A shear zone is a very important structural discontinuity surface in the Earth's crust and upper mantle. It forms as a response to inhomogeneous deformation partitioning strain into planar or curviplanar high-strain zones. Intervening (crustal) blocks stay relatively unaffected by the deformation. Due to the shearing motion of the surrounding more rigid medium, a rotational, non co-axial component can be induced in the shear zone. Because the discontinuity surface usually passes through a wide depth-range, a great variety of different rock types with their characteristic structures are produced.
Read more about Shear Zone: General Introduction, Rocks Produced in Shear Zones, Sense of Shear, Width of Shear Zones and Resulting Displacements, Strain Softening and Ductility, Occurrence and Examples of Shear Zones, Importance
Famous quotes containing the word zone:
“In the zone of perdition where my youth went as if to complete its education, one would have said that the portents of an imminent collapse of the whole edifice of civilization had made an appointment.”
—Guy Debord (b. 1931)