CRUSTAL

DEFORMATION
 What is Crustal Deformation?

CRUSTAL DEFORMATION refers to the

changing of earth’s surface caused by tectonic forces
that are accumulated in the crust.
 Changes in the Earth`s Crust

• Deformation – It is the bending, tilting and

breaking of Earth’s crust. The change in shape of
volume of rock in response to stress.
• Stress – The amount of force per unit area that
acts on a rock.
 Types of Stress

• Compression Stress

• Tension Stress

• Shear Stress
 Compression Stress

• Compression Stress – is the type of stress that

squeezes and shortens a body of rock.
• Compression commonly reduces the amount of
space that rock occupies, and pushes rocks higher
up or deeper down into the crust
 Tension Stress

• Tension Stress – a stress that stretches and pulls a

body of rock apart
• When rocks are pulled apart by tension, the rocks
tend to become thinner
 Shear Stress

• Shear Stress – distorts a body of rock by pushing

parts of the rock in opposite direction
• Sheared rocks bend, twist, or break apart as they
slide past each other
 Strain
• Strain – any change in a rock’s shape or volume caused by stress
• When stress is applied slowly, the deformed rock may regain its original
shape when the stress is removed
• The amount of stress that rock can withstand without permanently changing
shape is limited
• If stress exceeds the rock’s limit, the rock’s shape permanently changes
 Types of Permanent Strain

• Brittle Strain

• Ductile Strain
 Brittle Strain

• Materials that respond to stress by breaking or

fracturing are brittle. Brittle strain appears as
cracks and fractures.
 Ductile Strain

• Ductile materials respond to stress by bending or

deforming without breaking. Ductile strain is a
change in the volume or shape of rock in which
the rock does not crack or fracture.
 Factors that Affect Strain
• The composition of rock determines where rock is ductile or
brittle, but temperature and pressure also affect how rock
deforms.
• At lower temperature and pressure, rock is likely deform in a
brittle way. At higher temperature and pressure, rock will
deform in a ductile way.
 Types of Deformation
• Elastic Deformation

• Plastic Deformation

• Brittle Deformation

• Ductile Deformation
 Elastic Deformation
• Elastic Deformation – a temporary shape change that is self-
reversing after the force is removed, so that the object returns to
its original shape.
• When stress is applied gradually, rocks initially respond by
deforming elastically.
 Plastic Deformation
• Plastic Deformation – is the permanent distortion that occurs
when a material is subjected to tensile, compressive, bending, or
torsion stresses that exceed its yield strength and cause it to
elongate, compress, buckle, bend or twist.
• When stress is applied the rock will permanently change its
shape.
 Brittle Deformation

• Brittle Deformation – generally, rocks respond to

stress in one of two ways: they break, or they bend.
• When the elastic limit (strength) of a rock is
surpassed, the rock either bends or break. Rocks
that break into smaller pieces exhibit Brittle
Deformation
 Ductile Deformation

• Ductile Deformation – a type of solid-state flow

that produces a change in the shape of an object
without fracturing.
• When rocks bend or flow like clay
 Factors That May Affect Rock Strength

• The Role of Temperature

• The Role of Confining Pressure
• The Influence of rock Type
• Time as Factor