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Are Faulting and earthquakes are examples of brittle behavior?
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∙ 10y ago
yes
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
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Where do faults occur on earth and why?
Faulting is a type of brittle deformation; rocks crack and then move along those cracks. Deep inside Earth rocks are hotter and softer, so they will deform in a ductile manner, stretching and flowing like taffy.
How did the Chile earthquake happen?
Chile is on the western coast of the continent of South America, this is the boundary between two tectonic plates, the Nazca plate (which is an oceanic plate) and the South American plate (a continental crustal plate). In this region the Nazca plate is moving eastwards towards the South American plate. The dense oceanic crust of the Nazca plate is being forced under or subducted beneath the less dense continental crust of the South American Plate. The Nazca and South American plates are converging at a rate of approximately 80mm / year. This causes stress to accumulate resulting in elastic strain which stores elastic potential energy. Once the stress exceeds the strength of the rocks in the crust a brittle failure occurs, causing in this case thrust faulting to occur. The stored elastic strain energy is released in the form of seismic waves. This form of thrust faulting usually results in the most powerful earthquakes and in the past Chile has experienced a magnitude 9.5 earthquake caused by the same tectonic plate motions - the most powerful ever recorded. Please see the related question for further information.
Why is the lithosphere able to fracture into an earthquake?
The lithosphere is brittle. A brittle material is one that loses cohesion when it fails allowing fractures to propagate through the material. The lithosphere is brittle because it is at too low a temperature and pressure to fail or deform in a ductile manner.
Is pencil considered hard or brittle?
hard
What is non-ductile?
Materials like gold and copper can be bent; they are malleable or ductile. Materials that are brittle and break easily are non-ductile. Conventional concrete is non-ductile (and breaks under stress of earthquakes)(or other tensile challenge). Metal (steel) mesh or synthetic fibers are added to concrete to make it more ductile.
What are examples of things that are brittle?
peanut brittle
What is a rupture of geological fault?
Faulting is when rocks deform in a brittle fashion and break, and then movement occurs along these fractures.
What are the two ways rocks deform?
Faulting and folding (also known as brittle and ductile deformation). Please see the related links.
What the two ways rocks permanently deform?
Faulting and folding (also known as brittle and ductile deformation). Please see the related links.
What are thrust fault mountains?
Rock that is too brittle to fold under heat and pressure, will break, calledthrust faulting. When older rock ends up on top of younger rock as a result of thrust faulting, the result is the formation of fault block mountains.
What are the examples of myriapods?
Brittle star is an echinoderm
Why are earthquakes described as earth shattering?
Earthquakes occur due to brittle failures in the Earth's lithosphere. Brittle failures occur where fractures propagate through the material. So an earthquake is literally the consequence of fracturing or shattering a part of the brittle outer layer of the earth. It could also be argued that they "shatter" the lives of the people affected by them.
What are the examples of brittle?
glass, ceramics, bones, etc.
What are the two ways rocks permanently deform?
Faulting and folding (also known as brittle and ductile deformation). Please see the related links.
Where do you find earthquakes?
Earthquakes occur in the lithosphere, which is the crust and solid brittle portion of the upper mantle. The lithosphere is broken into several pieces known as tectonic plates. Earthquakes most commonly occur at or near the boundaries between these plates.
Why is the faulting most likely to occur near the earth surface and not deep within the earth?
There are two reasons. First, faulting is a form of brittle failure, which generally occurs at lower temperatures. Deep in the crust, where it is very hot, rocks tend to undergo ductile failure, deforming like taffy. Additionally, most materials resist breaking at higher overall pressure.
What would happen to folds in rocks below the Earth's surface if compression were applied too quickly?
They would fail in a brittle rather than ductile manner causing fracturing or faulting to occur rather than folding.
