Deformation of

the Crust
By: Mrs. Severe
Earth Science

Section 1 How the Crust

is Deformed
Objectives:
1. Predict isostatic adjustments that
will result from changes in the
thickness of the earths crust.
2. Identify sources of stress in
crustal rock.

Deformation
Bending, tilting, and breaking of
the earth's crust
Plate tectonics is the major cause
of crustal deformation, but is not
the only force that shapes the
earths crust.

Other Forces
Changes in the weight of some
parts of the crust
Thicker and heavier = sink more deeply
into the mantle
Thinner and lighter = rise higher on
the mantle

Isostatic Adjustment
Up-and-down movements of the
crust occur because of two opposing
forces.
Crust presses down on the mantle
Mantle presses up on the crust
When the two forces balance, the
crust moves neither up nor down

Isostatic Adjustment
Continued
When weight is added to the crust,
it sinks until a balance of the
forces is reached again
Balancing of the two forces is
called:
ISOSTASY

Isostatic Adjustment
Continued
Up-and-down movements of the
crust to reach isostasy is called
ISOSTATIC ADJUSTMENTS

As the adjustments occur, areas of

the crust are bent up and down
Pressure from this causes rocks in
that area of the crust to deform

Isostatic Adjustment Still

Continued
Isostatic adjustments occur
constantly:
Mountain ranges
*As the crust becomes lighter, the region
may rise

Rivers flow into large bodies of water

carrying large amounts of mud, sand,
and gravel
*Added weight cause the floor to sink

Isostatic Adjustment
STILL Continued
Isostatic adjustments occur
constantly:
Glaciers once covered the land
*Weight of the ice caused the crust
underneath it to sink
Glacial ice retreats
Land slowly begins rising again in response
to its reduced weight

Isostatic Adjustment
FINAL!

Stress

(Not the kind you cause your teacher to have)

Isostatic adjustment and plate

movement cause stress in rocks
that make up the earths crust
Amount of force per unit area that
is placed on any given material

Strain
Crustal stress occurs
when lithospheric plates
collide, separate, or
rub together
A change in the shape
or volume of rocks that
results from the stress
of being squeezed,
twisted, or pulled apart

Types of Stress
Compression - occurs when crustal
rocks are squeezed together
often reduces the volume of the rocks

Tension - the force that pulls rocks

apart
rocks tend to become thinner

Shearing - sliding rocks past each

other in opposite horizontal directions

Types of Stress

Review
1. Explain isostatic adjustment
2. Define Stress and Strain
3. Draw a diagram of each of the
following:

Compression
Tension
Shearing

Section 2 The Results of

Stress
Objectives:
Compare folding and faulting as
responses to stress
Describe four types of faults

The Results of Stress

Introduction
High pressure and temperatures caused by
stress deform rocks
Stress applied slowly = rock may return to
its original shape as the force is removed
If the force exceeds an acceptable
amount, the shape of the rock changes
permanently
Rock may also break because of extreme
stress

Folding
Rock responding to stress by
becoming permanently deformed
without breaking
Usually occurs deep in the crust
where overlying rocks create great
pressure so behavior is more plastic

3 Types of Folds
Anticline
Syncline
Monoclin

Anticline
Up-curved fold in
which the oldest
layer is in the
center of the fold
Generally forms a
ridge
Can you think of
examples

Syncline
Down-curved fold
in which the
youngest layer is
in the center
Generally forms a
valley
Can you think of
examples

Monocline
Fold in which both
limbs remain horizontal
Gently dipping one way
or the other
Can you think of
examples

Faulting
Breaks in rocks when the rocks on
either side of the break move is
faulting
Breaks in rocks when the rocks on
either side of the break do not
move is fracture
Near the crusts surface rocks are
more brittle and tend to break, not
bend

Fault Vocabulary
Fault plane - surface of a fault
along which any motion occurs
Hanging wall - in a non-vertical
fault, the rock above the fault
plane
Footwall - rock below the fault
plane

4 Types of Faulting

Normal Fault
Reverse Fault
Thrust Fault
Strike-slip Fault

Normal Faulting
Hanging wall moves
down relative to
the footwall
Form along
divergent
boundaries
Usually occurs in a
series of parallel
fault lines

Reverse and Thrust Fault

Reverse - Forms
when compression
causes the hanging
wall to move up
relative to the
footwall
Thrust - Fault plane
is at a low angle or
nearly horizontal.
Common in steep
mountains such as the
Rockies and Alps

Strike-slip Fault
Rock on either
side of the fault
plane slides
horizontally
Often occur in
transform
boundaries
Example: San
Andreas Fault

Review
1. What results when rock responds
to stress by permanently
deforming without breaking?
2. Explain why faulting is more likely
to occur near the surface than
deep within the earth
3. Draw and describe four types of
faults

Section 3 Mountain
Formation
Objectives:
Identify the types of plate
collisions that build mountains.
Identify four types of mountains
and discuss the forces that
shaped them.

Mountain Formation
Introduction
A mountain range is a group of adjacent
mountains with the same general shape
and structure
A group of adjacent mountain ranges
make up a mountain system
Largest mountain systems are part of
still larger systems called mountain belts
Circum-Pacific Belt
Eurasian-Melanesian Belt

Plate Tectonics and

Mountains
Circum-Pacific and EurasianMelanesian mountain belts are
located along convergent plate
boundaries
Scientists think this is evidence
that most mountains were formed
when lithospheric plates collided

How Plate Collisions Form

Mountains
Collisions between Continental and
Oceanic Crust = Subduction zones form
coastal volcanoes
Collisions between Oceanic Crust and
Oceanic Crust = Volcanic island arcs form
on ocean floor
Collisions between Continents = Crust
crumples and rises (Example are the
Himalayas)

Types of Mountains
Mountains are complicated
structures with rock formations
that yield evidence of the forces
that created them.
Classified by: deformation and
shape
4 Types

Folded Mountains and

Plateaus
Continental Crust
is pushed together
and up
Highest mountain
ranges in the
world
Plateaus are large
uplifted flats are
also formed near
folded mountains

Fault-Block Mountains
Range fronts rise
along normal faults
as a result of
crustal stretching
Examples: Lost
River Range, most
of Nevada

Volcanic Mountains
Mountains that
form when molten
rock erupts onto
the earths
surface
Hot Spots
formed on the
ocean floor

Dome Mountains
Formed when molten
rock rises through the
crust and pushes up
the rock layers above
it
When pushed up, rock
layers are worn away
exposing hardened rock
Where the rock wears
away and leaves
separate high peaks is
dome mountains

Review
1. Describe the types of lithospheric plate
collisions that build mountains.
2. Name the four types of mountains and
explain how each is formed.
3. How do volcanic mountains grow?