What best describes how the behavior of rocks changes when they become deeply buried and placed under high levels of heat and pressure?

Question

Gerald Levine

Chemistry

21 April, 17:02

What best describes how the behavior of rocks changes when they become deeply buried and placed under high levels of heat and pressure?

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Answers (1)

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Camron May · Answer 1

They become ductile and deform plastically

Explanation:

When rocks are buried by the materials up to a greater depth, then the confining pressure increases significantly. This results in the ductile behavior of the rocks at such depth. These rocks are present in the ductile region where the depth is about more than 20 to 30 km. Here the rocks are subjected to extremely high pressure and temperature conditions, which favors the transformation of rocks into more higher-grade metamorphic rocks. It is also enhanced due to the geothermal gradient.

Under such high pressure and temperature, the rocks show the behavior of plasticity, where the rocks undergo bending, buckling as well as they tend to flow, and there occurs low strain rate, resulting in the permanent deformation of rocks.

Thus, the rocks become ductile and deform plastically at such conditions.