RHEOLOGY GLG 321

RECOMMENDED READING
•Fossen. Structural Geology. Chapter 6. Rheology.
•Davies et al. Structural Geology of Rocks and Regions. Chapter 3.
Force, Stress and Strength. (Start from page 120: Determining
Relationships between Stress and Strain)
•Twiss and Moores. Structural Geology. Chapter 16. Macroscopic
Aspects of Rock Deformation: Rheology and Experiment
BACKGROUND
•Rheology is the Study of the Mechanical Properties of solid
materials as well as fluids. (From the Greek word “Rheo” meaning
“to flow”).
•Relationship between stress and strain in rocks
•Different materials behave in different ways in response to stress
depending on several other factors including temperature, pressure
etc.
•The aim is to able to set up mathematical models that explain
deformation in rocks by relating stress to strain or to strain rate. These
equations are known as Constitutive Equations.
•The mathematical models must be supported by data from rock
deformation experiments.
ASSUMPTIONS
•We consider the rock as a continuous medium (Continuum Mechanics)
neglecting homogeneities such as microfractures, mineral grain
boundaries and pore spore spaces.
 Physical properties are constant or evenly changing through the rock volume. Allows
for simple mathematical and physical equations.

•We also assume the rock to be a perfectly isotropic medium i.e. a

medium that has the same mechanical properties in all directions.
Reacts identically to stress regardless of the orientation.
 We will therefore consider only the 1D constitutive equations.

•We will also consider small strains only as the stress to strain
relationships are simple when the strains are small.
•Materials can be said to react in 3 fundamental
ways to stress:
 Elastic
 Viscous
 Plastic
 ELASTIC MATERIALS
• An elastic material resists a change in shape, but strains as more stress is
applied.
• An elastic material returns to the original shape and size once the applied
stress is removed. It is recoverable.
• A linear elastic material shows a linear relationship between stress and strain.
𝜎𝜎𝑛𝑛 = 𝐸𝐸𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑛
𝜎𝜎𝑠𝑠 = 𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇
• E is the Young’s Modulus while μ is the rigidity modulus. Also, 𝐸𝐸 = 2𝜇𝜇
YOUNG’S MODULUS
• E expresses the ratio between
the 𝜎𝜎𝑛𝑛 and the related elastic
extension or shortening in the
same direction
• Describes how hard it is to
deform a certain elastic
material or rock.
• Similarly, quantifies how hard it
is to deform a rock elastically
under simple shear (for very
small finite strains).
• A rock with a low E-value is
mechanically weak, as its
resistance to deformation is
small.
 NON-LINEAR ELASTICITY
• For some elastic materials the relationship between stress and strain is not a
constant value
• The Stress-strain curve is not straight but a curved line.
• The curves defined during loading and unloading may be identical in which
case the material is said to be perfectly elastic.
• If the curve for loading differs from that of unloading, the material is said to
be elastic with Hysteresis.
 POISSON EFFECT
• When a material like a rod is
stretched it usually thins in other
dimensions. This is known as the
Poisson effect.
• Poisson’s ratio gives the ratio of
extension normal and parallel to
the stress vector.
• 𝑣𝑣 = − 𝑒𝑒𝑥𝑥�𝑒𝑒𝑦𝑦
• When Poisson’s ratio is 0.5 the 𝜎𝜎𝑧𝑧 (a) A vertical stress (𝜎𝜎𝑧𝑧 ) applied to an unconstrained rod
(unconstrained uniaxial compression). The dashed rectangle indicates
material is known as the shape of the material prior to the uniaxial deformation. The
incompressible. horizontal elongation ex is directly related to the vertical shortening
through Poisson’s ratio. (b) Adding a confining pressure gives a more
realistic situation where horizontal stresses arise that counteract the
effect of the vertical stress.
 VISCOUS MATERIALS
•Fluids begin to flow when deviatoric stress is applied to them
•When the stress is removed the fluid doesn’t return to its original shape. Strain is permanent or non-
recoverable.
•The greater the stress the faster the deformation.
•A material that deforms like this is known as a Newtonian fluid or a perfectly viscous material.
𝜎𝜎𝑠𝑠 = η𝛾𝛾̇
Where 𝛾𝛾̇ is the shear strain rate and η is the viscosity constant
•The ease with which fluids flow is described in terms of their viscosity.
 VISCOSITY AND COMPETENCY
•A physical analogy to a perfectly viscous material is an oil-filled cylinder with a
perforated piston
 When the piston is pulled, it moves through the oil at a constant speed that is proportional to the
stress.
 When the force is removed, the piston stops and remains where it is If the oil is replaced by a
more viscous fluid, such as syrup or warm asphalt, then the force must be increased for strain rate
to be maintained. Otherwise, the pistonwill move at a lower speed.
 If the oil is heated, viscosity goes down and the force must be decreased to keep the strain rate
constant. Temperature is an important variable when viscosity is concerned

•In layered rocks the relative viscosity is also of great interest, as the most viscous
(stiff) layers tend to boudinage/fracture or buckle under layer-parallel extension
or shortening.
•Relative viscosity is related to competency, where a competent layer is stiffer or
more viscous than its surroundings
 VISCOSITY AND ROCKS
•Only fluids are truly viscous, so that in geology only magma, salt and perhaps
overpressured (fluidized) mud can be modeled as truly viscous media.
•However, viscosity is a useful reference when dealing with certain aspects of plastic
deformation.
•Non-linear viscous behaviour, where the viscosity changes with strain rate, has been
observed in experimental deformation of rocks
•Viscosity is stress divided by strain rate, and is thus measured in the unit of stress
multiplied by time, represented by Pa s or kgm -1 s -1
•While the viscosity of water is around 10 3 Pa s, that of a glacier (ice) is about 1011–10
12 Pa s.

•Glass flows very slowly at room temperature, with a viscosity of 10 14 Pa s.

•Viscosity estimates of rocks are greatly variable, but are generally many orders of
magnitude larger. Salt, with a viscosity of 1017 Pa s (grain-size dependent) as it flows to
form salt diapirs and other salt structures
•The mantle underneath the lithosphere is considered as a fluid in many calculations, and it
can be estimated to have a viscosity of 1021 Pa s on average, increasing downward.
 PLASTIC DEFORMATION
•Even though, at high temperatures, rocks can be said to flow the viscous
model does not describe well the observed behavior of polycrystalline
solids such as rocks
•Most solids do not undergo permanent deformation until a yield stress is
attained, after which the material accumulates strain as long as the stress is
maintained
•When the stress is removed the strain accumulated beyond the yield point
remains
•Materials of this sort are termed plastic.
•Plastic Strain is the permanent change in shape or size of a body without
fracture, accumulated over time by a sustained stress beyond the yield point
of the material
PLASTIC DEFORMATION AND FLOW LAWS
•Plastic deformation does not lend itself to simple constitutive equations
like viscous and elastic materials because of the multiplicity of
deformational mechanisms involved.
•Rather than a simple constitutive equation there are flow laws that
best model different plastic mechanisms
•An example is the power-law equation in the form:
𝑄𝑄
𝑒𝑒̇ = 𝐴𝐴𝜎𝜎 𝑛𝑛 exp(− �𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅)
Where A is a constant that depends on depends on temperature and
other factors; T is temperature; Q is Activation Energy and R is the gas
constant.
 PERFECTLY PLASTIC MATERIALS
•A perfectly plastic material, or Saint Venant material, is one where the
stress cannot rise above the yield stress and strain can continue to
accumulate without any change in the stress level
•The strength is not strain rate sensitive
•When there is an additional component of initial elastic deformation then
the material is known as elastic-perfect plastic.
 STRAIN HARDENING AND SOFTENING
• Rocks do not generally behave as perfectly
plastic materials during plastic deformation
• If we have to increase the applied stress for
additional strain to accumulate then we are
dealing with a material science phenomenon
called work hardening or strain hardening.
• For example metals can be made harder
through plastic deformation
• Strain hardening occurs as a result of the
entanglement of atomic scale defects known as
dislocations.
• Elevated temperature eases the motion of
dislocations and thus reduces the effect of strain
hardening.
• Work softening or strain softening is the case
when less stress is required to keep the
deformation going.
COMBINED MODELS
•Rocks and other natural materials are rheologically complex and
generally do not behave as perfect elastic, viscous or plastic
materials.
•It may therefore be useful to combine these three types of
deformations in order to describe natural rock deformation
•The Models can be combined in series or in parallel
Commonly applied
to large scale
deformation of the
crust and mantle

Silicic lava behaves

like this. Also paint.

𝜎𝜎 = 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 + η𝑒𝑒̇

𝑒𝑒̇ = 𝜎𝜎⁄𝐸𝐸 + 𝜎𝜎⁄η

Fits the mantle which
deforms elastically
during small strains
involved in seismic wave
propagation and
viscously during mantle
convection

more closely
approximates
the response of
natural rocks to
 EXPERIMENT
•Experiments form the basis for much of our understanding of flow in rock.
•In the laboratory we can choose the medium and control physical variables such
as temperature, pressure, stress conditions and strain rate.
•An obvious disadvantage is that we do not have enough time to apply geologic
strain rates, which makes it challenging to compare laboratory results to naturally
deformed rocks.
•There are many different experimental setups, the most common of which is the
triaxial deformation rig where cylindrical samples are exposed to a confining
pressure and a principal axial stress
 Axial or directed stress is the anisotropic component
 Confining pressure is the isotropic component

•Some deformation rigs can impose a rotary shear motion (shear strain) on the
sample
•Most samples that have been deformed experimentally are monomineralic, such
as quartzite or calcite. It is frequently assumed that the properties of single
minerals such as quartz (upper crust), feldspar (crust) or olivine (mantle) control
the rheological properties of various parts of the lithosphere.
(a) The standard loading configuration in triaxial rigs. The axial load 𝜎𝜎𝑎𝑎 and the confining
pressure (PC) are controlled independently. (b) A configuration where a torsion is added to
the axial compression and the confining pressure. This configuration allows for large shear
strains to accumulate
 CONSTANT STRESS (CREEP) VS CONSTANT
STRAIN RATE
•Experiments can be sorted into those where strain rate is held constant and those where a
constant stress field is maintained throughout the course of the experiment.
•Constant stress experiments are also known as Creep experiments as they involve a
phenomenon know as Creep
•Creep is the plastic deformation of a material that is subjected to a persistent and constant stress
when that material is at a high homologous temperature.
 Homologous temperature TH is the ratio of a material’s temperature T to its melting temperature TM using the
Kelvin scale: 𝑇𝑇𝐻𝐻 = 𝑇𝑇�𝑇𝑇𝑀𝑀

•This first stage of creep is called primary or transient creep.

•After some time, strain accumulates more steadily and the region of secondary or steady-
state creep is reached.
 the most interesting one to structural geologists, because it appears that rocks can deform more or less
steadily for extended periods of time.
 The constitutive equation during steady-state creep is the power law

•Then the tertiary creep stage is entered where microfracturing or recrystallization causes an
increase in strain rate.
•This stage is terminated when a macroscopic fracture develops.
FACTORS AFFECTING RHEOLOGICAL
BEHAVIOR OF ROCKS
1. Temperature: An increase in temperature lowers the yield stress or
weakens the rock
2. Strain Rate: slower strain rates reduces the yield stress level.
3. Presence of Fluids: tends to weaken rocks, lower the yield stress and
enhance crystal-plastic deformation.
4. Confining Pressure: Increased confining pressure allows for larger
finite strains to accumulate before failure and favors plastic
deformation.
5. Non Isotropic features: eg. Fabric elements like foliation makes strain
more difficult or easier in certain directions.
6. Crytallographic Fabric and Grain size: gives rise to anisotropic
behavior in certain directions.
Stress–strain curves for Yule marble extended (a) normal and (b) parallel to the foliation. (c)
Stress–strain curves for Yule marble at 500 C for a variety of strain rates.
Stress–strain rate curves for dry olivine single crystals compressed in three different
crystallographic directions. At any strain rate, deformation is easier for crystals
shortened in the [110] direction, due to the lower strength of the [010][100] slip
system
 BRITTLE VS DUCTILE VS PLASTIC
• The terms brittle and ductile tend to be used frequently by geologists and many times having
differing meanings
•A Ductile material is one that accumulates permanent strain (flows) without macroscopically
visible fracturing, at least until a certain point where its ultimate strength is exceeded.
•a Brittle material is one that deforms by fracturing when subjected to stress beyond the yield
point
•The term ductile can be used to describe deformation structures in metamorphic rocks, which
form in the lower crust, as well as the deformation in soils and unconsolidated to poorly
consolidated sediments. Both cases involve different deformational mechanisms
•Also the definition of ductile is scale dependent. Hence, a deformed area or volume can be
ductile at the seismic or mesoscopic scale and brittle at the subseismic or microscopic scale
• The term plastic (rather than brittle) therefore specifies ductile deformation on the basis of the
active deformational mechanism
Plastic deformation is generally defined as the permanent change in shape or size of a body without
fracture, produced by a sustained stress beyond the elastic limit of the material due to dislocation
movement
•A simpler distinction, therefore, could be to contrast Brittle/Ductile Structures and Structural
Styles with Brittle (Frictional)/Plastic Deformational Mechanisms
Illustration of the relationship between ductile and brittle deformation styles and plastic
and brittle (frictional) microscale mechanisms. Example 4 is impossible because
we cannot form a brittle deformation style by means of 100% plastic mechanisms