Presented by:

DAVE C. BUGADOR
BSED-Physics 4
DIASTROPHISM
• From the Greek word “diastrophe” means twisting.

• large-scale deformation of Earth’s crust by natural processes, which

leads to the formation of continents and ocean basins, mountain
systems, plateaus, rift valleys, and other features by mechanisms
such as lithospheric plate movement volcanic loading, or folding

• All the movements of the solid part of the earth.

• The deformation of the rock is due to tectonic stress.

DIRECTION OF FORCES AND
MOVEMENTS THEY PRODUCE:
1. Upward forces - cause the local or widespread rising or
uplift of the crust.

2. Downward forces - cause the local or widespread sinking

or subsidence of the crust.

3. Sideward Forces - cause the horizontal motion of the crust

called a thrust.
 DIRECTION OF FORCES AND
MOVEMENTS THEY PRODUCE:

Uplift and Subsidence Thrust

DEFORMATION

• a general term that refers to all changes in the original

shape, size (volume), or orientation of a rock body.

• Geologists use the term stress to describe the forces that

deforms rocks
STRESS AND STRAIN

• Stress is force acting on a rock and deform rocks; force that

tends to compress, pull apart, or deform rock; also a force
applied per unit area
• Strain is rock’s response to stress; a change in size, shape, or
volume of a material.
STRESS AND STRAIN

Stress can be:

• Uniform stress - a stress wherein all the forces
act equally from all directions
Ex. Pressure, Confining stress Confining Stress

• Differential stress - occurs when stress acting

on the rock is not equal in all directions
STRESS AND STRAIN

3 Kinds of Differential Stress:

1. Tensional stress (or extensional stress) –
stress which stretches rock
2. Compressional stress – stress which
squeezes rock
3. Shear stress – stress which results in slippage
and translation; ripping
CLASSES OF MATERIALS ACCORDING TO
RELATIVE BEHAVIOR UNDER STRESS:

• Brittle materials have a small or large region of elastic

behavior but only a small region of ductile behavior before
they fracture.

• Ductile materials have a small region of elastic behavior and

a large region of ductile behavior before they fracture.
STAGES OF DEFORMATION
1. Elastic Deformation -
wherein the strain is
reversible.
2. Ductile Deformation -
wherein the strain is
irreversible.
3. Fracture - irreversible strain
wherein the material breaks.
FACTORS AFFECTING THE KIND OF
DEFORMATION:
1. Confining Pressure - At high confining pressure materials
are less likely to fracture because the pressure of the
surroundings tends to hinder the formation of fractures.
At low confining stress, material will be brittle and tend
to fracture sooner.
2. Temperature - At high temperature molecules and their
bonds can stretch and move, thus materials will behave
in more ductile manner. At low temperatures, materials
are brittle.
FACTORS AFFECTING THE KIND OF
DEFORMATION:
3. Strength of Rock/Composition – Minerals like quartz,
and feldspars are very brittle. Calcite, clay minerals, and
micas are more ductile. Wet rock tends to behave in ductile
manner, while dry rocks tend to be brittle.
4. Strain Rate/Time – At high strain rates material tends to
fracture. At low strain rates more time is available for
individual atoms to move and therefore ductile behavior is
favored.
CAUSES OF DIASTROPHISM
*According to Burckley and Ramsey
1. The theory of Isostasy
• From the Greek word meaning equal standing
• ‘Isostasy' was coined in 1889 by Clarence Edward
Dutton
• The balancing of forces between the effects of gravity
on the mass of a section of earth and the resistance of
that mass to sinking into the mantle of the earth.
CAUSES OF DIASTROPHISM
2. The contraction theory- Earth is gradually shrinking
because it is cooling and the great pressure squeezes parts
of the earth into a smaller volume and the gravity draws the
crust inward causing it to buckle, bend and trench.
3. The convection theory- Convection currents are set in
the crust and heat comes from the disintegration of
radioactive elements. As heat accumulates, rocks become
plastic and moves upward causing the surface of the earth
to bulge.
CAUSES OF DIASTROPHISM
4. The Continental Drift Theory- Proposed by Alfred
Wegener who hypothesized of an original, gigantic
supercontinent 200 million years ago – Pangaea – meaning
"All-earth". Pangaea started to break up into two smaller
supercontinents and the continents gradually drifted apart
to where they are today.
5. The expansion theory- Earth is physically expanding in
diameter, mass, or both. Expansion of the earth would
change the continent’s position.
CAUSES OF DIASTROPHISM

Other theories:

1. Theory of Seafloor Spreading

A break or rift was found at the middle of the ridge
running along its length where basaltic magma wells out to
the surface. This solidified and form a “new crust” which
pushes the old crust causing the ocean floor to spread
CAUSES OF DIASTROPHISM

2. Plate Tectonic Theory

• Known as the geological structural deformation
• Explains the movement of the Earth's plates, cause of
earthquakes, volcanoes, oceanic trenches, mountain range
formation, and many other geologic phenomenon. The plates
are moving at a speed that has been estimated at 1 to 10 cm
per year.
• Plates move either because of slab pull or mantle convection
EFFECTS OF
DIASTROPHISM
1. The deformation of the rocks
Uplifted shorelines are evidence
of this movement. The effects of
diastrophism are more clearly seen in
rocks, especially in sedimentary rocks.
Any deformation of sedimentary rocks
is shown in tilts, bends or break in the
layer.
EFFECTS OF DIASTROPHISM

2. Folds
• A bend or flexure in a rock can be likened to waves on the
ocean. Each has a crest or upfold and a trough or downfold
• Result from compressional stresses acting over
considerable time. Because the strain rate is low, rocks that
are brittle can behave in a ductile manner resulting in such
folds.
FOLDS

Geometry of Folds :
• Limbs – are sides of a fold.
• Hinge – is where limbs intersect; it the tightest part of the
fold.
• Fold Axis – is a line connecting all points on the hinge.
FOLDS
FOLDS

Types of Folds:

1. Monoclines
the simplest types of
folds. Monoclines occur when
horizontal strata are bent
upward so that the two limbs
of the fold are still horizontal.
FOLDS

2. Anticlines
Folds where the originally
horizontal strata has been
folded upward, and the two
limbs of the fold dip away from
the hinge of the fold.
It is the crest of a rock.
These are arch-shaped folds
which would be the ridges.
Anticline
FOLDS
3. Synclines
Folds where the originally
horizontal strata have been
folded downward, and the two
limbs of the fold dip inward
toward the hinge of the fold.
It is the trough of a rock.
These are sink-shaped folds
which would be the valleys.
Syncline
FOLDS

4. Basins
A downward bulging fold
caused by gently depressed
layers of different geologic
materials
Ex. Michigan Basin
FOLDS

5. Domes
Are large, upwardly
bulging folds produced by
vertical, upward stress or by
movement deep within the
earth (subcrustal movement)
Ex. Upheavel Dome
FOLDS

Classification of Folds:
1. Symmetrical fold - two limbs
of the fold dip away from
the axis with the same angle

2. Asymmetrical folds - limbs

dip at different angles
FOLDS
3. Overturned fold - folding is
so intense that the strata on
one limb of the fold becomes
nearly upside down

4. Chevron fold - fold that has

no curvature in its hinge and
straight-sided limbs that form a
zigzag pattern
FOLDS
5. Recumbant fold - An
overturned fold with an axial
plane that is nearly horizontal

6. Isoclinal fold – If
compressional stresses that
cause the folding are intense,
the fold can close up and have
limbs that are parallel to each
other
EFFECTS OF DIASTROPHISM

3. Faults
A fracture in the rock layers along which movement
occurs. It is described in terms of the steepness of the fault
plane, and the direction of relative movement.
3 ways that rocks on the other side of the fault can move
relative to the rocks on the other side:
1. up and down (dip);
2. horizontally or sideways (strike)
3. with elements of both directions of movement (oblique)
FAULTS

Understanding Fault Terminology:

• Strike - The compass direction of a line of strata

• Dip - The angle in degrees between a horizontal surface and

an inclined surface – measured as perpendicular to strike
Dip vs. Strike
FAULTS

Measuring Displacement Along a Fault:

• Vertical (dip slip) - The movement is along the line of the dip

• Horizontal (strike slip) -The movement is along the line of

the strike
Dip-Slip vs. Strike-Slip
FAULTS

Types of Faults:
1. Dip Slip Faults - faults that have an inclined fault plane and
along which the relative displacement or offset has occurred
along the dip direction.
*For any inclined fault plane, the block above the fault is
called the hanging wall block and the block below the fault is
called the footwall block.
FAULTS

1-A. Normal Faults

Faults that result from
horizontal tensional stresses in
brittle rocks and where the
hanging-wall block has moved
down relative to the footwall
block.
FAULTS

1-A.1 Horsts & Grabens

Due to the tensional stress
responsible for normal faults
with adjacent faults dipping in
opposite directions. In such a
case the down-dropped blocks
form grabens which may form
valleys and the uplifted blocks
form horsts which may form
linear mountain ranges.
FAULTS

1-A.2 Half-Grabens
A normal fault that has a curved
fault plane with the dip
decreasing with depth can cause
the down-dropped block to
rotate. In such a case a half-
graben is produced, bounded by
only one fault instead of the two
that form a normal graben
FAULTS

1-B. Reverse Faults

Faults that result from
horizontal compressional
stresses in brittle rocks,
where the hanging-wall
block has moved up relative
the footwall block.
FAULTS
1-B.1 Thrust fault
A special case of a reverse
fault where the dip of the fault
is less than 15 deg. Thrust
faults can have considerable
displacement, measuring
hundreds of kilometers, and
can result in older strata
overlying younger strata
FAULTS
2. Strike Slip Faults
Faults where the relative motion
on the fault has taken place along a
horizontal direction caused by shear
stresses acting in the crust.
Can be of 2 varieties:
1. Left-lateral strike-slip fault - the
block on the other side has moved to
the left.
2. Right -lateral strike-slip fault - the
block on the other side has moved to
the right
FAULTS
2-A. Transform faults
Special class of strike-slip faults.
These are plate boundaries along
which two plates slide past one
another in a horizontal manner. The
most common type of transform
faults occur where oceanic ridges are
offset. These areas are called fracture
zones.
One of the largest transform
faults in the world is the San Andreas
Fault, a right-lateral transform fault
San Andreas Fault
FAULTS

Evidence of Movement on Faults:

• Slickensides are scratch marks that are left on
the fault plane as one block moves relative to
the other. These marks can be used to
determine the direction and sense of motion
on a fault.
• Fault Breccia are crumbled up rocks consisting
of angular fragments that were formed as a
result of grinding and crushing movement
along a fault.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOLDING
AND FAULTING
• Different rocks behave differently when
placed under stress. Some rocks will
fracture or fault while other will fold even
though the rocks are subjected to the
same stress.
• Brittle rocks may fault and the ductile
rocks may bend or fold over the fault.
• Consider that ductile rocks may eventually
fracture under high stress and may fold up
to a certain point then fracture to form a
fault.
MOUNTAIN RANGES
• Mountains originate by three processes, two of which are directly related to
deformation of crust. Thus, there are three types of mountains:

1. Fault Block Mountain - originate by faulting; both normal and reverse

faults can cause the uplift of blocks of crustal rocks.
2. Fold & Thrust Mountains - Large compressional stresses cause continental
crustal areas to collide. The rocks between the two continental blocks
become folded and faulted under compressional stresses and are pushed
upward forming this type of mountain.
3. Volcanic Mountains - formed not by deformational processes, but instead
by the outpouring of magma onto the surface of the Earth
Fault Block Mountain- Sierra Nevada Mountains
Fold & Thrust Mountain – The Himalayan Mountains
Volcanic Mountain - The Cascade Mountains