FLEXURE OF THE

LITHOSPHERE
 Flexure of an elastic
plate
Introduce the concept of flexure of the lithosphere using 2D
Flexure of the lithosphere in foreland basin
Flexure of the lithosphere in Hawaii
Flexure of an elastic plate

• In the last lecture we considered stresses applied to an elastic

material in either uniaxial stress, uniaxial strain, isotropic stress or
pure shear
• Today, we will consider flexure or bending of an elastic plate as a
result of an applied load or torque
Flexure of an elastic plate

• An elastic plate of thickness ℎ is shown here, pinned at both ends

and with an infinite width along the axis
• A line load 𝑉𝑎 is applied, resulting in deflection (or displacement)
w at any point along the length
• In order to determine the deflection, we need to balance the
forces and torques acting on the plate
Balancing forces and torques
Define torques (or moments)
Calculate the force and torque balance on an elasti
Relate the force/torque balance to plate deflection
Torques and moments
• A torque is a twist applied to an object
• It is similar to force, but specific to rotation of an object about an
axis
• It is used interchangeably with moment or moment of force
• Mathematically, torque 𝜏 is the cross product of a force F and
a displacement vector r (distance between the axis of rotation
and the applied force)

𝜏=𝑟𝑥𝐹
Vertical force balance

• The vertical force balance from x to x+dx is

𝑑𝑉
𝑞 𝑥 𝑑𝑥 + 𝑑𝑉 = 0 or = −𝑞
𝑑𝑞
• Where q is the downward load distributed in the plane an V is the
net shear force
• Both are per unit length in the z direction
Balancing Torque

• The balance of the all torque acting on the plate is

𝑑𝑀 𝑑𝑤
𝑑𝑀 − 𝑃𝑑𝑤 = 𝑉𝑑𝑥 or =𝑉 +𝑃
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
• Where (1) dM is the net counterclockwise torque on the element
from the fiber stresses (2) V(dx) is the clockwise torque on the
element from the shear forces, and (3) -Pdw is the net
counterclockwise torque from horizontal force
Balancing Torque

• If we differentiate our torque balance

equation with respect to 𝑥, the shear
force term can be eliminated by
substituting our vertical force balance
into the resulting equation
Balancing Torque

• Finally, if we can find a relationship between the bending

moment M and the deflection w, we can turn this into a
differential equation for the deflection
Longitudinal Plane stress

• We’ll skip the derivation for the relationship between the bending
moment M and the plate curvature, but note that the longitudinal
stresses 𝜎𝑥𝑥 are positive for positive y values and negative for
negative values
Longitudinal Plane stress

• The Bending moment M can be shown to be related to plate curvature by

• where D is the flexural rigidity (or bending stiffness) of the plate,

defined as
General equation for plate deflection
• Substituting our relationship for the bending moment as a function
of plate curvature into our equation for the force and torque
balance equation, we find the general equation for the deflection
of a plate

 Deflection of a simple elastic plate
Present calculations for deflection of an elastic plate acted upon by
An applied torque
An end load
Bending under an applied torque

• Consider a weightless plate embedded at one end

• Here, we have no load q on the plate, resulting in no shear
force V, and we have no longitudinal force P
• Thus, the only thing to balance is the applied torque 𝑀𝑎 at L
• Considering this, the deflection 𝑤 is simply

Bending under an applied torque

• An applied vertical load is quite similar to a torque at L

• Here, we have no load q on the plate except at x = L , where
the shear force is equal to V and as before, force P = 0
• The deflection in this case is
 Flexure of the
lithosphere
Discuss how displacement of the asthenosphere affects our
formulation of elastic plate deflection
Including the lithosphere and asthenosphere

• Up to this point, we’ve assumed our plate is floating in space, but plates in the Earth
float atop the “fluid” mantle
• Thus, displacement of the plate will produce a hydrostatic restoring force q(x),
resulting from the displacement of the underlying mantle and its replacement by a less
dense material
Including the lithosphere and asthenosphere

• Consider an applied load 𝑞𝑎 on the oceanic

lithosphere, displacing the plate downward
• The weight of the column of material from the
base of the lithosphere beneath the load is


where 𝜌𝑤 is the density of water, g is the

acceleration due to gravity, ℎ𝑤 is the original
water depth, w is the deflection, 𝜌𝑚 is the
density of mantle lithosphere and h is the
thickness of the mantle lithosphere
• The corresponding weight where the plate is
not deflected is 

Including the lithosphere and asthenosphere

• The hydrostatic force per unit area is equal to

the difference in the weight of the columns


• If the force from the load on the lithosphere is

𝑞𝑎 we can say

• Thus, our modified general equation for

deflection of a plate of oceanic lithosphere
becomes
Including the lithosphere and asthenosphere

• Using the same approach we can state the

general equation for deflection of continental
lithosphere as
Examples of flexure of
lithospheric plates
Look at two examples of flexure of the lithosphere beneath
the Hawaiian island chain:
Solid elastic plate
“Broken” elastic plate
Bending of the lithosphere beneath Hawaii

• As we’ve previously seen, the Hawaiian island chain acts as a load on the oceanic
lithosphere, deflecting it downward
• Here we consider two different options for modeling this deflection, and how they’re
useful for understanding the lithosphere
• First, we will treat the volcanoes as a line load on the lithosphere 𝑉𝑜 and assume
𝑞𝑎 𝑥 = 0 and 𝑃 = 0
• With this, we can simplify our general equation for deflection of the oceanic lithosphere
to be
Bathymetry of the Pacific Ocean
Bending of the lithosphere beneath Hawaii
• For a solid elastic plate, the resulting deflection of the oceanic
lithosphere is


• In this version of the equation, 𝑤0 is the maximum deflection,

given by

• and is known as the flexural parameter

Bending of the lithosphere beneath Hawaii
When should the lithosphere be treated as
a solid elastic plate?
• In general, the lithosphere can be modelled as a solid elastic
plate whenever its mechanical strength is not significantly
lowered by fracture zones, volcanism and/or major faults
• Some examples of these scenarios include
• Loading of stable continental interiors by ice sheets
• Seamounts and oceanic islands
• Loading by river deltas
Bending of the lithosphere beneath Hawaii

• If we think that volcanic activity may have affected the

platesability to transmit elastic bending stress from one side
to the other, it may be more appropriate to model deflection
of a “broken” plate
• In this case, the deflection w is


• where the maximum deflection 𝑤𝑜 is

Bending of the lithosphere beneath Hawaii
When should the lithosphere be treated as
a broken elastic plate?
• In general, the lithosphere can be modelled as a broken elastic
plate whenever its mechanical strength is significantly lowered
by fracture zones, volcanism and/or major faults
• Some examples of these scenarios include
• Deep sea trenches at subduction zones
• Seamounts and oceanic islands
• Foreland basins
THANK YOU