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