Geology 1301

Physical Geology
Module 3 Lecture 3A: Geologic Structures
Dr. Miles Henderson
Module Learning Objectives
• To demonstrate knowledge of this module, students should be able to identify
aspects of the following as measured by the Exam and the discussion board:
• Describe the types of stresses that exist within the Earth’s crust
• Explain how rocks respond to those stresses by brittle, elastic, or plastic
deformation, or by fracturing
• Summarize how rocks become folded and know the terms used to describe
the features of folds
• Describe the conditions under which rocks fracture
• Summarize the different types of faults, including normal, reverse, thrust, and
strike-slip
• Measure the strike and dip of a geological feature
Module
Readings
• Earle Chapter 12 Geologic
Structures
 References
• Physical Geology – 2nd Edition by
Steven Earle is used under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.
0 International Licence
.
• Additional images used under the
Fair Use of the 1976 Copyright
Act (17 U.S.C. § 107) for teaching,
research, and study with proper
attribution to the online source

Vertically oriented beds of Limestone in the Las Chacritas River Section in San Juan Argentina.
Photo by M. Henderson.
 Introduction
• Observing and understanding geological structures helps us determine the
kinds of stresses that have existed within Earth in the past.
• This type of information is critical to our understanding of plate tectonics,
earthquakes, the formation of mountains, metamorphism, and Earth
resources.
• The types of geological structures that are important to study include
fractures, faults, and folds.
• Structural geologists make careful observations of the orientations of these
structures and the amount and direction of offset along faults.
 Stress and Strain
• Rocks are subject to stress — mostly related to plate tectonics but also to
the weight of overlying rocks — and their response to that stress is strain
(deformation). Shear
Compression
Tension

The forces involved in tension

operate directly opposite and away The forces involved in The forces in shear also are
from each other. Anytime you pull compression act toward and directed toward each other, but
on an object you are applying directly opposite each other are not directly opposed
tensional forces
 Plate boundaries and Stress
1. divergent

2. convergent

3. transform
Where plates are diverging
the stress is extensive —
rocks are being pulled apart.

where plates are converging stress

is typically compressive —the
rocks are being squeezed
At transform plate boundaries, where
plates are moving side by side there
is sideways or shear stress
 Stress and Strain
• Rocks have highly varying strain responses to stress because of their different
compositions and physical properties
• Temperature is a big factor and rock temperatures within the crust can vary
greatly
• Rocks respond to stress in three ways: They can deform elastically, plastically, or they
can break or fracture
• Elastic strain is reversible. If the stress is removed the rock will return to its original
shape
• Like a rubber band that is stretched and released
• Plastic strain is not reversible
• A fracture is a simple break that does not involve significant movement of the rock on
either side
• Fracturing is particularly common in volcanic rock, which shrinks as it cools
 Deformation
• Elastic deformation – the rock returns to nearly its original size
and shape when the stress is removed
• Once the elastic limit (strength) of a rock is surpassed, it either
flows (ductile deformation) or fractures (brittle deformation)

A potter working with clay is an A broken clay pot is an example of brittle

example of ductile deformation. deformation.
 Rheology: Brittle or Ductile
• Brittle: When chocolate bar is
cold it breaks Brittle
• Ductile: When chocolate bar
is warm, it bends
• If chocolate bar is hot, it will
flow
Ductile
• It’s the same with rocks
• The study of flow of rocks is http://folk.uib.no/nglhe/StructuralGeoBookEmodules.html

called rheology
Folds
• When a body of rock is squeezed from the sides by tectonic forces
(compressive force) they either:
• Fracture and/or become faulted if the rock is cold and brittle
• Fold if the rock is warm enough to behave in a plastic manner.

Examples of different types of folds and fold nomenclature. Axial planes are only shown for the anticlines, but
synclines also have axial planes.
 Folds
•Folds are classified by their shape
• An upward fold is called an anticline
• A downward fold is called a syncline
• A plane drawn through the crest of a fold in a series of beds is called the
axial plane of the fold. The sloping beds on either side of an axial plane
are limbs. (refer to the figure on the last slide)
• An anticline or syncline is described as symmetrical if the angles between
each of limb and the axial plane are generally similar, and asymmetrical if
they are not.
• If the axial plane is sufficiently tilted that the beds on one side have been tilted
past vertical, the fold is known as an overturned anticline or syncline.
 Big fold

Folds Small fold within

the larger fold

• Folds can be of any size

• It is common to have smaller folds
within larger folds (called
symethetic folding)
• Folds can be identified at many
scales
• Large folds can have wavelengths
of tens of kilometres and very
small ones might be visible only
Folded limestone (grey) and chert (reddish-coloured) in Triassic
under a microscope Quatsino Formation rocks on Quadra Island, B.C. The image is about
1 m across

13
 Folds
• Anticlines are not necessarily, or even typically, expressed as ridges in the terrain,
nor synclines as valleys
• Folded rocks get eroded just like all other rocks and the topography that results is
typically controlled mostly by the resistance of different layers to erosion

Example of the topography in an area of folded rocks that has been eroded. In this case the green and grey rocks are
most resistant to erosion and are represented by hills.
 Faulting
• A body of rock that is brittle—either because it is cold or because of its composition, or both—
is likely to break rather than fold when subjected to stress, and the result is fracturing or
faulting
• A fault is boundary between two bodies of rock along which there has been relative motion
Fault
Normal fault
Fault in Road Cut
Near Kingman, Arizona
(car for scale.

Footwall
Hanging wall

From http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2016/12/fault-in-road-cut-near-kingman-arizona.html
 Faulting
• Generally, faults are divided into three categories:
• Normal Faults
Dip slip fault
• Reverse faults
• Strike Slip faults
• Faults develop under different stress conditions. [See next slide]
• The terms hanging wall and footwall in the diagrams apply to situations
where the fault is not vertical
• The body of rock above the fault is called the hanging wall, and the body of rock below
it is called the footwall

16
 Dip slip faults
(top)

Reverse fault
Fault plane
Normal fault Fault plane

Fault Block Strike slip fault

Digrams (bottom)
Fault plane
 Faulting – Horst and graben
formation
A horst is an upthrown block lying between two steep-angled fault blocks. A graben is a down-dropped
block of the earth's crust resulting from extension, or pulling, of the crust.

Depiction of graben and horst structures that form in extensional situations. All of the faults are normal faults.
Faulting-reverse and thrust fault

A special type of reverse fault, with a very low-angle fault

plane, is known as a thrust fault. Thrust faults are relatively
common in areas where fold-belt mountains have been created
during continent-continent collision.
Hover mouse and click play to start animation (above).
 Faulting-reverse and thrust
fault

Depiction of the McConnell Thrust in the eastern part of the Rockies. The rock within the faded area has been eroded

The McConnell Thrust at Mt.

Yamnuska near Exshaw, Alberta.
Carbonate rocks (limestone) of
Cambrian age have been thrust
over top of Cretaceous
mudstone.
 Dip and Strike
Geologist may measure the strike and
dip for a bed of rocks, a structure or a
fault for a geological map of
investigation.

A depiction of the strike and dip of some tilted sedimentary beds partially covered
https://geology.fandom.com/wiki/Strike_and_dip?file=Strike.gif with water. The notation for expressing strike and dip on the map is shown.
Be sure to watch the
linked videos in the
course module

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenm_61/40432615880