GEOL 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Shear Stress, Supercontinent Cycle, Supercontinent
Document Summary
Supercontinent = an accumulation of continents: pangea is only the most recent. Formation and break-up of supercontinent termed a wilson cycle: about every 500 million years. Super continents given names (dates back to billions of years ago: up to 6 supercontinents (pangea most recent) Currently half way through wilson cycle: east coast will be subducted (volcanos, going to look like the west coast) Occur as linear belts all over earth: rips and crush zones. Mountains formed by stress applied to rocks: extension (most common, compression (most visible, shear. Stress produces a strain in the rocks (fig 10. 4) Joint: a fracture in rock along which there is no appreciable (kind of visible) movement: page 304, occur in sets that differ in direction, can form through. Most commonly form parallel and perpendicular to applied stress. Faults: fractures along which there is appreciable movement: 3 types of stress = 3 types of fault.