Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In geology and materials science, a deformation mechanism is a process occurring at a microscopic scale that is responsible for deformation: changes in a material's internal structure, shape and volume. [1] [2] The process involves planar discontinuity and/or displacement of atoms from their original position within a crystal lattice structure.
Cracks in rock do not form smooth path like a crack in a car windshield or a highly ductile crack like a ripped plastic grocery bag. Rocks are a polycrystalline material so cracks grow through the coalescing of complex microcracks that occur in front of the crack tip. This area of microcracks is called the brittle process zone. [4]
The change in the grain size and orientation in the rock during the process of metamorphism is called recrystallization. For instance, the small calcite crystals in the sedimentary rocks limestone and chalk change into larger crystals in the metamorphic rock marble. [13]
Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith ) is subjected to temperatures greater than 150 to 200 °C (300 to 400 °F) and, often, elevated pressure of 100 megapascals (1,000 bar ) or more, causing profound physical or chemical changes.
Further, because metasomatism is a mass transfer process, it is not restricted to the rocks which are changed by addition of chemical elements and minerals or hydrous compounds. In all cases, to produce a metasomatic rock some other rock is also metasomatised, if only by dehydration reactions with minimal chemical change.
Solidified lava flow in Hawaii Sedimentary layers in Badlands National Park, South Dakota Metamorphic rock, Nunavut, Canada. Geology (from Ancient Greek γῆ (gê) ' earth ' and λoγία () ' study of, discourse ') [1] [2] is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over ...
A cataclastic rock is a type of fault rock that has been wholly or partly formed by the progressive fracturing and comminution of existing rocks, a process known as cataclasis. Cataclasis involves the granulation, crushing, or milling of the original rock, then rigid-body rotation and translation of mineral grains or aggregates before ...
The convention for analysing structural geology is to identify the planar structures, often called planar fabrics because this implies a textural formation, the linear structures and, from analysis of these, unravel deformations. Planar structures are named according to their order of formation, with original sedimentary layering the lowest at S0.