Holy Rosary Academy of Las Pinas City

Earth and Life Science

Grade 11
First Quarter

Topic: Deformation of Rocks

Objectives:
● Explain how the movement of plates leads to formation of folds and faults
● Describe how layers of rocks are formed
● Differentiate relative and absolute dating as used to determine the age of rocks

Heads Up!
1. Differentiate the mechanical and chemical composition of Earth's geosphere.
2. What are plate boundaries?
3. How do geologic processes contribute to changing the features of the Earth?

I. PLATE TECTONICS

A. Continental Drift Theory – An idea proposed by Alfred Wegener stating that the continents drifted
around the world and has once formed a giant land mass or supercontinent “Pangaea ''. Listed below are the
evidence he gathered and pursued proving his theory.

Evidences:
1. Fitting of the continents – Continents like South America and Africa could fit together as if both
were pieces of a one jigsaw puzzle

Africa

South America

2. Rocks and Mountains - Identical rocks, of the same type and age were recorded which are places
that are far apart from each other. Mountain ranges with the same rock types, structures, and ages
(example: Appalachian Mountain range and Eastern Greenland Mountain ranges
 3. Fossils - Ancient fossils of the same species of extinct plants and animals are found in
rocks of the same age but are on continents that are now widely separated. Wegener
proposed that the organisms had lived side by side, but that the lands had moved apart
after they were dead and fossilized. He suggested that the organisms would not have been
able to travel across the oceans.

Examples:
● Fossils of the seed fern Glossopteris were too heavy to be carried so far by wind.
● Mesosaurus was a swimming reptile but could only swim in freshwater.
● Cynognathus and Lystrosaurus were land reptiles and were unable to swim

4. Paleoclimate data – “Paleo” means ancient. Alfred Wegener studied the data on what were
the climate on different regions on the Earth on

● Grooves and rock deposits left by ancient glaciers

are found today on different continents very close
to the equator. This would indicate that the glaciers
either formed in the middle of the ocean and/or
covered most of the Earth. Today glaciers only
form on land and nearer the poles. Wegener thought
that the glaciers were centered over the southern
land mass close to the South Pole and the continents
moved to their present positions later on.

● Coral reefs and coal-forming swamps are

found in tropical and subtropical
environments, but ancient coal seams and
coral reefs are found in locations where it is
much too cold today. Wegener suggested that
these creatures were alive in warm climate
zones and that the fossils and coal later had
drifted to new locations on the continents.

Advancements in Technology
● Paleomagnetism – Magnetite are minerals which may record past directions of the
Earth's magnetic field because as they form, they follow the North Magnetic Pole of the
Earth as they crystallize from Magma. There has only been one magnetic north pole and
the continents have drifted
 Retrieved from: https://geo.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Geology/Book
%3A_Fundamentals_of_Geology_(Schulte)/05%3A_ Plate_Tectonics/5.05%3A_Continental_Drift
B. Seafloor Spreading – The ocean floor split along the ridge and that is where the magma rises
to form the new ocean floor

C. Plate Tectonics Theory – Earth`s lithosphere is divided into large continent-sized “plates” that are
constantly moving

Essential Question: Where do you think this energy came from allowing movements on the Earth`s
lithospheric plates?
Write your answer on the box below:

EXPLANATION
● A lot of Earth’s heat was left over from when our planet formed, four-and-a-half billion
years ago.
Earth is thought to have arisen from a cloud of gas and dust in space. Solid particles, called
“planetesimals” condensed out of the cloud. They’re thought to have stuck together and
created the early Earth. Bombarding planetesimals heated Earth to a molten state. So
Earth started out with a lot of heat. Earth makes some of its own heat. Earth is cooling
now – but very, very slowly. Earth is close to a steady temperature state. Over the past
several billion years, it might have cooled a couple of hundred degrees. Earth keeps a
nearly steady temperature, because it makes heat in its interior.
● Radioactive decay takes place beneath the Earth; outer core (released heat/energy) and
drives the process called “CONVECTION”

Retrieved from https://earthsky.org/earth/what-is-the-source-of-the-heat-in-the-earths-

interior

Three Main Types of Plate Boundaries

1. Convergent – the plates are moving towards each other. This may form mountains
and volcanoes with same density materials of rocks and Trench if one of the plates is
 lesser in density. Since the plates are moving
towards each other, this may create tension and
pressure to each plate which may result to
earthquake. An earthquake is a minimal to rapid
shaking of the ground due to movement of rocks
along faults on Earth Surface.

2. Divergent – The plates are moving away

each other. One example is the Mid-Atlantic
ridge along the Atlantic Ocean.

3. Transform – The plates are moving past each other. May create
faults. Since the plates are moving past each other, they have side by
side interaction, this may create tension and pressure to each plate
which may result in earthquakes as well.

Rocks are deformed by folding or faulting once subjected to different kinds of tectonic forces. Listed
below are the processes resulting in deformation of rocks.
● Compressing forces – squeezes and shorten a body
● Tensional forces – stretch a body and tend to pull it apart
● Shearing forces – pushes two sides of a body in opposite direction

Keywords:
● Fault – are planes of detachment resulting when rocks on either side of the displacement slip past
one another
● Fold - constitute the twists and bends in rocks

LOOK CLOSELY!
Instructions: Observe the images shown below. Identify the characteristics you observed that are distinct
from each picture. Write your answers on the box provided below.

Picture A Picture B

Based from the pictures shown above, which among the following is a Fault? A Fold?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

II. EARTH`S HISTORY

A. Relative Dating

B. Absolute Dating
III. GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE

The two types of geologic time are analogous which is

“relative” that tells about which precedes another and
numerical time which is “absolute” that tells with
numerical values and spans of year.

Example of which the Jurassic Period occurs after the

Triassic Period, and before the Cretaceous Period, and
spans the time from about 205 million years ago to about
142 million years ago.

Relative time is the physical subdivision of the rocks

found in the Earth's geology and the time and order of
events they represent. Absolute time is the measurement
taken from the same rocks to determine the amount of
time that has expired. Absolute time measurements can
therefore be used to calibrate the relative time scale,
producing an integrated geologic or "geochronologic"
time scale that combines both types of data, as is depicted
here.

This geologic time scale is based upon data from Harland

et al., (1990) and Gradstein and Ogg, (1996). The time
scale is depicted in its traditional form with oldest at the
bottom, and youngest at the top the present day is at the
zero mark. The scale is broken in the Precambrian
because this period is extremely long in duration (it
extends from 545 million years ago to over 4.5 billion
years ago).^3

References:

1. Cortez, L., Sia, S. and Sotto, R.L. (2016). Earth Processes. SCIENCE in Today's World
for Senior High School: Earth & Life Science. Sibs Publishing House. pp. 22-47.

2. CHAPTER 10: Folds, Faults and Rock Deformation. Retrieved from

https://www.uh.edu/~geos6g/1330/struct.html
3. Natural History Museum. Geologic Time Scale. Retrieved from
https://natmus.humboldt.edu/geological-time-scale.