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A Finite-Element
TectonicStressand Earthquakes
Gravitational
LawrenceJohn Barrows KevinMichaelPaul
Departmentof Geographyand Geology LoomisLaboratory of Physics
l l l i n o i sS t a t eU n i v e r s i t y University of lllinois
N o r m a l .l l l i n o i s6 1 7 9 0 - 4 4 0 0 U r b a n al .l l i n o i6s18 0 1- 3 0 8 0
ABS T RA CT 1976: Nlilici, 1975: Price, 197:l). To the extent that
Finit e- eler nent n ro d e l i n g o f i n c o mp re s s i b l e vi s- broad epi rogeni c upl i fts and dow nw arps are isost at i-
cous materials allorvs quantitative anall'-sis of dy- cal l y compensated, these verti cal di spl acement s also
namic gravitational tectonics. Students who result from gravity (Stacy, 1969). Even global plate
construct sr.rchmodels develop an intirnate appre- tectonics is usually attributed to some form of ther-
ciation of stress, strain. and strain rate in geologic mal convection involving the gravity-driven rise of
p ro ces s es ,and t he re s u l ts c a n b e u s e d to d e m on' hot. l ow -densi ty materi al and compl ementary sink-
strate basic gravitational tectonics in a manner ing of cool, high-density material (Verhoogen, 1980;
that can be easily understood by others. A modei W 1' l l i e, 1976). Jacoby (1973) descri bes a vari at ion of
of a plate tectonic spreading center shows the this process involving the rise of hot material directly
push from the ridge component of the plate tec- within the spreading centers and the sinking of cool
to n i c dr iv ing f or ce a n d h o ri z o n ta l e x te n s ional lithosphere in the subduction zones. Some of these
stress consistent with normal faulting and earth- gravitational tectonic processes are a little difficult to
quakes. A modeled subduction zone shorvs the understand, but in a general sense they can be dem-
pull from the trench component of the driving onstrated and analyzed with finite-element computer
force and stresses consistent with the distribution si mul ati ons.
of earthquake foci within some Benioff zones. In an effort to better understand gravity, stress, and
related phenomena, we have adapted finite-element
Keywords: Education - cornputer assisted; geo- modeling to the anal.vsis of gravity-driven tectonic
physics seismology; geophysics - solid earth; processes.Although the models are simplifred repre-
structural geology. sentations of complex geologic phenomena, they dem-
onstrate basic processes and provide some intriguing
insights into some of the subtleties. In this paper we
IN TRO DUCT I O N review the basic mathematics of stress, strain, and
Concepts of stress, strain, and strain rate have a strai n rate; descri be the fi ni te-el ement mo deling
va ri e ty of applic at i o n s i n th e g e o l o g i c a l s c i ences. technique; and present some of our generic models.
These include the development of metamorphic rock We also review the gravitational push associated
fabric, the flow of glaciers. the forrnation of geologic with a simple model of an oceanic spreading center
structures, the movement of tectonic plates, the ori- and the pull associated with a model of a subduction
gin of earthquakes. the nature of seismic q'aves, and zone. The orientation and magnitude of the modeled
the engineering of earth materials. Because of this gravitational tectonic stress are found to be consis-
wide appiicabiiity, geolory students need to develop tent with earthquakes within these environments.
a sound working familiarity rvith these fundamental
co n ce pt s . BACKGROUND
Geology students should also understand how tec- C oordi nates, Tensors, and C oordi nate
tonic stress originates within the earth. Some, if not Transformati ons
most, of this stress must ultimately come from gravity Stress refers to internal forces acting to deform a
acting on the earth's complex density structures. The material . Elastic strain refers to the recoverable elas-
importance of gravity follows from its ability to ex- tic deformation that results from stress. Strain rate
p l a i n m any t ec t oni c p ro c e s s e s a n d o u r fa i l u re to refers to the rate of development of permanent defor-
identify alternative mechanisms that produce large mati on and here i ncl udes al l of the pl asti c, v iscous,
stre ss es t hat c an a c t th ro u g h l a rg e d i s p l a c e ments. and dislocation processes that change the shape of
For example, tides produce stressesthat can act through geologic materials.
l a rg e d is plac em ent s , b u t th e i r i n te n s i ty i s l i mi ted, Stress, strain, and strain rate are physicai quan-
while thermal expansion can produce large stresses, tities whose effects are independent of the coordinate
but these are relieved by relatively small displace- system being used to describe a particular problem
ments. At a global scale, the basic premise of gravita- but w hose numeri c representati ons do depend on t he
tional tectonics is that all mass displacements in the coordi nate system. P hysi cal quanti ti es w hi ch p ossess
earth must ultimatel-v' result from gravity (DeJong and thi s general characteri sti c are referred to as tensor s.
S c h o l t e n ,1 9 7 3 ,p . i x ) . Stress, strain, and strain rate are most easily handled
Gra v it at ional t ec to n i c s tre s s h a s b e e n u s e d to ex- and understood i n thei r tensor representati on, so a
plain the ernplacement of salt diapirs (Nettleton, basi c understandi ng of tensors i s desi rabl e for t hose
1 9 3 4 ) a nd t he dev elo p m e n t o f th ru s tr' fo l d b e l ts o n the wishing to work with these fields. They can be studied
fl a n ks of m or r nt aino r.rs rrp l i fts (l l e n n i s o n , 1 9 7 6 ; El l i ntt. through their orthogonal principal components or
J o u r n a l o f G e o s c i e n c eE d u c a t i o n v, . 4 6 , 1 9 9 8 ,p . 7
A Finite-Element
ModelingApproachto Gravitational
TectonicStressand Earthquakes
through the Nlohr-circle representationl hou'ever.
th e se appr oac hesa re i n h e re n tl y l i rn i te d . Stu d ents are ftrrce F = F,e',- 4J, * fi: on the matc'r'ial on the nega-
b e tte r s er v ed if t t re y a re i n i ti a l l y i n tro d u c e d to the ti ve si de rvhere .Fr. F:. F3 are the vector com ponent s
mo re' u' er s at ile t ens o r-l rl g e b ra l o rn ra t. f
l'=l .r=1
where:
ors is the tensor in the original coordinate system,
,/
o,, is the tensor in the new coordinate system, and
F2
Conis a 3 by 3 square matrix whose elements are the
lengths of the unit vectors in the new coordinate sys-
tem projected onto the coordinate directions of the old
system. These are referred to as "direction ct.lsines."
lr
I'..
U s ing t ens or not a ti o n , p h y s i c a l q u a n ti ti e s such as J
stre ss and phy s ic al re l a ti o n s s u c h a s H o o k e ' s l arv of
l i n e a r elas t ic it y c a n b e e x p re s s e d i n g e n e ra l forms
th a t a r e independe n t o f a n y p a rti c u l a r c o o r di nate xl
syste m.
?l
l- |
-
2 [\ . 6 rJ,r
- i - | - i _
e . r i/ 2[i.r,
^ | 1.1/'
cous deformation rates. Elastic deformations include a r:rr /-.1
./=l L
free component that balances both the body force,qand
j
surface tractions and a locked-in component that exists ,v \ )- r l q . -.o,rp,;
by virtue of the shape of the material. The locked-in -
n -
Lr:r
'/
L-/L
elastic defonnation (and its associated stress) would be
present even if all body forces and applied tractions
were removed from the body.
Strain rate refers to the rate at rvhich non-recoverable *here:=+[;-ff)
E,i
deformation develops. The ph-vsical nature of elastic
o/=+[tr
strain and non-recoverable strain rate are profoundly
different. However, they both develop in response to
the same stress tensor and, in linear isotropic materials,
they both can be represented by similar mathematical
expressions. The following development initially per-
*]
Tlre terms r11, r.22,EsBare the change in length per
tains to elastic strain but is subsequently transformed
to relate to strain rate. uni t l ength i n X 1, X r, X 3 di recti on-s, respect ively.
Consider a material that undergoes a non-uniform These are extensional strains. The terms rt2, ELB,E2s
deforrnation (Figure 2) specified by the displacement represent shear strains of the materiai rn'here e12is
field one-hal f the change i n the angl e betw een l i nes in t he
nraterial that initiall-v paralleled the X1 and X2 coor-
i ( V , / ) = u Q t * L t . t 0+: . u \ A 7. dinate directions. The terms a)12,o)l-1,(r)23are rigid
bod"vrotations which can be ignored because they do
not represent deformati on of the materi al .
The differential displacementbetrn'een
tn'o locations Noting that the off-diagonal terms are symmetric
that are locatedat 1si: - eli), it can be seen that the deforrnation of the
rnateri al i s compl etei y descri bed by si x i ndependent
iandi+Lrisdl= d € , 6+, d E: 0 : + d i : 0 : components.
[r,, sr: rr_r
For a smoothly varying. continuous displacement -_l^'^'-
,,
U1; = | t, 1. U l. C:.1
fi e l d a nd pr ox ir nal loc a ti o n s , th e X , c o m p o n e n t of the
d i ffe re n t ial dis plac en te n t c a n b e e x p re s s e da s
I t :_. € -i3
Lt i;
J o u r n a lo f G e o s c i e n c eE d u c a t i o r ,v . 4 6 , 1 9 9 8 ,p . g
A F i n i t e - E l e m e nM
t o d e l i n gA p p r o a c h t o G r a v i t a t i o n aTl e c t o n i c S t r e s s a n d E a r t h q u a k e s
Stra in ( c hange in l e n g th p e r u n i t l e n g th ) i s di rnen- oi, + i(DSt + 2u r,, (Equation l)
si o nles s . I t s phy s i c a l e ffe c t i s i n d e p e n d e n t o [ the co-
o rd i nat e s y s t em in w h i c h i t i s e x p re s s e d ;th u s, strai n rvhere:
i s a s ec ond- or dert e n s o r. L i k e th e s tre s s te rl s o r. there oi j i s the stress tensor,
exists one particular coordinate system in u'hich the ). is the first Lame coefllcient.
co mponent s of t h e s tra i n te n s o r l o c a te d a l ong the O i s the di l ati on,
ir
ma i n diagonal ar e m a x i m u m s o r m i n i m u m s and the I t.( - I
is the Kronecker deita,
off-diagonal components are zeros. In this particular 'l{)r=,
I
coordinate system
!r is the shear modulus (or second Lame
00 coefficient), and
[u
', I frn,"*
I 'U is the strain tensor.
u,;=l 0 t:: 0
lo 0 r:: I
loj',"'fLt'in .J
Y oung' s modul us and P oi sson' s rati o are aiso used
to describe the elastic properties of a material.
Young's rnodulus is defined as the proportionality
These are usually referred to as the principle strains. constant relating axial stress to axial strain in an
The change in volume per unit volume is called unconfined elastic rod. Poisson's ratio is defined as
dilation (or compression if the change is negative). minus the ratio of the radial-to-axial strains in an
D i l a tion c an be exp re s s e d a s O = rtl * Ez z* r s3.Li ke unconfined elastic rod. Stretching the rod should in-
pressure, the numeric value of dilation is the same in crease its volume so the dilation is greater than zero
all coordinate systems (a tensor invariant). For lin- and P oi sson' s rati o i s betw een zero and 0. 5. Rocks
ear elastic materials, pressure is related to dilation typi cal l y have P oi sson' s rati o of about 0.3.
through the bulk modulus B where p = -BO. There are only two truly independent elastic con-
We initially referred to u as a displacement field. stants; thus. the various elastic moduli are interre-
If this represents an elastic displacement field, then l ated. S ome of these rel ati ons are gi ven below.
e;; is the elastic strain tensor. However, in viscous or p(3i+2p;
\bung's !{odulus n
plastic materials, the displacement field can change L
l+p
lvith time, and its time derivative represents a spa-
tr
tially continuous deformation rate. A deformation- Bulk N{odulus IJ
rate field would be expressed as 3(l-}i)
E
Shearlt{odulus 'u
Au Au, ^ Au. ^ Au^ ^ :(l+u)
- = -ct -f -G.t -f -tr-!
.
t"
0t0t'et-et P o r s s o n 'R
satio t)
2(i+p1
..tr
The strain-rate tensor is developedin a manner FirstLanleCoeffrcient
.UL
L
analogous to the developmentof the elastic strain (ltuXl-2u)
tensor. One distinction is that the dilation rate.
W e need to devel op consti tuti ve equati ons which
+ OT
must be satisfied by the displacement field every-
where within an elastic material or the displacement
is normally assumed to be equal to zero. The corre- rate fi el d everyw here w i thi n a vi scous mat er ial.
sponding viscous bulk modulus is infinite. These constitutive equations let us formulate the
Aside: The assumption of negligible uiscous dilation analysis of gravity-loaded density structures as
may not be correct. If the uiscous bulk modulus is boundary-value problems which can be solved with
finite-element models. The initial development will
finite, then earth materials can adjust their internal
uolumetric shape in a manner that balances the erist- be for an elastic deformation freld. This will sub-
ing pressure enuironment. Rocks which solidify at sequently be transformed into the constitutive equa-
depth and are su.bsequently exposed at the surface tion for a viscous displacement rate field.
u,ould then contain u locked-in pressure that tends to S tati c equi l i bri um (that i s, a si tuati on u'her e
there is no acceleration) requires that the gradient of
force the material apart causing spalling, exfoliation,
and physical disintegration. Locked-in pressure stress be balanced bv bodv forces. or
tuould olso balance the lithostatic pressttre that acts t ,O ; (6 ;t C ' O'' :'
I r-o. =0,
e cro s s pot ent ial f a u l t s u rfa c e s . F o u l ti n g o t depth C',Y,
-^'51
( .rt a'-rl
would then not require ttnusual poreLuater pressure
I
(for example, see Huhbert and Ruby, 1959 ctnd deep- w'here: g, is the body tirrce per unit volume
fo cu s ear t hquak es w o u l d n o t re q u i re u n u s u al faul t Substituting Hooke'slaw for the stress tensor and
zone conditions (for example, see Bolt, 1993). the definitionsfor dilation and stressvields:
Stress,Strain,and the Constitutive
Equations :3
A variety of equationsrelate elasticstrain to \rr
'U ) l l ;/ . At .nL t. ( / " - r ,1 1'i ; l l t^.. r ri . . i g, = 0
stre ss . F or linear (H o o k e a n ) a n d i s o tro p i c m a t eri al s, !_/ .-
o{
J o u r n a l o f G e o s c i e n c eE d u c a t i o h v, . 4 6 , 1 9 9 8 ,p . 1 0
A F i n i t e - E l e m e nMt o d e l i n gA p p r o a c ht o G r a v i t a t i o n aTl e c t o n i cS t r e s s a n d E a r t h q u a k e s
where indices follou'ing a conrrna irnpll' partial differ- /^\
lI irr, (It' I
e n ti a t ion. u i ; -
| | l .
(Equation 3)
Subs t it ut ing f o r th e fi rs t L a rn e c o e ffi c i e nt. the " ]ltl'r' r '-lt 'i ' I
\ .i I
shear rnodulus.and the bulk modulus vields:
rnd the stress tensor follot's from
r r ,
, , f1, , , ^ - i l . l - * . = 0 . (Equation 2) oij = 2!r(r-'HtJ,
+ eii) lEquation 4)
l;i |
initial shape
tjo*
gravitational
body force t,l t.
.Y l 4 time steps
t('
,'''a |t
E time steps
+--+
lenglh
20 km
symmetry
<_ J> 16 time steps
-r- -l--
{-- 1
tt | | Figure6. Cummufativeviscous dispfacements
due to
4/tl gllvitv foadingof a recta-ngutar,
one vear
ridgei i;;; i;;e step of
of igm,'cc,itre materiii'vis"olity
i/ / | "nd porse.
is 0.67x 1011 ",i:lsity
///t
using the new distortedmodel.In theseviscous
i'/ ,/ | the duration of the time step is orruy"ur.---*
moders,
stress is constant within each or tn. triangurar
I elementsof the finite-elementmodel. It
/" 2 is iound by
l- first calculating the strain rate rvithin each
element
a.ndthen applying the appropriate ,t."..-rirain
tion to the modeledstrain. Stress is displayedrela_
parr of rntersectingperpendicularii"u.- as a
d i s p l a c e m e nrta t e tiuf are the
tyo plincipal
I fength stressesin the prane of the cross sec-
tion. The third intermediatestress is perpendicurar
J zorm
l___--;
t'
-/
s kml vear
to the plane of the crosssectionand is not'or.pra1,ed.
compressivestresshas simple -qtraightii"".,-u"d
tensionalstress.isindicated'byin.r,r?irg ex-
Figure5. Viscousdispracement ;;lih circles
rates(or instantaneousat the ends of the rines.The iengtnr oi"tr,.-iirru, u""
efasticdispracementsi dueto giavity-rdiaiiig
s oi a visco_ proportionar to. th.e ampritude Jf the .t".., at the
efasticrectangularridge. same scaleas the key below the displa-l
*
grq-it.i'-loaded Stressis traditionaily divided into i'fiessltre
u recrangular ridge com-
fl9.i:l' and.,of
Iapse spread under its own we-ight.cuirulative
to col_ ponent,rvhich acts to changethe
volum; ;i;" mate-
viscous deformation (Figure 6) ."n 1. fo""J riai. and a sh,earc.otnponenT, which u.t, to"f.nange the
by .se- internal.ang-lss.Another n.a5,.
displacing each nocralpoinr-ti-tn" dis- gra'itational to display s;;;;, is as
1y_entyally.
p r a c e r n e n tr a t e a n d t h e n r e r u ' n i n g tectonicstressivhich i.'[..u JuG."a
the anarvsis the total stress minus
t h e l i t h o s t a t i c o v e r h u r d".e n
Journal of GeoscienceEducatiof,,v. 46, 1g9g,
p. 13
A Finite-ElementModeling Approach to GravitationalTectonic Stress and Earthquakes
di spl ay than the tradi ti onal di vi si on of to t al st r ess
F\rl i nto pressure and shear stress. Thi s format is used
i
1 4 - \ ' q h - l
I
e x c l u s i v e l y i n t h e s u b s e q u e n tm o d e l s .
free surface
lit hos E at ic
pressure
x
---------)
rtN
ii.l'rJ
\\N^r,
fixed surface
Length
m
0 50 100
free surface
)
Lithostatic
Pressure 1.0 gm/cc
--+
4>1
2.0 gm/cc
Length (km)
r------T------l
0 50 100
Figure 9, Oisplacemenlrates due to gravity loading of a positive densily structure. Gravity lends to flatten the ridge
and lower the net gravitationalpotential energy in the structure.
gravity-driven displacement rates are present. These would occur. Finally, note that if the lateral density
displacement rates are shown in Figure 9. Note that structure could be maintained by some unspecified
if the density structure could be maintained by some process,the displacement rates would be continuous
unspecifred process, the displacement rate would be and a diapir of more dense material can rise up into
continuous and the ridge along with the less dense overlJing less dense material. We will explore sorne
overlying material would continuously sink into a implications of this observation in a lat€r model of a
more dense underlying material. We will explore the plate tectonic spreading center.
implications of this ohservation in a later model of a
plate tectonic subductionzone. Viscous Detormation of a Simple Fold
For the next situation. the relative densities were Our third generic model is a simple fold formed by
reversed, with the upper material set at 2.0 gm/cc horizontal compression of a viscosity-stratified mate-
and the lower material at 1.0 gnicc. This is a density ri al . The model (Fi gure 11) has a 40-meter-t hick,
inversion whose deformation can be regarded as a more-viscous layer sandwiched between two 80-meter-
growing diapir, The gravity-driven displacement thick softer layers. Nlaterials are fully incompress-
rates were exactly identrcal to those rn Figure 9 ex- ible and the viscosity of the stiff layer is 100 times
cept their directions were reversed. that of the softer layers. The modeled stiff layer in-
Th e f inal s it uat ion i s s i mi l a r to th e s e c o n d e xcept itially has a slight bulge near the left side to initiate
that density everywhere increases with depth, and the fold. Without some initial perturbation from ex-
the ridge is represented solely by a lateral density actly plane la,vers, the computer model uniformly
v a ri a ti o n ( F igur e 10 ). T h e re s u l ta n t d i s p l a c e ment compresses the rnateri al rvi thout devel opi ng a f old.
rates were found to be exactly ident,ical to those of Nlaterial densities for this generic model were arbi-
t he se co nd s it uat ion. E q u a l i ty b e tw e e n th e d i s p l ace- trarily set at I gm/cc.
me n t ra t es in t hes e t w o mo d e l s d e mo n s tra te s th a t i n The base of the fol d model i s constrai ned ver t i-
in co mp res s ible v is c ou s ma te ri a l s th e g ra v i ta ti onal cally but is free to move in the horizontal direction,
t e cto n i c s t r es s and t h e re s u l ti n g d i s p i a c e m e n t rat.es rvhereas the ri ght si de i s constrai ned hori zont ally
re su l t fr om lat er al ( n o t v e rti c a l ) d e n s i ty v a ri a ti o ns. but free to move in the vertical direction. The left
Vertical density inversions are ineffective because if si de i s moved 10 rneters to the ri ght duri ng each t im e
t he ma te r ials wer e arra n g e d i n e x a c tl y p l a n e l a ;' ers. step. Fi gure 12 show s the resul tant deformat ion.
t he stres s would ev e ry w h e re e q u a l th e l i th o s tati c S ome observati ons are (1) a l ' i scosi ty contras t be-
overburden pressure and no shear deformation tween the la1'ers is required for frrld formation and
J o u r n a l o f G e o s c i e n c eE d u c a t i o f ,v, . 4 6 , 1 9 9 8 ,p . 1 5
A F i n i t e - E l e m e nM
t o d e l i n gA p p r o a c h t o G r a v i t a t i o n aTl e c t o n i cS t r e s s a n d E a r t h q u a k e s
length (kn)
oso r_00
Figure 10. Finite'elementmodel ot a lateraldensity structur€.The diplacementsare identicallo those
associatedwith
a negativedensity structure, showing that it is th; lateraldensity cdntrasts,not the vertical,ttrit creare
lion. the detorma-
,.,}.
vtg .
F rr2 '(
(l)q)
,,|'
E
(J
E
o'E .r' 'I". ,'l' ''
i |
sa 6a "l.t'
.2 u)
ob
Eq)
q)E
Xr{
IJr v
I .' I .* -^.--_
-
I Lengh(meters) A
(100: I viscosifycontrast, I gm/cc)
50 100
Spreadl.ng Cerrt.er
Lithostatic
Lithostatic
Pre ss ur e
Pressure
-)
+
-->
<_-
_+
<.-_
-----l>
<-
100
-120 0
Distance(km)
J o u r n a l o f G e o s c i e n c eE d u c a t i o f ,v, . 4 6 , 1 9 9 8 ,p . 1 8
A F i n i t e - E l e m e nM
t o d e l i n gA p p r o a c ht o G r a v i t a t i o n aTl e c t o n i c S t r e s s a n d E a r t h q u a k e s
100 bar
* ---- -=-l-'
. tension G-{-_-r
G---i---r+-{- -- C--+.
o--;+-++-e
.- 3.-
compression
*f=- .*-a
.-a-t ets-F-r
-t-
!
t a
Figure 16. Gravitationaltectonic stress beneath the ridge crest. The maxi mum stress i s a hori zontalextensionequal
to 65 bar and a shear stress equal to 30 bar. This stress is consistent with both normal faulting and earthquakesalong
the ridge crest.
J o u r n a l o f G e o s c i e n c eE d u c a t i o h ,v . 4 6 , 1 9 9 8 ,p . 1 9
t o d e l i n g A p p r o a c ht o G r a v i t a t i o n aTl e c t o n i cS t r e s sa n d E a r t h q u a k e s
A F i n i t e - E l e m e nM
ModeledTrench
{
Lithostatic
Pressure ---t
--------)
-)
€
3.00gm/ccon 2.92gm/cc
100kilometers
( +0.08gm/cccontrast)
Fioure 18. Finite element model of an oceanic subduction zone. The lilhosphere is 0.08 gm/cc laterally more dense
th;n the asthenosphere.Adiusting the bathymetry to remove vertical detormationol the sea lloor resulted in a
two-kilometer-deep trench at the indicated localion.
I
I
.l
1I
\
\
/"/ .
\
f
/-L
/t / ';7'
I
+
\' \ll ' | .{
I
,+ I.
-A--+- \
t7
-{)t-
1\-1--<{#
--' \
\\,
\t
\
Figure 20. Gravitationaltectonic stress within the subduction zone model. The
stress is a vertical compression in the upper part of the subducted plate and a
100 brr X horizontal extension in the lower part.
200brr X
4- tenllon
300 brr Y
n compresslon
f\. u,,
C
t-1., t..
\,\\
,d / ( . , , , r . r'.,
.,,,...\\9
\
'
i/ \\\,, ':
\.'"-.
'-..
.. \,-N(o
\_tz-'\t).o
- , ' ' \ "z, t \ir,:., \
t., -.--'
/ - '----\ '|n
u
J \'.
,// '-- _.-.
/ ///
The gravitational tectonic stress (Figure 20) stressexceeds100 bar and is contouredin Figure 21.
shows vertica-l compression within the upper side of This shear shess magnitude cor-respondsremarkably
the subducted plate and horizontal extension within rvell with the distribution of earthquake foci s'ithin
the lower side.The magnitude ofthe associatedshezLr some subductionzones.For example,compareFigure
J o u r n a l o f G e o s c i e n c eE d u c a t i o f lv, . 4 6 , 1 9 9 8 ,p . 2 2
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cal Res ear c h,v . 7 3 , p . 5 8 5 5 -5 8 9 9 . About the Authors
Jacoby, W.R.. 1970, Instabilitl,' in the upper mantle and Lany Barrows reeeived his PhD degree from
global plate movements:Journal of GeophysicalRe- the Colorado School of Mines in 1978. He worked
s e a r c hv, . 7 5 , p . 5 6 7 1 . as an environmental geophysicist until 1993 when
Jacoby,W.R., 1973,GravitationalInstability and plate tec-
he joined Illinois State University as an assistant
tonics in DeJong and Scholten, editors. Gravit)' and
professor of geolory and coordinator of a geohy-
tectonics:John Wilel'and Sons,NevvYork, p. 17-33.
Kasahara, K., 1981, Earthquake mechanics: Cambridge drolory graduate progrqp:t. He cunently teaches
University Press,Cambridge,248 p. physical geolory, exploration geophysics, environ-
Milici. R.C., 1975,Structural patterns in the southernAp- mental geology, and computer modeling of
palachians - Evidence for a gral"ity slide mechani-qm gfoundwater s;rstems.
fo r A lleghanian d e fo rm a ti o n : G e o l o g i c a l S o ci ety of Kevin Paul was a sophomore physics student
Amer ic a B ullet in ,v . 8 6 , p . 1 3 1 6 -1 3 2 0 . when he took physical geolory and began working
N e t t l e t o n , L . L . , 1 9 3 4 , F l u i d m e c h a n i c so f s a l t d o m e s : on the finite-element-modeling pr{ect as part of
American Associationof PetroleumGeologvBulletin. v. the I.S.U. Honors Program. He received hie BS
18, p. LI75-L204. degree in 1996 and is currently a graduate phys-
Press, Frank. 1969, The SuboceanicMantle: Science.v. ics student at the University of Illinois where his
1 6 5 ,p . 1 7 4 - 1 7 6 . academic focus is special relativity.
Price, R.A., 1973, Large-scalegravitational flow of su-
pracrustalrocks.southernCanadian Rockiesln DeJong
v. 45, 1998,p. 23
Educatiotr,
Journalof Geoscience