SAN CARLOS PRIVATE UNIVERSITY

PROFESSIONAL CAREER IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

MAN IN FRONT OF RAINFALL

COURSE: ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY

TEACHER: ENG. RODRIGO MARTINEZ, Jaime

PRESENTED BY:
Rubén Okendo, VALERIANO TORRES
Jhan, VILCA MAMANI
IV
SHIFT: Night

PUNO–PERU
2016
SAN CARLOS PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
Professional School of Environmental Engineering

MOUNTAIN FORMATION

GENERAL CONCEPTS OF TECTONIC MOVEMENTS

Tectonism refers to all movements and their interrelation that

they affect the solid parts of the Earth and are caused by internal forces.
Tectonic movements produce folds, faults, and uplift or
sinking of rocks; they are classified into epeirogenic and orogenic

a) Epirogenic movements.- They are relatively slow movements that

they produce broad uplift or subsidence that affects large
portions of a continent; they are characterized by slanting or warping
from the surface. The involved sedimentary rocks are disturbed
only slightly due to these movements.

As a result of this type of movements, we have in Peru the

marine terraces of Lea that have been uplifted several hundreds of
meters above sea level and the extensive "tablazos of Piura."

b) Orogenic movements.- They are more intense movements than those

epirogenic and affect long and narrow areas. They produce strong
deformation in the rocks involved which gives rise to a topography
mountainous with a predominance of faults and folds. While they are
slow movements occur faster geologically than the
epirogenic. Earthquakes and volcanic activity are generally found
associated with this type of movements.

They are also known as mountain-forming movements or

"orogeny" < (from oros = mountain and genesis = formation of). An effect
next to us from the occurrence of this type of movements is the
Andes mountain range, which runs along the entire eastern edge
South American.

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY 1
SAN CARLOS PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
Professional School of Environmental Engineering

CRATOGENIC AND OROGENIC ZONES

a) Oratogenic zones.- Also called Platform or Shield. They are

stable areas that have not experienced significant movements of
elevation or descent for at least the last 500 million
years and that are generally located in the center of the
continents; the epigenetic movements when they occur
they happen in their margins and are of low intensity. The movements
orogenic events do not occur.

These areas are characterized by the sedimentary rocks that lie

about the foundation, they are of minimal thickness and because their topography is of

soft and uniform character

b) Orogenic zones.- They are elongated structural portions of the crust.

terrestrial of considerable dimensions, in which both the
orogenic movements such as the epirogenic reach their peak
intensity and where sedimentary rocks can have thicknesses
of some thousands of meters - they are strongly folded and faulted.
It is in these areas where the mountain systems are formed.
which can be found in both continental regions and
marinas. The igneous activity - plutonic or volcanic - is manifested in its
various forms.

MOUNTAINS

The mountains are impressive elevations of the earth's crust that

stand out distinctly from the surrounding terrain; they can be found alone or
grouped, when the grouping is in rows it constitutes what is called
a 'Mountain Range'. The term 'Mountain Range' is used for the
elongated groupings of several mountain ranges that have the same
direction and that are joined by their bases.

Mountains are formed as a consequence of tectonism or activity.

igneous, in a process that lasts several million years. During this time

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY 2
SAN CARLOS PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
Professional School of Environmental Engineering

the internal forces of the Earth are in constant competition against the
erosion that seeks the sea level.

As in the case of the Andes mountain range, which began its uplift in
the Tertiary (around 70 million years ago) and even today it still continues.

Classification of Mountains.

Considering certain striking characteristics that distinguish them, the mountains

they are classified into the following types: mountains by folding, by
block failure, volcanic and erosion.

a) Mountains by Plegamicnto.- They are mainly composed of

thick packets of sedimentary rocks that have undergone deformation
intense provoked by powerful endogenous compression forces
lateral; they abound in anticlinal and synclinal folds in their most
various forms and both normal and inverse faults.

b) Block fault mountains.- These are mountains formed by the

elevation of a large portion of the Earth's crust as a consequence
of the failure and due to the action of vertical tectonic forces: they
they are often limited by one or more normal strong failures
buzzing.

c) Volcanic mountains.- These are mountains formed by eruption.

of lava and pyroclastic materials. which accumulate together
about others as the different eruptions occur.

d) Erosion Mountains.- This term refers to mountains that have been

formed by erosion of extensive and high flat areas or plateaus
and that are characterized by their wavy or horizontal relief and because their
Rocks have not undergone deformation.

Although all mountains can be classified within any of

the mentioned types often also present to a greater or lesser degree
characteristics corresponding to those of the other types. In the case that the

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY 3
SAN CARLOS PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
Professional School of Environmental Engineering

Geological history is very complicated; they are known as 'Mountains'

complex.

GEOSYNCLINES ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION.

They are large elongated basins that have received abundant deposits.
sediments that have formed in certain areas due to deformation of the
crust

These basins can reach sizes of up to certain kilometers

long dozens of kilometers wide, with sediment accumulation of
order of 15.00 meters or more in thickness.

It is from the geosynclines that the large mountains are formed.

ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION

In order for a geosyncline to form, gradual occurrence is necessary.

concave arching of the Earth's crust with a simultaneous deposit of
sediments.

Initially, it was believed—based on the theory of isotherms—that the weight of

the sediments were enough in themselves to cause the sinking of the floor of
the basin, in such a way that there would always be room to receive new contributions
of sediments. This fact, however, only partially explains the
enormous thickness of the accumulated sediments that, as previously mentioned,

previously reaches even up to 1500 meters.

If a basin 300 meters deep is filling up with sediments, it

produced by isostasy a subsidence of its bottom of up to 720 meters below the
sea level. Moments when there will be no more room for sediments
due to the fact that the basin is silted up.

From what has been said, it can be deduced that the passage of sediments does not produce a

significant sinking in the floor of the geosyncline, but rather it is caused

mainly due to additional lateral compression forces of the
cortex, those that when acting cause the sediments to have a greater accumulation

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY 4
SAN CARLOS PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
Professional School of Environmental Engineering

from them. At some point in their development due to the intervention of

determinants forces, the geosyncline goes through a folding stage and
elevation.

The sediments as they occupy the deeper places of

geosynclines support greater pressure, infiltrate, and their temperature rises,
There comes a time when the rock strata can no longer withstand temperature and
such high pressures and they fold) thus beginning the elevation of the mountains
of folding).

In addition, the material located in the core of the geosyncline is compressed and to the

melting is injected upward forming batholiths and various types of

intrusive bodies.

The expansion of rocks buried deeply as they heat up.

or they force the overlying rock mass to be lifted. near the
At the edges of the geosyncline, the rocks are pushed upward and outward.
large thrust fault lengths, while in the central zone are
pushed upward to form an intermediate plateau.

FORMATION OF A GEOSYNCLINAL - increase of the student

The formation of a geosyncline and its subsequent evolution until it gives rise to
a mountain range is a very slow process that can last millions of
years and that takes place in different stages:

Initial phase or preorogenic. It is characterized by the accumulation of a large amount

of sediments, with a simultaneous sinking of the bottom; in the areas most

the materials deposited in the geosyncline are subjected to
high pressures and temperatures, initiating the phenomena of
metamorphism. Furthermore, during this phase volcanic eruptions occur.
submarine, with the lavas interspersed among the sediments.

Folding or synorogenic phase. The folding process begins.

sediments starting from the central areas that emerge forming a
mountain range that appears as an archipelago situated parallel to the
coast. The emission of basic volcanic lavas continues.

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY 5
SAN CARLOS PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
Professional School of Environmental Engineering

The folding increases and the mountain range continues to emerge.

deep metamorphism also increases and extends to the parts
higher. In some areas the temperature is so high that it occurs
fusion of materials and formation of magmatic rocks of the type of the
granites.

From the deepest areas of the folds, lavas can emerge.

of acidic character, different from those emitted in the previous phase.

Emergence phase or post-orogenic phase. The mountain range has emerged due to
complete in the place previously occupied by the geosyncline, and due to the
Erosion phenomena surface in some of the metamorphic rocks.
and magmatic forms formed during the process. Also as a consequence of the
erosion the mountain massif has lost weight and rises to recover the
isostatic equilibrium.

When the lateral pressures cease, the materials expand and cracks appear.
and fractures through which new magmatic emissions may emerge to the surface
deep, which give rise to volcanic emissions of basic lavas that can
persist for a long time after the formation of the chain
mountainous.

Final phase. Erosion is leveling therelievesand the orogen acquires rigidity

gradually becoming a craton

TENTATIVE THEORIES TO EXPLAIN THE ORIGIN OF MOUNTAINS

Among the main theories that attempt to explain the origin of mountains
we have the following:

THEORY OF THERMAL CONTRACTION

This theory holds that the initially molten Earth is cooling down by that
that its volume is constantly decreasing. It states that the Earth's crust that
It has cooled down because it reached its equilibrium temperature.
shrinking of the cooled inner layers, folding and wrinkling.

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY 6
SAN CARLOS PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
Professional School of Environmental Engineering

Supporting this theory are the findings of the English geophysicist.

Harold Jeffrey, which allow the division of the earth into three zones
concentric: inner (core) and outer (crust) that have fixed volumes
due to the fact that it does not lose heat. And the intermediary (mantle) that is cooling down due to

what shrinks as this happens.

THEORY OF CONVECTION CURRENTS

Also called 'theory of thermoconvection' because heat is the source of

energy. This theory assumes the existence of convection inside the
earth, in the areas between the base of the mantle and the core
(known as the mantle).

According to this theory, the temperature gradients in the mantle are what originate
density trends in the material that constitutes, thus causing the
currents. The hottest material rises due to its lower density and replaces the
material.

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY 7
PRIVATE UNIVERSITY SAN CARLÓS
Professional School of Environmental Engineering

THEORY OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT

It was Alfred Wegener who in 1920 gave this theory asserting that the current
continents are the final result of a series of cortical actions initiated
18 million years ago (Late Triassic) when a gigantic continent
developed in the Paleozoic which I call Pangaea, divided into two portions.

Laurasia in the northern hemisphere (consisting of Europe, Asia, and America).

North) and Gondwana in the southern hemisphere (composed of South America, Africa,
Oceania and India), separated by the Sea of Thetys, ancestral Mediterranean Sea.

This theory is supported by the notable fact that the continental outlines to
sides of the Atlantic Ocean mutually agree. Just as in the
structural, lithological, paleontological, mineralogical, etc. similarities that
it exists on both sides. It claims that drift or floating is possible because
The continents are mainly composed of granite rock.
specific lower than that of the basaltic rocks located more deeply
under the bark.

The structural, lithological, paleological, mineralogical similarities.

structures, etc., that exist on both sides. It states that the drift–floating
It is possible because the continents are mainly formed by

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY 8
SAN CARLOS PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
Professional School of Environmental Engineering

igneous rocks with a specific weight less than that of the located basaltic rocks.
deeper beneath the crust.

It argues that as the continental masses derived advanced.

its front edges were wrinkling due to the friction with the layers
underlying. In this way, folded coastal mountains are formed–
Andes case.

It is determined that even today, America continues to separate from Africa.

about three centimeters per year, at equidistant intervals and starting from the
Meso-Atlantic mountain range, while the former heads west,
the second heads east.

PLATE TECTONICS THEORY

In the concept of ocean floor expansion has been concatenated

currently with the theory of continental drift to build a new idea
the theory of plate tectonics.

The theory of ocean expansion suggests that the ridges align.

the relief of the seabed arranged in the form of mountain ranges are areas
of the ascent of the mantle material that spills with the 'Rif' pits
mid-ocean tectonics that occupies the axial ridge of the ridge, separating it into
two mountain ranges – on both sides. Originating the crust
oceanic, and that due to style, the ocean floors would be expanding

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY 9
PRIVATE UNIVERSITY SAN CARLOS
Professional School of Environmental Engineering

horizontally and the continents would separate equidistantly.

both sides of the ridges.

This expansion clearly implies that there must be a mechanism for

destruction of the Earth's crust that should necessarily occur upon
edge of the continents due to the collision or subduction of the oceanic crust
with these. The places where this destruction and reintegration occur are
flooded and narrow oceanic trenches, parallel to the continents with
young mountain range.

In summary, the destruction of the ridges and the expansion zones.

formed by the mid-ocean ridges where the crust is generated
oceanic based on mantle materials, and subduction zones
where the crust is destroyed or re-incorporated into it

Observing the destruction of the ridges and the subduction zones we can
to conclude that the lithosphere is composed of a series of tectonic plates of
large dimensions and thicknesses equal to or greater than 70 kilometers,
limited by the own ridges and the subduction zones it allows
suppose that the continents move mounted on the plates. They
It is considered that there are seven main plates and many other secondary ones.
It is currently known that tectonic plates have been functioning since
about 180 million years ago.

The tectonic plates move relative to each other, moving apart.

colliding or one going under the other - subduction - and to explain
the forces that drive these movements have developed a
application of the hot material current hypothesis of the
convection currents in the mantle. In this case, the ridges.
would correspond to areas of ascent of the hot material from the currents of
convection and the corresponding subduction zones for the ascent.

1
ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY
0
SAN CARLOS PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
Professional School of Environmental Engineering

11
ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY