Chapter 10
Deformation, Mountain Building, and Earth's
Crust
Introduction
Deformation is a general term for any
change in the shape or volume of a rock,
such as when a rock is folded or fractured.
Deformation occurs in building large
mountain ranges at convergent boundaries
through:
Emplacement of plutons
Volcanism
Metamorphism
Continental accretion
Rock Deformation -
How Does it Occur?
Stress is a force of
deformation.
Strain is the change
in shape that results
when stress is
applied.
Fig. 10.1a, p. 234
Rock Deformation-
How Does it Occur?
Stress and Strain
When subjected to stress (force), ice on a pond may
bend (elastic deformation), or if the stress is great
enough, it will fracture, that is, the ice strained or
deformed in response to stress.
Fig. 10.2, p. 235
Rock Deformation-
How Does it Occur?
Types of Strain
Compression
Tension
Shear
Rock Deformation-
How Does it Occur?
Types of Strain
Compression
In compression, the rocks are squeezed
along the same line.
Compression shortens the rock layers by
folding or faulting.
Fig. 10.3a, p. 236
Rock Deformation-
How Does it Occur?
Types of Strain
Tension
In tension, the forces along the same line act
in opposite directions.
Tension lengthens the rocks or pulls them
apart; fractures and faults form.
Fig. 10.3b, p. 236
Rock Deformation-
How Does it Occur?
Types of Strain
Shear
In shear, the forces act parallel to one
another, but in opposite directions.
Deformation occurs along closely spaced
planes like the slip between cards in a deck.
Fig. 10.3c, p. 236
(a) Compression
(b) Tension
(c) Shear stress Stepped Art
Fig. 10-3, p. 236
Rock Deformation-
How Does it Occur?
Types of Strain
Rocks will deform elastically until they reach the elastic
limit unless the force is applied quickly.
Elastic deformation or strain
occurs if rocks return to
their original shape when
the stress is released.
Fig. 10.4, p. 236
Rock Deformation-
How Does it Occur?
Types of Strain
Rocks will deform elastically until they reach the elastic
limit unless the force is applied quickly.
Plastic deformation or
strain occurs when
rocks fold or fracture
when stress is
applied and do not
recover their original
shape.
Fig. 10.4, p. 236
Rock Deformation-
How Does it Occur?
Types of Strain
What determines whether a rock will bend
elastically, plastically or fracture?
Type of stress applied
Pressure and
temperature
Rock type
Length of time
Fig. 10.4, p. 236
Rock Deformation-
How Does it Occur?
Types of Strain
Rocks will deform elastically until they reach the
elastic limit unless the force is applied quickly.
Ductile rocks show a
great amount of plastic
strain (they bend) before
they fracture.
Brittle rocks fracture
after only a small
amount of plastic strain.
Fig. 10.4, p. 236
Strike and Dip-The Orientation
of Deformed Rock Layers
Principle of original horizontality states that most
rocks are originally laid down horizontally.
When we see rocks inclined, they have been
deformed by folding and/or fracturing.
Fig. 10.6b, p. 238
Strike and Dip-The Orientation
of Deformed Rock Layers
Strike and dip describe a rock layer's
orientation with respect to the horizontal.
Strike is the
intersection of a
horizontal plane with
an inclined plane.
Dip is the maximum
angle of an inclined
plane.
Fig. 10.5, p. 237
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Geologic Structures
Geologic structures are rocks that
have been deformed.
Deformation includes fracturing
and/or folding.
Fig. 10.1, p. 234
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Folded Rock Layers
Folds are layers of rock that were
once planar that are bent or crumpled.
Folds form during compression and
undergo plastic strain.
Fig. 10.1, p. 234
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Folded Rock Layers
Folding occurs deep in the crust where
rock behavior is ductile.
There are 3 kinds of folds:
Monoclines
Anticlines
Synclines
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Folded Rock Layers
Folds have an axial
plane that divides the
fold in half.
Each half is called a
limb.
The axis is an
imaginary line formed
by the intersection of
the axial plane and the
folded beds.
Figure 10.8, p. 238
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Folded Rock Layers
Monoclines
A monocline is a flexure
in otherwise horizontal or
uniformly dipping rock
layers.
One limb is horizontal.
The fold axis is inclined.
Fig. 10.6, p. 238
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Folded Rock Layers
Anticlines and Synclines Anticlines are up-
arched folds. The
oldest rocks are in
the core.
Synclines are
down-arched folds.
The youngest rocks
are in the core.
Figure 10.8, p. 254
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Folded Rock Layers
Anticlines and Synclines
Upright folds
Axial plane is
vertical
Both limbs dip at
the same angle.
Figure 10.7, p. 251
Upright, non-plunging folds
Fig. 10.9, p. 239
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Folded Rock Layers
Inclined and Overturned folds
In these folds the axial
plane is inclined
Usually form under
compression at
convergent boundaries
Overturned folds have
both limbs dipping in the
same direction
Fig. 10.10a,b, p. 239
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Folded Rock Layers
Recumbent folds
Inthese folds, the axial plane is horizontal or
nearly horizontal.
Usually form under compression at
convergent boundaries
Fig. 10.10c, p. 239
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Folded Rock Layers
Plunging folds
Fold axis is not horizontal
Axial plane may be vertical
or inclined
Fig. 10.11a,b, p. 240
Plunging fold
Fig. 10.11c, p.
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Folded Rock Layers
Domes and basins
Domes and basins are circular to oval
structures which have rock layers occurring
in age-position contexts which are the same
as anticlines and synclines, respectively.
Fig. 10.12, p. 241
Fig. 10.12, p. 241
Black Hills of South Dakota:
A Dome
Geo-Recap Fig. 1 p. 255
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Joints
Joints are fractures along which no movement
has taken place parallel to fracture surface,
although movement may occur perpendicular
to the surface. They are not faults.
Fig. 10.13a, p. 241
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Joints
Joints occur in almost all surface rocks.
They form in response to compression, tension,
and shearing.
Joints may occur in two or three prominent sets.
Fig. 10.13a, p. 241
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults are fractures along which the opposite sides
have moved relative to one another and parallel to
the fracture surface.
Fig. 10.14a, p. 242
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults are fractures along which the opposite sides
have moved relative to one another and parallel to
the fracture surface.
Fig. 10.14b, p. 242
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults are fractures along which the opposite sides
have moved relative to one another and parallel to
the fracture surface.
Fig. 10.14c, p. 242
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults
Dip-slip Faults
All movement is in the direction of dip along dip-slip
faults.
Dip-slip faults are categorized as normal or reverse.
Fig. 10.14a, p. 242
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults
Dip-slip Faults
Normal faults form in response to tensional forces. The
hanging wall moves down relative to the footwall.
Fig. 10.15a, p. 243
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults
Normal faults
Fig. 10.16a, p. 244
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults
Normal faults form from tension.
Fig. 10.18, p. 248
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults
Dip-slip faults
Reverse faults form in response to compressional
forces.
Fig. 10.15b, p. 243
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults
Dip-slip faults
Thrust faults are a type of reverse fault that dip at
less than 45 degrees, often as low as 5 degrees!
Fig. 10.15c, p. 243
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults
Reverse Faults
Fig. 10.16b, p. 244
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults
Strike-slip faults
Faults in which all
movement is in the
direction of the strike of the
fault plane are known as
strike-slip faults.
Strike-slip faults are
classified as right-lateral or
left-lateral, depending on
the apparent direction of
the offset between blocks.
Fig. 10.15d, p. 243
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults
Strike-slip faults – San Andreas fault (right-lateral)
Fig. 10.17a, p. 245
Deformation and Geologic
Structures
Faults
Oblique-slip faults
Oblique-slip faults have both strike-slip and dip-
slip components of movement.
Fig. 10.15e, p. 243
Fig. 10.17b, p. 245
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
A mountain is an area of land that stands at least
300 meters above the surrounding country and has
a restricted summit area.
A mountain range is a group of linear peaks and
ridges that formed together.
A mountain system is a complex group of linear
peaks and ridges that is composed of several
mountain ranges. Mountain systems are the result
of plate movements and interactions along plate
boundaries.
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
The Tetons Range is part of the Rocky Mountain
system.
The Smoky Mountains are a range in the
Appalachian mountain system.
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Mountain Building
Mountain building can involve faulting and
folding, but can arise without these types of
deformation.
Ways mountain form:
Volcanism
Erosion: mesas and buttes
Compression
Block-faulting - tension
Fig. 10.18a, p. 248
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Plate Tectonics and Mountain
Building
Orogeny – an episode of mountain building
Most orogenies are produced along convergent
plate boundaries where one plate is subducted
beneath another or where two continents collide.
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Plate Tectonics and Mountain
Building
Orogeny – an episode of mountain building
Orogenies are accompanied by the
emplacement of batholiths, metamorphism and
thickening of the Earth’s crust.
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Plate Tectonics and Mountain
Building
Orogeny – an episode of mountain building
Sedimentary rocks that formed in marine
environments are often found emplaced high in
the mountains as a result of orogenies.
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Plate Tectonics and Mountain Building
Orogenies are also closely associated with:
Mass Wasting, including land-slides
Glaciers
Running Water
Erosion is responsible for carving the most majestic
peaks!
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Plate Tectonics and Mountain Building
Orogenies at Oceanic-Oceanic Plate
Boundaries
Fig. 10.19a, p. 249
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Plate Tectonics and Mountain
Building
Orogenesis along oceanic-oceanic plate
boundaries includes deformation, igneous
activity, island arc formation, and
metamorphism.
Fig. 10.19b, p. 249
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Plate Tectonics and Mountain Building
Orogenies at Oceanic-Continental Plate Boundaries
Subduction of oceanic lithosphere along an oceanic-
continental plate boundary also results in orogeny.
Fig. 10.19c, p. 249
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Plate Tectonics and Mountain Building
Orogenies at Oceanic-Continental Plate Boundaries
Fig. 10.19d, p. 249
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Plate Tectonics and Mountain Building
Andes Mountains of South America
Fig. 10.20, p. 250
Passive continental margin
Sea level
Continental
lithosphere
Oceanic
lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Sediments
Active continental margin
Sea level Continental
lithosphere
Oceanic
lithosphere
ents
Sedim
Asthenosphere
Deformation
Sea level
Continental
lithosphere
Oceanic
lithosphere
m a ti on Stepped Art
De f or
Asthenosphere Fig. 10-20, p. 250
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Plate Tectonics and Mountain Building
Continent-Continent Boundaries
Mountain systems, such as
the Himalayas, occur
within continents, distant
from present plate
boundaries as the result of
continent-continent
collisions and suturing.
Fig. 10.21, p. 251
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Terranes and the Origin of
Mountains
Continental accretion – a process of adding
material to a continent
Includes preexisting crust, as well as new
plutons and volcanic rocks
Deformation and
the Origin of Mountains
Terranes and the Origin of
Mountains
Terranes are exotic pieces, fragments of
seamounts or small pieces of continents that
get transported on the plates.
Common along convergent oceanic-
continental plate boundaries
Earth’s Crust
Continental crust is less dense and much
thicker than oceanic crust.
This helps explain why mountains on land
stand higher on continents than in ocean
basins.
Earth’s Crust
Floating continents?
Gravity allows the continents to "float" on the
asthenosphere.
A gravimeter detects gravity anomalies.
Fig. 10.22, p. 253
Earth’s Crust
Principle of Isostasy – Earth’s crust floats on the
denser mantle.
Airy and Pratt’s Models
Airymodel states that mountains have a low density
root that allows them to project both far above and far
below the surface.
Pratt
model states that mountains are high because
they are less dense than the adjacent rocks (like the
mantle and the ocean crust).
Both models explain the behavior of the crust.
Earth’s Crust
Principle of Isostasy
Fig. 10.23, p. 253
Earth’s Crust
Isostatic Rebound – When large glaciers melt or
mountains erode away, the crust rises back up to its
equilibrium level.
Rebound occurs
slowly
Fig. 10.24, p. 254
Earth’s Crust
Isostatic Rebound
The ice sheets that
covered Alaska and
most of Europe
10,000 years ago
have melted away but
the continents are still
rebounding!
Fig. 10.24, p. 254
Earth’s Crust
Isostatic Rebound
Scandinavia is
rebounding at about 1
meter per century!
Fig. 10.24, p. 254
Mountains
Continental
crust
Mantle Low-density
mountain root
Transport Erosion
Deposition
Subsidence
Uplift
Stepped Art
Fig. 10-24, p. 254
End of
Chapter 10
