Earth Crust Deformation Caused by stresses in the crust

Opposing forces Creates Strike slip faults as one side of the fault slips past the other. (side swipe) Can occur at transform plate boundaries. Crust is not created or destroyed and there is no up or down movement. Ex: San Andreas fault

Tension Can cause stretching of crust until it breaks and creates faults Causes normal faults where the foot wall moves up in relation to the hanging wall Creates fault block mountains such as the Canadian rockies and the Grand Teton Mountains in western Wyoming Can cause volcanoes especially at divergent plate boundaries. Ex: Iceland Can occur at divergent plate boundaries.

Compression Forces pushing together can cause folding of rock layers – Anticlines are the top of the fold; synclines are the bottom of the fold. Creates reverse faults where the hanging wall moves up in relation to the foot wall. Creates folded/ faulted mountains like the Himalayas or the Appalachian Mountains when 2 continents collide Can create volcanoes near a subduction zone. Ex: Alaskan volcanoes; Japanese and Phillipine volcanoes. Can occur at convergent plate boundaries.

Uplift and Subsidence Created by vertical forces within Earth’s crust. Uplift is when a region of Earth’s crust is elevated due to mountain building or due to springing back when a weight is removed from Earth’s crust Can create monocline folds. Subsidence, or sinking can occur when rocks cool because cool rocks generally contract. It can also occur at divergent rift zones when blocks of crust slip down on normal faults