Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Laboratory studies show that simple compression and relaxation of rock samples under realistic conditions does not cause fracturing. Exfoliation joints are most commonly found in regions of surface-parallel compressive stress, whereas this theory calls for them to occur in zones of extension.
Exfoliating slabs of granite, on Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, USA. Exfoliating granite is a granite undergoing exfoliation, or onion skin weathering (desquamation).The external delaminated layers of granite are gradually produced by the cyclic variations of temperature at the surface of the rock in a process also called spalling.
Thermal stress weathering is an important mechanism in deserts, where there is a large diurnal temperature range, hot in the day and cold at night. [14] As a result, thermal stress weathering is sometimes called insolation weathering, but this is misleading. Thermal stress weathering can be caused by any large change of temperature, and not ...
Exfoliation joints are sets of flat-lying, curved, and large joints that are restricted to massively exposed rock faces in a deeply eroded landscape. Exfoliation jointing consists of fan-shaped fractures varying from a few meters to tens of meters in size that lie sub-parallel to the topography. The vertical, gravitational load of the mass of a ...
Exfoliation (or onion skin weathering) is the gradual removing of spall due to the cyclic increase and decrease in the temperature of the surface layers of the rock. Rocks do not conduct heat well, so when they are exposed to extreme heat, the outermost layer becomes much hotter than the rock underneath causing differential thermal expansion ...
Without the requisite rainwater, no weathering will occur to produce carbonic acid from gaseous CO 2. Furthermore, at the outer edge, CO 2 may condense, consequently reducing the greenhouse effect and reducing the surface temperature. As a result, the atmosphere would collapse into polar caps. [5] Mars is such a planet. Located at the edge of ...
If a foliation does not match the observed plunge of a fold, it is likely associated with a different deformation event. Foliation in areas of shearing, and within the plane of thrust faults, can provide information on the transport direction or sense of movement on the thrust or shear. Generally, the acute intersection angle shows the ...
Columnar jointing in Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland Columnar jointing in the Alcantara Gorge, Sicily. Columnar jointing is a geological structure where sets of intersecting closely spaced fractures, referred to as joints, result in the formation of a regular array of polygonal prisms (basalt prisms), or columns.