostatic pressure in the rock
increases due to the weight of the overlying sediment. This causes compaction, a process in which grains mechanically
reorganize. Compaction is, for example, an important diagenetic process in clay, which can initially consist of 60% water.
During compaction, this interstitial water is pressed out of pore spaces. Compaction can also be the result of dissolution of
grains by pressure solution. The dissolved material precipitates again in open pore spaces, which means there is a net
flow of material into the pores. However, in some cases, a certain mineral dissolves and does not precipitate again. This
process, called leaching, increases pore space in the rock.
Some biochemical processes, like the activity of bacteria, can affect minerals in a rock and are therefore seen as part of
diagenesis. Fungi And plants (by their roots) and various other organisms that live beneath the surface can also influence
diagenesis.
Burial of rocks due to ongoing sedimentation leads to increased pressure and temperature, which stimulates certain
chemical reactions. An example is the reactions by which organic material becomes lignite or coal. When temperature and
pressure increase still further, the realm of diagenesis makes way for metamorphism, the process that forms metamorphic
rock.
That new rock layers are above older rock layers is stated in the principle of superposition. There are usually some gaps in
the sequence called unconformities. These represent periods where no new sediments were laid down, or when earlier
sedimentary layers were raised above sea level and eroded away.
Sedimentary rocks contain important information about the history of the Earth. They contain fossils, the preserved
remains of ancient plants and animals. Coal is considered a type of sedimentary rock. The composition of sediments
provides us with clues as to the original rock. Differences between successive layers indicate changes to the environment
over time. Sedimentary rocks can contain fossils because, unlike most igneous and metamorphic rocks, they form at
temperatures and pressures that do not destroy fossil remains.
Most elastic modulus (smallest ratio of force to resultant deformation), most porous

NICOLAS STENO
Steno, in his Dissertationis prodromus of 1669 is credited with four of the defining principles of the science of stratigraphy.
His words were:
1. the law of superposition: At the time when a given stratum was being formed, there was beneath it
another substance which prevented the further descent of the comminuted matter and so at the time when
the lowest stratum was being formed either another solid substance was beneath it, or if some fluid existed
there, then it was not only of a different character from the upper fluid, but also heavier than the solid
sediment of the upper fluid." (faunal succession is this for fossils) in undeformed stratigraphic sequences,
the oldest strata will be at the bottom of the sequence.
2. the principle of original horizontality: "At the time when one of the upper strata was being formed, the
lower stratum had already gained the consistency of a solid.", proves earth is not static, layers of sediment
are originally deposited horizontally under the action of gravity.
 33
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE

Eon Era Period[b] Epoch Age[c] Major events Start,

million
years
ago[c]
Phanerozoic Cenozoic Quaternary Holocene Meghalayan 4.2 kiloyear event, Little Ice Age, 0.0042*
increasing industrial CO2.
Northgrippian 8.2 kiloyear event, Holocene climatic 0.0082*
optimum. Bronze Age.
Greenlandian Current interglacial begins. Sea level 0.0117*
flooding of Doggerland and Sundaland.
Sahara desert forms. Neolithic
agriculture.
Pleistocene Late Eemian interglacial, Last glacial period, 0.126
('Tarantian') ending with Younger Dryas. Toba
eruption. Megafauna extinction.
Middle High amplitude 100 ka glacial cycles. 0.781
('Ionian', Rise of Homo sapiens.
'Chibanian')
Calabrian Further cooling of the climate. Spread of 1.8*
Homo erectus.
Gelasian Start of Quaternary glaciations. Rise of 2.58*
the Pleistocene megafauna and Homo
habilis.
Neogene Pliocene Piacenzian Greenland ice sheet develops.[29] 3.6*
Australopithecus common in East
Africa.[30]
Zanclean Zanclean flooding of the Mediterranean 5.333*
Basin. Cooling climate. Ardipithecus in
Africa.[31]
Miocene Messinian Messinian Event with hypersaline lakes in 7.246*
empty Mediterranean Basin. Moderate
Tortonian 11.63*
Icehouse climate, punctuated by ice ages
and re-establishment of East Antarctic Ice
 37
Kasimovian are quite large. Amphibians common and 307 ±
diverse. First reptiles and coal forests 0.1
Moscovian (scale trees, ferns, club trees, giant 315.2 ±
horsetails, Cordaites, etc.). Highest-ever 0.2
atmosphericoxygen levels. Goniatites,
Bashkirian 323.2 ±
brachiopods, bryozoa, bivalves, and
0.4*
corals plentiful in the seas and oceans.
Testate foramsproliferate. Uralian
orogeny in Europe and Asia. Variscan
orogeny occurs towards middle and late
Mississippian Periods.
Mississippian Serpukhovian Large primitive trees, first land 330.9 ±
vertebrates, and amphibious sea- 0.2
Viséan scorpions live amid coal-forming coastal 346.7 ±
swamps. Lobe-finned rhizodonts are 0.4*
dominant big fresh-water predators. In
Tournaisian 358.9 ±
the oceans, early sharks are common
0.4*
and quite diverse;
echinoderms(especially crinoids and
blastoids) abundant. Corals, bryozoa,
goniatites and brachiopods (Productida,
Spiriferida, etc.) are very common, but
trilobites and nautiloids decline.
Glaciation in East Gondwana. Tuhua
Orogeny in New Zealand tapers off.
Devonian Late Famennian First clubmosses, horsetails and ferns 372.2 ±
appear, as do the first seed-bearing 1.6*
Frasnian plants (progymnosperms), first trees (the 382.7 ±
progymnosperm Archaeopteris), and first 1.6*
(wingless) insects. Strophomenid and
Middle Givetian 387.7 ±
atrypid brachiopods, rugose and tabulate
0.8*
corals, and crinoids are all abundant in
Eifelian the oceans. Goniatite ammonoids are 393.3 ±
plentiful, while squid-like coleoids arise. 1.2*
Early Emsian Trilobites and armoured agnaths decline, 407.6 ±
while jawed fishes (placoderms, lobe- 2.6*
Pragian finned and ray-finned fish, and early 410.8 ±
sharks) rule the seas. First amphibians 2.8*
Lochkovian still aquatic. "Old Red Continent '' of 419.2 ±
Euramerica. Beginning of Acadian 3.2*
Orogeny for Anti-Atlas Mountains of
North Africa, and Appalachian Mountains
of North America, also the Antler,
Variscan, and Tuhua Orogeny in New
Zealand.
Silurian Pridoli First vascular plants (the rhyniophytes 423 ±
and their relatives), first millipedes and 2.3*
Ludlow Ludfordian arthropleurids on land. First jawed fishes, 425.6 ±
as well as many armoured jawless fish, 0.9*
populate the seas. Sea-scorpions reach
Gorstian 427.4 ±
large size. Tabulate and rugose corals,
0.5*
brachiopods(Pentamerida,
Wenlock Homerian Rhynchonellida, etc.), and crinoids all 430.5 ±
0.7*
 41
Folds are classified by their size, fold shape, tightness, and dip of the axial plane.[2]

Fold terminology in two dimensions

A fold surface seen in profile can be divided into hinge and limb portions. The limbs are the flanks of the fold and the hinge is
where the flanks join together. The hinge point is the point of minimum radius of curvature (maximum curvature) for a fold. The
crest of the fold is the highest point of the fold surface, and the trough is the lowest point. The inflection point of a fold is the point
on a limb at which the concavityreverses; on regular folds, this is the midpoint of the limb.

Fold terminology in three dimensions

The hinge points along an entire folded surface form a hinge line, which can be either a crest line or a trough line. The trend and
plunge of a linear hinge line gives you information about the orientation of the fold. To more completely describe the orientation
of a fold, one must describe the axial surface. The axial surface is the surface defined by connecting all the hinge lines of
stacked folding surfaces. If the axial surface is a planar surface then it is called the axial plane and can be described by the
strike and dip of the plane. Measured with geologic compass. An axial trace is the line of intersection of the axial surface with
any other surface (ground, side of mountain, geological cross-section).
Finally, folds can have, but don't necessarily have a fold axis. A fold axis, “is the closest approximation to a straight line that
when moved parallel to itself, generates the form of the fold.” (Davis and Reynolds, 1996 after Donath and Parker, 1964;
Ramsay 1967). A fold that can be generated by a fold axis is called a cylindrical fold. This term has been broadened to include
near-cylindrical folds. Often, the fold axis is the same as the hinge line.[3][4]

Fold shape
A fold can be shaped as a chevron, with planar limbs meeting at an angular axis, as cuspate with curved limbs, as circular with a
curved axis, or as elliptical with unequal wavelength.

Fold tightness
Fold tightness is defined by the size of the angle between the fold's limbs (as measured tangential to the folded surface at the
inflection line of each limb), called the interlimb angle. Gentle folds have an interlimb angle of between 180° and 120°, open
folds range from 120° to 70°, close folds from 70° to 30°, and tight folds from 30° to 0°.[5] Isoclines, or isoclinal folds, have an
interlimb angle of between 10° and zero, with essentially parallel limbs.

Fold symmetry
Not all folds are equal on both sides of the axis of the fold. Those with limbs of relatively equal length are termed symmetrical,
and those with highly unequal limbs are asymmetrical. Asymmetrical folds generally have an axis at an angle to the original
unfolded surface they formed on.

Deformation style classes

Folds that maintain uniform layer thickness are classed as concentric folds. Those that do not are called similar folds. Similar
folds tend to display thinning of the limbs and thickening of the hinge zone. Concentric folds are caused by warping from active
buckling of the layers, whereas similar folds usually form by some form of shear flow where the layers are not mechanically
active. Ramsay has proposed a classification scheme for folds that often is used to describe folds in profile based upon
curvature of the inner and outer lines of a fold, and the behavior of dip isogons. that is, lines connecting points of equal dip:
 45

Recumbent: linear, fold axial plane oriented at low angle

resulting in overturned strata in one limb of the fold.

Slump: typically monoclinal, result of differential compaction

or dissolution during sedimentation and lithification.

Parasitic: short wavelength folds formed within a larger

wavelength fold structure - normally associated with
differences in bed thickness[8]

Ptygmatic: Folds are chaotic, random and disconnected.

Typical of sedimentary slump folding, migmatites and
decollement detachment zones.

Disharmonic: Folds in adjacent layers with different (A homocline involves strata dipping in the same direction,
wavelengths and shapes[8] though not necessarily any folding.)
 49
first principle underlying the null point theory is due to the gravitational force; finer sediments remain in the water column
for longer durations allowing transportation outside the surf zone to deposit under calmer conditions. The gravitational
effect, or settling velocity determines the location of deposition for finer sediments, whereas a grain's internal angle of
friction determines the deposition of larger grains on a shore profile. The secondary principle to the creation of seaward
sediment fining is known as the hypothesis of asymmetrical thresholds under waves; this describes the interaction
between the oscillatory flow of waves and tides flowing over the wave ripple bedforms in an asymmetric pattern. "The
relatively strong onshore stroke of the wave forms an eddy or vortex on the lee side of the ripple, provided the onshore
flow persists, this eddy remains trapped in the lee of the ripple. When the flow reverses, the eddy is thrown upwards off
the bottom and a small cloud of suspended sediment generated by the eddy is ejected into the water column above the
ripple, the sediment cloud is then moved seaward by the offshore stroke of the wave." Where there is symmetry in ripple
shape the vortex is neutralised, the eddy and its associated sediment cloud develops on both sides of the ripple. This
creates a cloudy water column which travels under tidal influence as the wave orbital motion is in equilibrium. Cohesion of
sediment occurs with the small grain sizes associated with silts and clays, or particles smaller than 4ϕ on the phi scale. If
these fine particles remain dispersed in the water column, Stokes law applies to the settling velocity of the individual
grains, although due to sea water being a strong electrolyte bonding agent, flocculation occurs where individual particles
create an electrical bond adhering each other together to form flocs. "The face of a clay platelet has a slight negative
charge where the edge has a slight positive charge, when two platelets come into close proximity with each other the face
of one particle and the edge of the other are electrostatically attracted." Flocs then have a higher combined mass which
leads to quicker deposition through a higher fall velocity, and deposition in a more shoreward direction than they would
have as the individual fine grains of clay or silt.
The null point theory has been controversial in its acceptance into mainstream coastal science as the theory operates in
dynamic equilibrium or unstable equilibrium, and many field and laboratory observations have failed to replicate the state
of a null point at each grain size throughout the profile. The interaction of variables and processes over time within the
environmental context causes issues; "the large number of variables, the complexity of the processes, and the difficulty in
observation, all place serious obstacles in the way of systematisation, therefore in certain narrow fields the basic physical
theory may be sound and reliable but the gaps are large"
Geomorphologists, engineers, governments and planners should be aware of the processes and outcomes involved with
the null point hypothesis when performing tasks such as beach nourishment, issuing building consents or building coastal
defence structures. This is because sediment grain size analysis throughout a profile allows inference into the erosion or
accretion rates possible if shore dynamics are modified. Planners and managers should also be aware that the coastal
environment is dynamic and contextual science should be evaluated before implementation of any shore profile
modification. Thus theoretical studies, laboratory experiments, numerical and hydraulic modelling seek to answer
questions pertaining to littoral drift and sediment deposition, the results should not be viewed in isolation and a substantial
body of purely qualitative observational data should supplement any planning or management decision.

FAULTS

Fault Mechanics

Normal fault in La Herradura Formation, Morro Solar, Peru. The light layer of rock shows the displacement. A second normal fault is at the right.

Because of friction and the rigidity of the constituent rocks, the two sides of a fault cannot always glide or flow past each other
easily, and so occasionally all movement stops. The regions of higher friction along a fault plane, where it becomes locked, are
called asperities. When a fault is locked stress builds up, and when it reaches a level that exceeds the strength threshold, the
fault ruptures and the accumulated strain energy is released in part as seismic waves, forming an earthquake.
Strain occurs accumulatively or instantaneously, depending on the liquid state of the rock; the ductile lower crust and mantle
accumulate deformation gradually via shearing, whereas the brittle upper crust reacts by fracture – instantaneous stress release
– resulting in motion along the fault. A fault in ductile rocks can also release instantaneously when the strain rate is too great.
Fault mechanics is a field of study that investigates the behavior of geologic faults.Behind every good earthquake is some weak
rock. Whether the rock remains weak becomes an important point in determining the potential for bigger earthquakes. On a
small scale, fractured rock behaves essentially the same throughout the world, in that the angle of friction is more or less uniform
(see Fault friction). A small element of rock in a larger mass responds to stress changes in a well defined manner: if it is
squeezed by differential stresses greater than its strength, it is capable of large deformations. A band of weak, fractured rock in
 53
Synthetic and Antithetic Fault
Synthetic and antithetic faults are terms used to describe minor faults associated with a major fault. Synthetic faults dip in the
same direction as the major fault while the antithetic faults dip in the opposite direction. These faults may be accompanied by
rollover anticlines (e.g. the Niger Delta Structural Style).

Listric
Listric

Ring fault: a) (from top to bottom) calder rim;

caldera; ring fault/dyke; rook block; magma chamber;
Listric b) N/A; c) inward-dipping RF; d) vertical RF; e)
outward-dipping RF (Chesapeake Bay impact
crater)

top to bottom:
a) dormant mud volcano; anticline axis; mud
chamber elongated parallel to anticline axis
b) elongate ring fault forms and subsidence (the
gradual caving in or sinking of an area of land)
occurs; mud chamber deflates after eruption
c) sector collapse event along ring fault after large
eruption

Synthetic and Antithetic

San Andreas!
 57

the 1st circular dots say continuous smear,

2nd set of dots say discontinuous smear

Clay smear
Cataclasite

pseudotachylite

mylonite

Impacts on Structures and People

In geotechnical engineering a fault often forms a discontinuity that may have a large influence on the mechanical behavior
(strength, deformation, etc.) of soil and rock masses in, for example, tunnel, foundation, or slope construction.
The level of a fault's activity can be critical for (1) locating buildings, tanks, and pipelines and (2) assessing the seismic shaking
and tsunami hazard to infrastructure and people in the vicinity. In California, for example, new building construction has been
prohibited directly on or near faults that have moved within the Holocene Epoch (the last 11,700 years) of the Earth's geological
history. Also, faults that have shown movement during the Holocene plus Pleistocene Epochs (the last 2.6 million years) may
receive consideration, especially for critical structures such as power plants, dams, hospitals, and schools. Geologists assess a
fault's age by studying soil features seen in shallow excavations and geomorphology seen in aerial photographs. Subsurface
clues include shears and their relationships to carbonate nodules, eroded clay, and iron oxide mineralization, in the case of older
soil, and lack of such signs in the case of younger soil. Radiocarbon dating of organic material buried next to or over a fault
 61
Accretionary Prisms & Sediment Transport
An accretionary wedge or accretionary prism forms from sediments accreted onto the non-subducting tectonic plate at a
convergent plate boundary. Most of the material in the accretionary wedge consists of marine sediments scraped off from the
downgoing slab of oceanic crust, but in some cases the wedge includes the erosional products of volcanic island arcs formed on
the overriding plate.
Accretionary prisms grow in two ways: by frontal accretion, whereby sediments are scraped off the downgoing plate, bulldozer-
fashion, near the trench, and by underplating of subducted sediments (and sometimes oceanic crust) along the shallow parts of
the subduction decollement. Frontal accretion over the life of a convergent margin results in younger sediments defining the
outermost part of the accretionary prism and the oldest sediments defining the innermost portion. Older (inner) parts of the
accretionary prism are more lithified and have steeper structures than the younger (outer) parts.[clarification needed]
Underplating is difficult to detect in modern subduction zones but may be recorded in ancient accretionary prisms such as the
Franciscan Group of California in the form of tectonic mélanges and duplex structures.

Different modes of accretion are reflected in the morphology of the inner slope of the trench, which generally shows three
morphological provinces. The lower slope comprises imbricate thrust slices that form ridges. The mid slope may comprise a
bench or terraces. The upper slope is smoother but may be cut by submarine canyons. Because accretionary convergent
margins have high relief, are continuously deforming, and accommodate a large flux of sediments, they are vigorous systems of
sediment dispersal and accumulation. Sediment transport is controlled by submarine landslides, debris flows, turbidity currents,
and contourites. Submarine canyons transport sediment from beaches and rivers down the upper slope. These canyons form by
channelized turbidites and generally lose definition with depth because continuous faulting disrupts the submarine
channels.[citation needed] Sediments move down the inner trench wall via channels and a series of fault-controlled basins. The
trench itself serves as an axis of sediment transport. If enough sediment moves to the trench, it may be completely filled so that
turbidity currents are able to carry sediments well beyond the trench and may even surmount the outer swell, as in the eastern
Gulf of Alaska. Sediments from the rivers of North America spill over the filled Cascadia trench and cross the Juan de Fuca plate
to reach the spreading ridge several hundred kilometres to the west.
The slope of the inner trench slope of an accretionary convergent margin reflects continuous adjustments to the thickness and
width of the accretionary prism. The prism maintains a ‘critical taper’, established in conformance with Mohr–Coulomb theory,
with slope determined by the material properties of the sediments. A package of sediments scraped off the downgoing
lithospheric plate deforms until it and the accretionary prism that it has been added to attain the maximum slope supported by
the sediments. Once this critical taper is attained, the wedge slides stably along its basal décollement. Strain rate and hydrologic
properties also influence the strength of the accretionary prism and the angle of critical taper. Fluid pore pressures modify rock
strength. Low permeability and rapid convergence may result in pore pressures that exceed lithostatic pressure and thus a
relatively weak accretionary prism with a shallowly tapered geometry, whereas high permeability and slow convergence result in
lower pore pressure, stronger prisms, and steeper geometry.
The Hellenic Trench of the Hellenic arc system is unusual because this convergent margin subducts evaporites. The slope of the
surface of the southern flank of the Mediterranean Ridge (its accretionary prism) is low, about 1°, indicating very low shear
stress on the decollement at the base of the wedge. Evaporites control the shallow taper of the accretionary complex both
because their mechanical properties differ from those of siliciclastic sediments, and because of their effect on fluid flow and fluid
pressure, which in turn control effective stress. In the 1970s, the linear deeps of the Hellenic trench south of Crete were thought
to be similar to trenches at other subduction zones. However, with the realization that the Mediterranean Ridge is an
accretionary complex, it became apparent that the Hellenic trench is actually a starved forearc basin, and that the plate
boundary lies south of the Mediterranean Ridge.

Empty Trenches and Subduction Erosion

Trenches distant from an influx of continental sediments lack an accretionary prism, and the inner slope of such trenches is
commonly composed of igneous or metamorphic rocks. Non-accretionary convergent margins are characteristic of (but not
limited to) primitive arc systems. Primitive arc systems are those built on oceanic lithosphere, such as the Izu-Bonin-Mariana,
Tonga-Kermadec, and Scotia (South Sandwich) arc systems. The inner trench slope of these convergent margins exposes the
crust of the forearc, including basalt, gabbro, and serpentinized mantle peridotite. These exposures allow easy access to study
the lower oceanic crust and upper mantle in place and provide a unique opportunity to study the magmatic products associated
with the initiation of subduction zones. Most ophiolites probably originate in a forearc environment during the initiation of
subduction, and this setting favors ophiolite emplacement during collision with blocks of thickened crust. Not all non-accretionary
convergent margins are associated with primitive arcs. Trenches adjacent to continents where there is little influx of sediments
carried by rivers, such as the central part of the Peru–Chile Trench, may also lack an accretionary prism.
65
 69
and gases such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide,
hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen sulfide. The
steam forms when superheated water condenses
as its pressure drops when it emerges from the
ground. Wikipedia

Overpressured zones (including Geologic overpressure - inability of connate pore diagnose overpressured units when drilling through
gas and shallow water flows) fluids (liquids trapped in pores of sedimentary rocks them, as the drilling mud weight (density) must be
as they’re deposited, largely water, contain many adjusted to compensate. If it is not, there is a risk
mineral components as ions in solution) to escape that the pressure difference down-well will cause a
as surrounding mineral matrix compacts under dramatic decompression of the overpressured layer
lithostatic pressure caused by overlying layers. Fluid and result in a blowout at the well-head with
escape impeded by sealing of compacting rock by possibly disastrous consequences.
surrounding impermeable layers (ex. evaporites,
chalk and cemented sandstones). Rate of burial of Because overpressured sediments tend to exhibit
the stratigraphic layer may be so great that efflux of better porosity than would be predicted from their
fluid not sufficiently rapid to maintain hydrostatic depth, they often make attractive hydrocarbon
pressure. reservoirs and are therefore of important economic
interest.
Examples:
-a buried river channel filled with coarse sand,
sealed on all sides by impermeable shales
-an explosion within a confined space.

Naturally occurring gas hydrates Clathrate hydrates, or gas clathrates, gas

hydrates, clathrates, hydrates, etc., - crystalline Avoid operational conditions that might cause
and their climate-controlled meta- water-based solids resembling ice, where small formation of hydrates by depressing the hydrate
non-polar molecules (typically gases) or polar formation temperature using glycol dehydration;
stability molecules with large hydrophobic moieties trapped Temporarily change operating conditions in order to
inside "cages" of hydrogen bonded, frozen water avoid hydrate formation;
molecules; clathrate compounds where host
molecule = water, guest molecule = gas or liquid. Prevent formation of hydrates by addition of
Without support of trapped molecules, lattice chemicals that (a) shift the hydrate equilibrium
structure of hydrate clathrates would collapse into conditions towards lower temperatures and higher
conventional ice crystal structure/liquid water. pressures or (b) increase hydrate formation time
Strong tendency to agglomerate/adhere to pipewall, (inhibitors)
plug pipeline, can be decomposed by increasing the
temperature and/or decreasing the pressure,
clathrate dissociation is a slow process.

Mud flows, diapirism and They blow up and shit Identify potentially active volcanoes • Directly
Vooom pooof rock fire observing, measuring, and analyzing volcanic
volcanism/volcanoes unrest • Studying and monitoring volcanic and
hydrologic processes • Reconstructing eruptive and
erosional history of volcanoes • Studying effects of
volcanic emissions • Preparing hazard maps •
Coordinate with local officials • Communicate
information about potential volcanic hazards
Eruption rates can be determined by using Digital
Elevation Models (DEM’s) • In this study three
DEM’s from 1954, 2001, and 2005 were compared
and analyzed for volume changes. • By studying
volume changes within the volcanic environment we
can see where the activity has taken place on the
volcano as well as areas that are affected
downstream (ex. lahars)

Flood basalt A flood basalt is the result of a giant volcanic

eruption or series of eruptions that covers large
stretches of land or the ocean floor with basalt lava.
Flood basalt provinces such as the Deccan Traps of
India are often called traps, after the Swedish word
trappa (meaning "stairs"), due to the characteristic
stairstep geomorphology of many associated
landscapes. Michael R. Rampino and Richard
Stothers (1988) cited eleven distinct flood basalt
episodes occurring in the past 250 million years,
creating large volcanic provinces, plateaus, and
mountain ranges.[1] However, more have been
recognized such as the large Ontong Java
Plateau,[2] and the Chilcotin Group, though the latter
may be linked to the Columbia River Basalt Group.
Large igneous provinces have been connected to
five mass extinction events, and may be associated
with bolide impacts.

Earthquakes and seismicity Tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere in the earth Short term hard, long term also hard
where there is sufficient stored elastic strain energy Prediction hard, forecasting possible
to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane.
The sides of a fault move past each other smoothly The objective of earthquake engineering is to
 73
Volcano in southern Mexico in 1982 from pyroclastic
surges. The only effective method of risk mitigation
is evacuation prior to such eruptions from areas
likely to be affected by pyroclastic density currents.

Pyroclastic surge A pyroclastic surge, also referred as a dilute

pyroclastic density current, is a flowing mixture of
gas and rock fragments ejected during some
volcanic eruptions. Pyroclastic surge refers to a
specific type of pyroclastic current which moves on
the ground as a turbulent flow with low particle
concentration (high ratio of gas to rock [1]) with
support mainly from the gas phase. Pyroclastic
surges are thus more mobile and less confined
compared to dense pyroclastic flows, which allows
them to override ridges and hills rather than always
travel downhill.
The velocity of the head of pyroclastic density
currents has been measured directly via e.g.
photography as for the case of Mount St. Helens,
reaching 90–130 m/s (200–290 mph). Estimates for
other recent eruptions range from less than 10 m/s
up to 100 m/s.[2] Pyroclastic flows may generate
surges. For example, the city of Saint-Pierre in
Martinique was overcome by a pyroclastic surge in
1902. Pyroclastic surges can be subdivided into
three types: base surge, ash-cloud surge, and
ground surge.
First recognized after the Taal Volcano eruption of
1965 in the Philippines, where a visiting
volcanologist from USGS recognized the
phenomenon as comparable to base surge in
nuclear explosions.[3] Very similar to the ground-
hugging blasts associated with nuclear explosions,
these surges are expanding rings of turbulent
mixture of fragments and gas that surge outward at
the base of explosion columns. Base surges are
more likely generated by the interaction of magma
and water or phreatomagmatic eruptions.[4] They
develop from the interaction of magma (often
basaltic) and water to form thin wedge-shaped
deposits characteristic of maars.[5]
Ash-cloud surges are considered the most
devastating. They form thin deposits, but travel at
great speed (10–100 m/s) carrying abundant debris
such as trees, rocks, bricks, tiles etc. They are so
powerful that they often blast and erode material
(like sandblasting). They are possibly produced
when conditions in an eruption column are close to
the boundary conditions separating convection from
collapse, that is, switching rapidly from one
condition to the other.[5]
These deposits are often found at the base of
pyroclastic flows. They are thinly bedded, laminated
and often cross-bedded.[6] Typically they are about 1
m thick and consist mostly of lithic and crystal
fragments (fine ash elutriatedaway). They appear to
form from the flow itself, but the mechanism is not
clear. One possibility is that the head of the flow
expands through entrainment of air (which is then
heated). This then results in the flow front surging
forward, which is then over-run by the rest of the
flow.[5]

Pyroclastic fall
A pyroclastic fall is a uniform deposit of material
which has been ejected from a volcanic eruption or
plume such as an ash fall or tuff. Pyroclastic air fall
deposits are a result of: Ballistic transport of ejecta
such as volcanic blocks, volcanic bombs and lapilli
 77

Mass-Wasting
Occurs when the slope is too steep to remain stable with existing materials and conditions.
is the geomorphic process by which soil, sand, regolith, and rock move downslope typically as a solid, continuous or
discontinuous mass, largely under the force of gravity, but frequently with characteristics of a flow as in debris flows
and mudflows.
Contains: creep, slides, flows, topples, and falls
Role of Water: Water can increase or decrease the stability of a slope depending on the amount present. Small amounts of
water can strengthen soils because the surface tension of water increases soil cohesion. This allows the soil to resist erosion
better than if it were dry. If too much water is present the water may act to increase the pore pressure, reducing friction, and
accelerating the erosion process and resulting in different types of mass wasting (i.e. mudflows, landslides, etc.). A good
example of this is to think of a sand castle. Water must be mixed with sand in order for the castle to keep its shape. If too much
water is added the sand washes away, if not enough water is added the sand falls and cannot keep its shape. Water also
increases the mass of the soil, this is important because an increase in mass means that there will be an increase in velocity if
mass wasting is triggered. Saturated water, however, eases the process of mass wasting in that the rock and soil debris are
easily washed down-slope.
CAN be divided into 2 broad categories: based on how the soil, regolith or rock moves downslope as a whole, mass
movements can be broadly classified as creeps and landslides
Creep: Soil creep is a slow and long term mass movement. The combination of small movements of soil or rock in
different directions over time are directed by gravity gradually downslope. The steeper the slope, the faster the
creep. The creep makes trees and shrubs curve to maintain their perpendicularity, and they can trigger landslides if
they lose their root footing. The surface soil can migrate under the influence of cycles of freezing and thawing, or hot
and cold temperatures, inching its way towards the bottom of the slope forming terracettes. Landslides are often
preceded by soil creep accompanied with soil sloughing — loose soil that falls and accumulates at the base of the
steepest creep sections.
How creep works: When sediment expands, individual particles are lifted up at right angles to the slope.
Sediments can expand when they freeze, get wet or are heated up in the sun. When the sediments shrink,
the particles fall straight back down. Creep takes a long time because each particle might only move a
millimetre to a few centimetres at a time.
Landslide: A landslide, also called a landslip, is a slow or rapid movement of a large mass of earth and rocks down
a hill or a mountainside. Little or no flowage of the materials occurs on a given slope until heavy rain and resultant
lubrication by the same rainwater facilitate the movement of the materials, causing a landslide to occur.
In particular, if the main feature of the movement is a slide along a planar or curved surface, the landslide is termed
slump, earth slide, debris slide or rock slide, depending on the prevailing material.
Movement of soil and regolith that more resembles fluid behavior is called a flow. These include avalanches,
mudflows, debris flows, earth flow, lahars and sturzstroms. Water, air and ice are often involved in enabling fluid-like
motion of the material.
A fall, including rockfall and debris fall, occurs where regolith cascades down a slope, but is not of sufficient volume
or viscosity to behave as a flow. Falls are promoted in rocks which are characterized by the presence of vertical
cracks. Falls can also result from undercutting by running water as well as by waves. They usually occur at very
steep slopes such as a cliff face. The rock material may be loosened by earthquakes, rain, plant-root wedging, and
expanding ice, among other things. The accumulation of rock material that has fallen and resides at the base of the
structure is known as talus.
Rotational slides show movement along a curved rupture surface with a commonly slow movement rate.
Translational slides are movements along a plane of distinct weakness between the overlying slide material
and more stable underlying material, and are often rapid.
Sturzstroms: largest and fastest slides; aka long-run-out landslides; poorly understood
Triggers:
Earthquakes, increased overburden from structures, increased soil moisture, reduction of roots holding the soil to
bedrock, undercutting of the slope by excavation or erosion, weathering by frost heave or chemical dissolution,
bioturbation
 81

shield volcano
1. Large
magma
chamber
2. Bedrock
3. Conduit
(pipe)
4.Base
5. Sill
6. Dike
7. Layers of
ash emitted
by the
volcano
Cinder cone 8. Flank
9. Layers of
Cryptodome lava emitted
by the
volcano
10. Throat
11. Parasitic cone
12. Lava flow
13. Vent
14. Crater
Stratovolcano 15. Ash cloud

1. Water vapor
cloud
2. Water
3. Stratum
4. Lava flow
5. Magma
Conduit
6. Magma
Chamber
Supervolcano - red is VEI 8, orange is 7. Dike
VEI 7 8. Pillow lava Subglacial & Mud

Lava Composition
Another way of classifying volcanoes is by the composition of material erupted (lava), since this affects the shape of the volcano.
Lava can be broadly classified into four different compositions:[10]
● If the erupted magma contains a high percentage (>63%) of silica, the lava is called felsic.
● Felsic lavas (dacites or rhyolites) tend to be highly viscous (not very fluid) and are erupted as domes or
short, stubby flows. Viscous lavas tend to form stratovolcanoes or lava domes. Lassen Peak in
California is an example of a volcano formed from felsic lava and is actually a large lava dome.
● Because siliceous magmas are so viscous, they tend to trap volatiles (gases) that are present, which
cause the magma to erupt catastrophically, eventually forming stratovolcanoes. Pyroclastic flows
(ignimbrites) are highly hazardous products of such volcanoes, since they are composed of molten
volcanic ash too heavy to go up into the atmosphere, so they hug the volcano's slopes and travel far
from their vents during large eruptions. Temperatures as high as 1,200 °C are known to occur in
pyroclastic flows, which will incinerate everything flammable in their path and thick layers of hot
pyroclastic flow deposits can be laid down, often up to many meters thick. Alaska's Valley of Ten
Thousand Smokes, formed by the eruption of Novaruptanear Katmai in 1912, is an example of a thick
pyroclastic flow or ignimbrite deposit. Volcanic ash that is light enough to be erupted high into the
Earth's atmosphere may travel many kilometres before it falls back to ground as a tuff.
● If the erupted magma contains 52–63% silica, the lava is of intermediate composition.
85
 89
39. a. Strike: Answers between N10°W and N45°W or S10°E and S45°E are acceptable.
1 point for the format N__W or S__E and 1 point for the appropriate numerical angle.
b. Thickness: The change in elevation across the dyke is 20 meters. (1 pt)

The angle of the dyke to the horizontal is given by the dip: it is 30°. (1 pt)
The width of the dyke is given on the map: it is 150 meters. (1 pt)
The true thickness of the dyke is width(sin(dip))+height(cos(dip)) (1 pt for
writing this out or explaining why it is true)
Thickness = 150(sin(30))+20(cos(30)) = 92 meters (1 pt for answers between
91m and 94m)

On a geologic map, you notice a Limestone strata with a strike of 000. At the outcrop furthest to the west, the
elevation is 277m. This is marked as M1.
A measurement taken 400m due east of M1 measures 281m. This is marked as M2. A final measurement taken at
the furthest east outcrop of the Limestone strata measures 285m, marked M3. M3, is 400m due east of M2.
The Limestone strata has a dip of 6°. What is the True Thickness of the Limestone strata?
800*sin(6) + 10*cos(6) ~= 92

c. Strike: N10(+/- 3)°E or S10(+/- 3)°W. (1 pt)

It is the direction of the line between A and D, since A and D are at the same elevation. (1 pt)
Dip:

It is orthogonal to the strike. (1 pt)

The angle is arctan((change in elevation between line AD and C)/(distance between line AD
and C)). (1 pt)
Change in elevation is (410-340) = 70 m. Change in distance is 1.4(+/- 0.1) km. (1 pt for
stating both)
Thus dip is tan^(-1)(70/1400) = about 3° (answers between 2.8 and 3 acceptable) (1 pt)
-1 degree = 60 minutes = 3600 seconds
-dip = incline of bedding plane, perpendicular to strike (angle the fault runs) [report strike/dip]
-apparent dip is less than true dip
50.Given strike and true dip of N50E, 40SE, find the apparent dip in vertical section
trending S70E. (2 points) δ = 36

Orthographically determine the true dip and strike given two apparent dips
Two apparent dips (a) of a plane (e.g., dike, vein) are measured in the field on two surfaces (e.g., joints). Determine
the true dip (d) and strike of the plane.
Example: A dike has an apparent dip of a1 = 20 along the 296 direction and a2 = 30 along the 046 directions.
What is the attitude of the dike?
Procedure:
1. Pick a point, O, at the center of your graph paper.
2. Draw the direction of the apparent dips (i.e., 296 and 046) from point O.
3. Call these FL1 and FL2, respectively.
4. Subtend the angle a1 from FL1, and angle a2 from FL2.
5. Use a straight edge and choose an arbitrary depth d perpendicular to FL1.
6. Find point A where d intersects the trend of the apparent dip (i.e., the 296 line)
7. Use the same d for FL2, and repeat steps 5 and 6 for the second apparent dip, except that the intersection
point is marked as B.
8. Connect A to B. This is the strike of the dike.
 93

Geologic bed cross section

 97
Earthquake Warning: Advance earthquake warning is possible by detecting the nondestructive primary waves that travel more
quickly through the Earth's crust than do the destructive secondary and Rayleigh waves.
The amount of advance warning depends on the delay between the arrival of the P-wave and other destructive waves, generally
on the order of seconds up to about 60 to 90 seconds for deep, distant, large quakes such as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. The
effectiveness of advance warning depends on accurate detection of the P-waves and rejection of ground vibrations caused by
local activity (such as trucks or construction). Earthquake early warning systems can be automated to allow for immediate safety
actions, such as issuing alerts, stopping elevators at the nearest floors and switching off utilities.
S Waves (secondary or shear):
Summary: ELASTIC Secondary waves (S-waves) are shear waves that are transverse in nature. Following an earthquake
event, S-waves arrive at seismograph stations after the faster-moving P-waves and displace the ground perpendicular to the
direction of propagation. Depending on the propagational direction, the wave can take on different surface characteristics; for
example, in the case of horizontally polarized S waves, the ground moves alternately to one side and then the other. S-waves
can travel only through solids, as fluids (liquids and gases) do not support shear stresses. S-waves are slower than P-waves,
and speeds are typically around 60% of that of P-waves in any given material.
Its name, S for secondary, comes from the fact that it is the second direct arrival on an earthquake seismogram, after the
compressional primary wave, or P-wave, because S-waves travel slower in rock. Unlike the P-wave, the S-wave cannot travel
through the molten outer core of the Earth, and this causes a shadow zone for S-waves opposite to where they originate. They
can still appear in the solid inner core: when a P-wave strikes the boundary of molten and solid cores, S-waves will then
propagate in the solid medium. And when the S-waves hit the boundary again they will in turn create P-waves. This property
allows seismologists to determine the nature of the inner core.
Shear Wave Splitting: Also called seismic birefringence, is the phenomenon that occurs when a polarized shear wave enters
an anisotropic** medium (direction dependent; opposite of isotropic). The incident shear wave splits into two polarized shear
waves. Shear wave splitting is typically used as a tool for testing the anisotropy of an area of interest. These measurements
reflect the degree of anisotropy and lead to a better understanding of the area’s crack density and orientation or crystal
alignment. We can think of the anisotropy of a particular area as a black box and the shear wave splitting measurements as a
way of looking at what is in the box
D Waves:

Other waves
Surface Waves:
Seismic surface waves travel along the Earth's surface. They can be classified as a form of mechanical surface waves. * (a 90
degree wave that propagates along the interface between differing media e.g. gravity waves/ ocean waves) They are called
surface waves, as they diminish as they get further from the surface. They travel more slowly than seismic body waves (P and
S). In large earthquakes, surface waves can have an amplitude of several centimeters.
Rayleigh Waves:
Summary: Rayleigh waves, also called ground roll, are surface waves that travel as ripples with motions that are similar to those
of waves on the surface of water (note, however, that the associated particle motion at shallow depths is retrograde, and that the
restoring force in Rayleigh and in other seismic waves is elastic, not gravitational as for water waves). The existence of these
waves was predicted by John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh, in 1885. They are slower than body waves, roughly 90% of the
velocity of S waves for typical homogeneous elastic media. In a layered medium (like the crust and upper mantle) the velocity of
the Rayleigh waves depends on their frequency and wavelength.
More Info: Because Rayleigh waves are surface waves, the amplitude of such waves generated by an earthquake generally
decreases exponentially with the depth of the hypocenter (focus). However, large earthquakes may generate Rayleigh waves
that travel around the Earth several times before dissipating. Rayleigh waves are generated by the interaction of P- and S-
waves at the surface of the earth, and travel with a velocity that is lower than the P-, S-, and Love wave velocities. Rayleigh
waves emanating outward from the epicenter of an earthquake travel along the surface of the earth at about 10 times the speed
of sound in air (0.340 km/s), that is ~3 km/s.
Due to their higher speed, the P- and S-waves generated by an earthquake arrive before the surface waves. However, the
particle motion of surface waves is larger than that of body waves, so the surface waves tend to cause more damage. In the
case of Rayleigh waves, the motion is of a rolling nature, similar to an ocean surface wave. The intensity of Rayleigh wave
shaking at a particular location is dependent on several factors: geologic structures in crust; size, intensity, depth, focal
mechanism, and rupture directivity of the earthquake.
Seismology: Low frequency Rayleigh waves generated during earthquakes are used in seismology to characterise the Earth's
interior. In intermediate ranges, Rayleigh waves are used in geophysics and geotechnical engineering for the characterisation of
oil deposits. These applications are based on the geometric dispersion of Rayleigh waves and on the solution of an inverse
 101
d = distance between earthquake and station
vP = velocity of P wave
Then, since distance = velocity * time,
d = vP(tP-tE)
Plotted, this looks like:

If we know tP-tE and vP, then we can determine d. The problem is that we don't know tP-tE, since we don't have any
way of knowing when the earthquake occurred. All we know is the record of when the earthquake was recorded at a
distant station --- we know tP but not tE.In other words, we have one equation but two unknowns.
Luckily, we have another piece of data that is easily read from a seismogram---the arrival time of the S wave, tS.
Assuming we also know the velocity of S waves (vS), then we can write a second equation, similar to the first but in
terms of S-wave velocity and travel time tS-tE:
d = vS*(tS-tE)
This would also plot as a line, and since vS < vP, would have a steeper slope than the P-wave line plotted above.
Consider these two equations: we now have 2 equations and 2 unknowns (d, tE). So we can solve simultaneously for
these two unknowns. Since we're interested mostly in d, not tE, the easiest way to solve is to subtract the first
equation from the second, which eliminates tE. The result, after doing this subtraction and solving for d is
d = (tS-tP/(1/vS-1/vP)
On a graph, this looks like:
 105
USELESS HCl ACID QUESTION
To most geologists, the term "acid test" means placing a drop of dilute (5% to 10%) hydrochloric acid on a rock or mineral and
watching for bubbles of carbon dioxide gas to be released. The bubbles signal the presence of carbonate minerals such as
calcite, dolomite, or aragonite, azurite, magnesite, malachite, rhodochrosite, siderite, smithsonite, strontianite, witherite.

EROSION
Aeolian/Eolian processes = erosion by wind/desert.
Fluvial processes = erosion by rivers
Bradshaw model: describes how a river’s characteristics vary between lower and upper course
Fluvial channel patterns:
Channel pattern – Characteristic geometry of a channel system
Braided river – A network of river channels separated by small, and often temporary, islands called braid bars
Meandering river – A sinuous bend in a series in the channel of a river
Anastomosis – A connection or opening between two things that are normally diverging or branching
Glacial processes

EARTH LAYERS

A - continental crust
A2 - oceanic crust
B - mantle
C - core
D - lithosphere
E - asthenosphere F - mesosphere G - outer core H - inner core

*remember wadati-benioff for subduction and lehmann for earthquake

Crust
Types:
Primary/Primordial: This is a planet's "original" crust. It forms from solidification of a magma ocean. Toward the end of
planetary accretion, the terrestrial planets likely had surfaces that were magma oceans. As these cooled, they solidified into
crust. This crust was likely destroyed by large impacts and re-formed many times as the Era of Heavy Bombardment drew to a
close.
The nature of primary crust is still debated: its chemical, mineralogic, and physical properties are unknown, as are the igneous
mechanisms that formed them. This is because it is difficult to study: none of Earth's primary crust has survived to today. Earth's
high rates of erosion and crustal recycling from plate tectonics has destroyed all rocks older than about 4 billion years, including
whatever primary crust Earth once had.
However, geologists can glean information about primary crust by studying it on other terrestrial planets. Mercury's highlands
might represent primary crust, though this is debated. The anorthosite highlands of the Moon are primary crust, formed as
plagioclase crystallized out of the Moon's initial magma ocean and floated to the top; however, it is unlikely that Earth followed a
similar pattern, as the Moon was a water-less system and Earth had water. The Martian meteorite ALH84001 might represent
 109
mantle's composition has changed through the Earth's history due to the extraction of magma that solidified to form
oceanic crust and continental crust.

Temperature and pressure

In the mantle, temperatures range from approximately 200 °C (392 °F) at the upper boundary with the crust to
approximately 4,000 °C (7,230 °F) at the core-mantle boundary. The geothermal gradient of the mantle increases
rapidly in the thermal boundary layers at the top and bottom of the mantle, and increases gradually through the
interior of the mantle. Although the higher temperatures far exceed the melting points of the mantle rocks at the
surface (about 1200 °C for representative peridotite), the mantle is almost exclusively solid. The enormous lithostatic
pressure exerted on the mantle prevents melting, because the temperature at which melting begins (the solidus)
increases with pressure.

The pressure in the mantle increases from a few kbar at the Moho to 1390 kbar (139 GPa) at the core-mantle
boundary.

Core
The average density of Earth is 5.515 g/cm3. Because the average density of surface material is only around 3.0 g/cm3, we

must conclude that denser materials exist within Earth's core. This result has been known since the Schiehallion experiment,
performed in the 1770s. Charles Hutton in his 1778 report concluded that the mean density of the Earth must be about 9/5 that
of surface rock, concluding that the interior of the Earth must be metallic. Hutton estimated this metallic portion to occupy some
65% of the diameter of the Earth. Hutton's estimate on the mean density of the Earth was still about 20% too low, at 4.5 g/cm3
Henry Cavendish in his torsion balance experiment of 1798 found a value of 5.45 g/cm3, within 1% of the modern value. Seismic

measurements show that the core is divided into two parts, a "solid" inner core with a radius of ≈1,220 km and a liquid outer core
extending beyond it to a radius of ≈3,400 km. The densities are between 9,900 and 12,200 kg/m3 in the outer core and 12,600–
13,000 kg/m3 in the inner core.

The inner core was discovered in 1936 by Inge Lehmann and is generally believed to be composed primarily of iron and some
nickel. Since this layer is able to transmit shear waves (transverse seismic waves), it must be solid. Experimental evidence has
at times been critical of crystal models of the core. Other experimental studies show a discrepancy under high pressure:
diamond anvil (static) studies at core pressures yield melting temperatures that are approximately 2000 K below those from
shock laser (dynamic) studies. The laser studies create plasma, and the results are suggestive that constraining inner core
conditions will depend on whether the inner core is a solid or is a plasma with the density of a solid. This is an area of active
research.

Formation: In early stages of Earth's formation about 4.6 billion years ago, melting would have caused denser substances to
sink toward the center in a process called planetary differentiation (see also the iron catastrophe), while less-dense materials
would have migrated to the crust. The core is thus believed to largely be composed of iron (80%), along with nickel and one or
more light elements, whereas other dense elements, such as lead and uranium, either are too rare to be significant or tend to
bind to lighter elements and thus remain in the crust (see felsic materials). Some have argued that the inner core may be in the
form of a single iron crystal.

Under laboratory conditions a sample of iron–nickel alloy was subjected to the corelike pressures by gripping it in a vise between
2 diamond tips (diamond anvil cell), and then heating to approximately 4000 K. The sample was observed with x-rays, and
strongly supported the theory that Earth's inner core was made of giant crystals running north to south.

The liquid outer core surrounds the inner core and is believed to be composed of iron mixed with nickel and trace amounts of
lighter elements.
 113
● Subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate to form the Andes.
● Subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Australian Plate and Tonga Plate, forming the complex New Zealand to
New Guinea subduction/transform boundaries.
● Collision of the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate formed the Pontic Mountains in Turkey.
● Subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Mariana Plate formed the Mariana Trench.
● Subduction of the Juan de Fuca Plate beneath the North American Plate to form the Cascade Range.

DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES:
- The East African Rift (Great Rift Valley) in eastern Africa
- The Mid-Atlantic Ridge system separates the North American Plate and South American Plate in the west from the
Eurasian Plate and African Plate in the east
- The Gakkel Ridge is a slow spreading ridge located in the Arctic Ocean
- The East Pacific Rise, extending from the South Pacific to the Gulf of California
- The Baikal Rift Zone in eastern Russia
- The Red Sea Rift
- The Aden Ridge along the southern shore of the Arabian Peninsula
- The Carlsberg Ridge in the eastern Indian Ocean
- The Gorda Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
- The Explorer Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
- The Juan de Fuca Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
- The Chile Rise off the southeast Pacific

TRANSFORM:
- The San Andreas Fault in California is an active transform boundary. The Pacific Plate (carrying the city of Los Angeles)
is moving northwards with respect to the North American Plate.
- The Queen Charlotte Fault on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America
- The Motagua Fault, which crosses through Guatemala, is a transform boundary between the southern edge of the North
American Plate and the northern edge of the Caribbean Plate.
- New Zealand's Alpine Fault is another active transform boundary.
- The Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault which runs through the Jordan River Valley in the Middle East.
- The Owen Fracture Zone along the southeastern boundary of the Arabian Plate.

*triple junction (where the 3 plates meet)

Possible to make fault, trench, or ridge

Stress stuff
NORMAL AND SHEAR STRESS
 117
Tectonic joints
Tectonic joints are joints that formed when the relative displacement of the joint walls is normal to its plane as the result of brittle
deformation of bedrock in response to regional or local tectonic deformation of bedrock. Such joints form when directed tectonic
stress causes the tensile strength of bedrock to be exceeded as the result of the stretching of rock layers under conditions of
elevated pore fluid pressure and directed tectonic stress. Tectonic joints often reflect local tectonic stresses associated with local
folding and faulting. Tectonic joints occur as both nonsystematic and systematic joints, including orthogonal and conjugate joint
sets.

Hydraulic joints
Hydraulic joints are joints thought to have formed when pore fluid pressure became elevated as a result of vertical gravitational
loading. In simple terms, the accumulation of either sediments, volcanic, or other material causes an increase in the pore
pressure of groundwater and other fluids in the underlying rock when they cannot move either laterally of vertically in response
to this pressure. This also causes an increase in pore pressure in preexisting cracks that increases the tensile stress on them
perpendicular to the minimum principal stress (the direction in which the rock is being stretched). If the tensile stress exceeds
the magnitude of the least principal compressive stress the rock will fail in a brittle manner and these cracks propagate in a
process called hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic joints occur as both nonsystematic and systematic joints, including orthogonal and
conjugate joint sets. In some cases, joint sets can be a tectonic - hydraulic hybrid.

Exfoliation joints
Exfoliation joints are sets of flat-lying, curved, and large joints that are restricted to massively exposed rock faces in an deeply
eroded landscape. Exfoliation jointing consists of fan-shaped fractures varying from a few meters to tens of meters in size that lie
sub-parallel to the topography. The vertical, gravitational load of the mass of a mountain-size bedrock mass drives longitudinal
splitting and causes outward buckling toward the free air. In addition, paleostress sealed in the granite before the granite was
exhumed by erosion and released by exhumation and canyon cutting is also a driving force for the actual spalling.

Unloading joints
Unloading joints or release joints are joints formed near the surface during uplift and erosion. As bedded sedimentary rocks are
brought closer to the surface during uplift and erosion, they cool, contract and become relaxed elastically. This causes stress
buildup that eventually exceeds the tensile strength of the bedrock and results in the formation of jointing. In the case of
unloading joints, compressive stress is released either along preexisting structural elements (such as cleavage) or perpendicular
to the former direction of tectonic compression.

Cooling joints
Cooling joints are columnar joints that result from the cooling of either lava from the exposed surface of a lava lake or flood
basalt flow or the sides of a tabular igneous, typically basaltic, intrusion. They exhibit a pattern of joints that join together at triple
junctions either at or about 120° angles. They split a rock body into long, prisms or columns that are typically hexagonal,
although 3-, 4-, 5- and 7-sided columns are relatively common. They form as a result of a cooling front that moves from some
surface, either the exposed surface of a lava lake or flood basalt flow or the sides of a tabular igneous intrusion into either lava of
the lake or lava flow or magma of a dike or sill.

Shear Fractures vs. Joints

Some fractures that look like joints are actually shear fractures, which in effect are microfaults, instead of joints. Shear fractures
do not form as the result of the perpendicular opening of a fracture due to tensile stress, but through the shearing of fractures
that causes lateral movement of its faces. Shear fractures can be confused with joints, because the lateral offset of the fracture
faces is not visible at the scale of outcrop or hand specimen. Because of the absence of diagnostic ornamentation or the lack of
any discernible movement or offset, they can be indistinguishable from joints. Shear fractures occur in sets of planar parallel
fractures at an angle of 60 degrees and can be of the same size and scale as joints. As a result, some conjugate joint sets may
actually be shear fractures. In case of such joint sets, it might be possible to distinguish joints from shear fractures by looking for
the presence of slickensides, which are products of shearing movement parallel to the fracture surface. The slickensides are
fine-scale, delicate ridge-in-groove lineations that are found on the surface of fracture surfaces
 121

Rake
In structural geology, rake (or pitch) is formally defined as "the angle between a line [or a feature] and the strike line
of the plane in which it is found", measured on the plane. The three-dimensional orientation of a line can be
described with just a plunge and trend. The rake is a useful description of a line because often (in geology) features
(lines) follow along a planar surface. In these cases the rake can be used to describe the line's orientation in three
dimensions relative to that planar surface. One might also expect to see this used when the particular line is hard to
measure directly (possibly due to outcrops impeding measurement). The rake always sweeps down from the
horizontal plane.

Fault motion
Rake is used to describe the direction of fault motion with respect to the strike (measured counterclockwise from the

horizontal, up is positive; values between −180° and 180°):

left-lateral strike slip: rake near 0°

right-lateral strike slip: rake near 180°
normal: rake near −90°
reverse/thrust: rake near +90°

Passive Margins

A passive margin is the transition between oceanic and continental lithosphere that is
not an active plate margin. A passive margin forms by sedimentation above an ancient
rift, now marked by transitional lithosphere. Continental rifting creates new ocean basins.