Tectonism is ubiquitous on Earth, the fundamental process responsible for the te

Question

Tectonism is ubiquitous on Earth, the fundamental process responsible for the terrains we find familiar. In this exercise, you will visit a series of locations where distinctive geologic structures are exposed by geologic processes. Your task will be to identify these structures as best you can @eaglo Fig. 1. Google Earth image a transform fault in Montana In Google Earth, use the coordinates below to locate a variety of structures. This week the structures of interest are all faults. There are normal faults, reverse faults, and strike-slip faults (right and left lateral). Inspect each fault and try to determine the sense of offset.

Explanation / Answer

ANSWER:

Tectonics  is the process that controls the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. In particular, it describes the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents known as cratons, and the ways in which the relatively rigid plates that constitute the Earth's outer shell interact with each other. Tectonics also provides a framework for understanding the earthquakeand volcanic belts that directly affect much of the global population. Tectonic studies are important as guides for economic geologists searching for fossil fuels and ore deposits of metallic and nonmetallic resources. An understanding of tectonic principles is essential to geomorphologists to explain erosion patterns and other Earth surface features.

Extensional tectonics is associated with the stretching and thinning of the crust or the lithosphere. This type of tectonics is found at divergent plate boundaries, in continental rifts, during and after a period of continental collision caused by the lateral spreading of the thickened crust formed, at releasing bends in strike-slip faults, in back-arc basins, and on the continental end of passive margin sequences where a detachment layer is present.

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