Geologic Structures

• Geologic structures are dynamically-produced

patterns or arrangements of rock or sediment that
result from, and give information about, forces
within the Earth
– Produced as rocks change shape and orientation in response to applied
stress
– Structural geology is the study of the shapes, arrangement, and
interrelationships of rock units and the forces that cause them
 Stress and Strain

• Stress is force per unit area

– The three basic types of stress are
compressive, tensional and shear

• Strain is a change in size or

shape in response to stress
– Geologic structures are indicative of the
type of stress and its rate of application, as
well the physical properties of the rocks or
sediments
 Rock Deformation
• Stress
– Force applied to an area
– Pressure
– Differential stress – magnitude of stress is
greater in one direction
• Rock Strength
– Rock’s resistance to deformation (stress)
 Rock Deformation Cont.
• Strain
– A rock’s response to stress
– Deformation resulting in change of shape or
position
• Elastic deformation
– Deformation is reversible, after stress is removed,
materials return to original shape, i.e. A rubber
band
• Plastic deformation
– Deformation is permanent
– Rock flow in response to stress
– Need high pressures and temperatures, generally
deep in earth’s interior, i.e. Taffy
How Rocks Respond to Stress
• Rocks behave as elastic, ductile or brittle
materials depending on:
– amount and rate of stress application
– type of rock
– temperature and pressure

• If deformed materials return to original shape

after stress removal, they are behaving
elastically
• However, once the stress exceeds the elastic
limit of a rock, it deforms permanently
– ductile deformation involves bending plastically
– brittle deformation involves fracturing
 Rock Deformation Cont.
• Brittle deformation
– Deformation is permanent
– Rock break (fracture) or lose cohesion
– Generally low temperature and low
pressure, common in shallow crust, i.e.
Peanut brittle
 Types of Stress

• Tensional (Extension) Stress

• Compressional Stress
• Shear Stress
 Tension or Extensional Stress
• Stress move away from
each other (pull apart)
• Rock lengthens
• Common in divergent
boundaries, but not sole
locale
• Ductile deformation –
stretching and thinning
of rock
• Brittle deformation –
fracturing and faulting
 Compressional Stress
• Stress presses
(squeezes) rock
together
• Rock shortens
• Common at
convergent
boundaries
• Ductile deformation –
shortening and
thickening of rock –
rock folds
• Brittle deformation –
 Shear Stress
• Stress creates a
lateral shift in the
rock
• Rock slides past
other rock
• Common at
transform
boundaries
• Results in faults
 Types of Geologic Structures

• Folds are wavelike bends in layered

rock
– Represent rock strained in a ductile manner, usually
under compression

• The axial plane divides a fold into its

two limbs
– The surface trace of an axial plane is called the hinge
line (or axis) of the fold

• Anticlines are upward-arching folds,

and synclines are downward-arching
folds
 Structural Geology
• Sedimentary and volcanic rocks are originally deposited in sub-horizontal layers. Any
deviation shown by rocks is considered a structural deformation and is found/shown
on geologic maps.
• Most deformation is due to stresses and strains at plate margins; some is due to
cooling-driven contraction and heating-driven expansion.
• Rocks deform permanently by breaking (joints and faults) and flowing or oozing
(folds).
• Basins and domes are largely due to vertical movements of the crust.

v 0030 of 'Structural Geology' by Greg Pouch

at 2011-10-24 09:57:29
LastSavedBeforeThis 2011-09-07 16Structural.ppt
Structural Geology
Processes (Rheology)
3 Rheology > Stress
4 Rheology > Strain
5 Rheology > Controls on Strain Style
6 Rheology on one slide
7 Rheology Images
8 Geologic maps (how we know about deformation)
Products (Geologic Structures)
9 Geologic Structures>Fractures
10 Geologic Structures>Fractures > Slides
11 Geologic Structures>Flexures
12 Geologic Structures>Flexures>Slides
13 Basins and Domes
Rheology > Stress
•Stress Stress is the force applied divided by the area (the continuum
replacement for force).
–Can be compressive, tensile or shear. Compressive and tensile
stresses are called normal, because they act normal (perpendicular) to
the elemental area.
–Any stress field is equivalent to a set of three perpendicular, normal
stresses called the principal stresses. Pressure is stress uniform in all
directions (homogenous, pressure). Stresses can be separated into
pressure (average stress) and stresses deviating from uniform. Pressure
controls material properties.
–Effective stress = (stress on grains)-(fluid pressure) [the effect of
increasing fluid pressure is equivalent to decreasing confining
pressure]
–If the principal stresses are equal (rare), only pressure is felt by the
material.
–If the principal stresses are not equal (almost always), there will be
shear stresses at directions between principal stresses.
•Strain Deformation of material.
•What controls the style of strain?
Rheology > Controls on Strain Style
•Stress (the continuum replacement for force).
•Strain Deformation of material.

•What controls the style of strain?

–Material Under a set of conditions, one material may deform
plastically while others may be elastic or brittle. (For example, at room
temperature and for low stresses, steel is elastic, fresh potato chips are
brittle, and mashed potatoes are elastic or plastic.)
–Magnitude of stresses (At low stress, most deformation is elastic.
At higher stresses, failure—brittle or ductile— occurs)
–Confining pressure (Brittle failure common at low pressure, plastic
common at high pressure)
–Temperature (Elastic/brittle->Plastic->Viscous)
–Fluid pressure (pressure increases have the same effect as decreasing
confining pressure but not shear)
–Fluid composition (reactive fluids, like water and saltwater, can
influence the mode of deformation. Fluid viscosity can influence the
style of deformation.) (Stale potato chips are more plastic than brittle.)
–History of the material (pre-existing cracks and crystal defects)
Rheology Images
Geologic maps (how we know about deformation)
• There are many types of maps produced by geologists, but the type meant when used without other
modifiers shows
–the formation (lithology+continuity) at bedrock;
–orientation of beds (strike and dip) or omitted if horizontal or not measured;
–geologic structures (faults, fold axes…) (discussed later)
–basemap for orientation. Usually a topo map, but might be counties, states, roads….
• A formation is a mappable unit, ideally of uniform lithology but more often a set of rock types deposited in
continuity and distinctive from those above and below. Usually, this map is largely inferred based on
scattered outcrops: Canadians clearly separate observations at outcrops from inferences between,
Americans show the whole area as conclusion or observation.
• Strike and dip are a way of specifying the orientation of an inclined plane. Strike is the direction of the
line of intersection between the plane and a horizontal plane. Dip is perpendicular to strike and is the
vertical angle of the plane.
–Water would flow down the dip direction. If the outcrop were immersed, the intersection of the plane
with the surface of the water (horizontal surface) would be a strike line. Water level changes would shift
the position but not direction of the strike lines.
–To specify the direction of a line, you typically use the vertical angle downward, and the plunge direction
(azimuth of the downward side of the line). The dip direction is the plunge direction of the dip-line
(steepest sloping line) More on this in lab.
• When interpreting a geologic map to get three-dimensional structure, remember that the surface is nearly
horizontal: a 30° slope is very steep, and probably unstable, and slopes usually only go on for a short
distance. Only in very rugged terrain will the topography deviate significantly from a horizontal plane.
Geologic Structures>Fractures
• Fractures (discontinuities/cracks in rock) indicate brittle deformation and are common near the surface.
They can be due to ductile deformation at depth, due to more-or-less elastic bending of the crust, high fluid
pressures, applied strains due to cooling, or other even less interesting causes.
• Once rock has been fractured, strain tends to occur along pre-existing fractures.
• Fractures tend to concentrate fluid flow and are significant for groundwater, ore formation, and control
emplacement of magmas. They are also preferred planes of failure and are significant for mass wasting and
their effects on weathering.

• Joints do not have demonstrable displacement in the plane of the fracture, but may have displacement
perpendicular to the fracture plane. Joints are the result of tension or effective tension. Joints usually occur
in sets with the same direction. Joints are usually not mapped, but they should be.
• Faults have demonstrable displacement in the plane of the fracture and indicate stress was differential.
Faults often occur alone, but frequently occur in sets with the same direction (fault zones). Faults are rarely
seen, but are usually inferred based on differences in rock outcrop; when they are seen, they are not usually
nice clean planes, but some ground up mess.
–Faults stop moving when the stress is removed, but are frequently re-activated by later stress fields.
–Fault nomenclature The type of fault is based on the dip of the fault plane and which fault moved up
relative to the other one. The upper block is called the hanging wall, the lower block the footwall.
Type Dip Meaning Common or
rare
Normal >45°, usually >60° often 75°, Horizontal tension, crustal extension. Divergent plate boundaries Very common
hanging wall down
Reverse >45°, 60°, Horizontal compression with a weird stress field Rare
hanging wall up
Thrust <45°, usually <15°, often Horizontal compression with a typical stress field. Often associated Common
around 0° with folding.
hanging wall up Convergent plate boundaries
Strike-slip 90 Transform plate boundaries Rare
Oblique slip any Anything other than pure dip-slip or strike-slip motion. Surprisingly
rare
Geologic Structures>Fractures > Slides
Geologic Structures>Flexures
At high pressure and temperature, rock can behave plastically or viscously (ductilely) and accommodate
compressive stresses by folding. Flexures (bends) can also occur in brittle rocks by movement along
faults, with "hinges" at faults.. Ductile flexure results in smoothly curving shapes. Brittle flexure results in
sharp, angular shapes.
• Folds Elongated folds are usually due to horizontal compression perpendicular to the axis (line of
maximum curvature). Folds typically occur in sets of parallel folds in collisional mountain ranges. The
amplitude dies away from the center of the mountain range. Think of a blanket being shoved into a pile.
• Anticlines usually have an A shape (beds tilt out) and always have the oldest rock in the middle
• Synclines usually have a Y shape (beds tilt in) and always have the youngest rock in the middle
• The axis is the line of maximum curvature and is more-or-less the middle of the fold. The "plane"
containing the axes of successively deeper layers is the axial plane. The crest is the highest point on an
anticline, the trough is the lowest point on a syncline. The limb is the more or less planar side of a fold.
The left limb of a syncline is usually the right limb of an adjoining anticline.
• Folding can result in oil-traps, jointing, and faulting.
• Folds can be horizontal (fold axis is horizontal) or plunging; symmetrical (both limbs have the same dip
amount) or asymmetrical, vertical (the axial plane is vertical) or inclined, open (internal angle at axis >90)
or closed, isoclinal (both limbs dip the same amount in the same direction), overturned (at least one limb
has dip>90), recumbent (axial plane is more-or-less horizontal).
• Typical folds of interest in oil are plunging, have dip<20, axial plane is nearly vertical, and are almost
always asymmetrical.
• Within an area, a certain types of folds and faults will be common. Generally, they'll have consistent
orientations. This is known as the "structural style". Areas with different structural styles usually have had

Axis
very different histories and physical properties.

Lim b
m

Axis

L im
L im
i

Axis
L

b
Syncline
Syncline
Anticline
 Basins and Domes
• Equant Basins and Domes are usually due to vertical buoyant forces and usually occur alone.
• Domes and basins are often unrelated to plate margins, and do not fit into plate tectonics well.
• Basins are often the sites of very thick accumulations of sediment.
• (Basin is also used to refer to any thick accumulation of sediment, regardless of shape or cause.
Sometimes, it refers to a topographic basin.)
Summary
• Rocks can deform (strain) in
response to stress, or stress in
response to strain (like cooling-
induced stresses). The stress-strain
relationship can be elastic, brittle,
plastic, or fluid, depending on a
number of factors.
• Rocks can deform by jointing,
faulting, or folding.
• Deformations can be seen in
outcrop, on geologic maps, and
even in thin section.
• In an extensional environment,
typical deformation includes
jointing, normal faults, and
regional tilting.
• In a compressional environment,
typical deformation includes thrust
faults, folding, and secondary
tensional features.