MICA ELLA A.

DOMEN
GRADE 11- AXIOM_BUSINESS

Folds and Faults

Due to plate tectonics, the crust experiences strains. There are two kinds of
strains, the fold and the fault. A fold is the ductile kind of strain. It is the bending of
the crust due to compression from pressure and from sheer pressure coming from the
movement of transform boundaries. While a fault, is basically a crack in the tectonic
plate formed due to action of forces in these plates.
Folds are divided into 3 types: Anticline, Syncline, and the Monocline.
Anticline is a fold that convex up with the oldest rock layer being in the center. It
appears shaped like an arc. Rock layers in this fold are progressively older to the
center. A Syncline fold defined by the Oxford dictionary is a trough of stratified
(stratified: arranged close together in layers) rock in which the strata slope upward
from the axial plane or the axis that divides these folds into two symmetrical halves.
It appears like a bowl. The third type of fold is the Monocline which folding forms
dipping or a stair-like or step-like structure. This fold form when a part of the crust
moves up or down relative to the other crust. Folds create ridges and valleys based
on its type.
Faults on the other hand is divided into 3 types as well: Normal fault,
Reverse fault, and the Strike-Slip fault. A fault is considered a Normal fault
when the hanging wall drops down or moves downward. This commonly happens at
divergent boundaries where plates are being pulled apart from each other. A Reverse
fault forms when compression boundaries move or when plates are pushed towards
each other. The hanging wall moves upward in this kind of fault. Lastly, in transform
boundaries where plates slide past each other, Strike-Slip faults form in response to
the sheer stress when the plates move in a parallel direction. Sizes of faults differ and
is directly proportional to the affected area when plate movement happens. Small
faults can affect a few rock regions while large faults or those thousands of kilometers
long and deep can affect a wider inclusion of area.
Other Sources:
Lumen Learning.Reading: Folds, retrieved September 21, 2019, from:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/geology/chapter/reading-folds
anticlines/
Different Types of Earthquake and Faults, retrieved September 21, 2019 from:
https://people.uwec.edu/jolhm/eh/toivonen/types.htm