(60).Folds.

Can you see the anticline at Anticline Overlook?

Moving around the desert Southwest, we see a lot of folds. This view is from the Anticline Overlook at Canyonlands National Park. Look up what an anticline is below and then see if you can spot this one. Remember you may only be able to see part of it in the photo. All of the folds (not the basin) pictured below are found in the arid Southwest.

Folds

Rocks deforming plastically under compressive stresses crumple into folds. They do not return to their original shape. If the rocks experience more stress, they may undergo more folding or even fracture.

You can see three types of folds.

Monocline

A monocline is a simple bend in the rock layers so that they are no longer horizontal (see Figure below for an example).

[Figure 1]

At Utah's Cockscomb, the rocks plunge downward in a monocline.

What you see in the image appears to be a monocline. Are you certain it is a monocline? What else might it be? What would you have to do to figure it out?

Anticline

Anticline: An anticline is a fold that arches upward. The rocks dip away from the center of the fold (Figure below). The oldest rocks are at the center of an anticline and the youngest are draped over them.

[Figure 2]

Anticlines are formations that have folded rocks upward.

When rocks arch upward to form a circular structure, that structure is called a dome. If the top of the dome is sliced off, where are the oldest rocks located?

Syncline

A syncline is a fold that bends downward. The youngest rocks are at the center and the oldest are at the outside (Figure below).

[Figure 3]

(a) Schematic of a syncline. (b) This syncline is in Rainbow Basin, California.

When rocks bend downward in a circular structure, that structure is called a basin(Figure below). If the rocks are exposed at the surface, where are the oldest rocks located?

[Figure 4]

Basins can be enormous. This is a geologic map of the Michigan Basin, which is centered in the state of Michigan but extends into four other states and a Canadian province.

[Figure 5]

Some folding can be fairly complicated. What do you see in the photo above?

Summary

Rocks deform by compressive stress into folds.

A monocline is a simple bend.

In anticline, rocks arch upward. A three-dimensional anticline is a dome.

In a syncline, rocks arch downward. A three-dimensional syncline is a basin.