The stress () acting on a plane is the force per unit area of the plane

(F/area). We will see in Chapter 3 that when referring to the stress at a

point in a body, a more complicated definition is needed. Deformation refers to
changes in shape, position, or orientation of a body resulting from the application
of a differential stress (i.e., a state in which the magnitude of stress is not the
same in all directions). More specifically, deformation consists of three
components (Figure 1.5): (1) a rotation, which is the pivoting of a body around a
fixed axis, (2) a translation, which is a change in the position of a body, and (3) a
strain, which is a distortion or change in shape of a body (Chapter 3). To visualize
a strain, consider the test crash of a car that is rapidly approaching a brick wall
(Figure 1.6a). In Figure 1.6b, the car and the wall have attempted to occupy the
same space at the same time, with variable success. Since the structural
integrity of the car is less than that of the wall, the push between car and wall
squashed the car, thereby resulting in a strain. In homogeneous strain, the strain
exhibited at one point in the body is the same as the strain at all other points in
the body. Cars are designed so that strain is heterogeneous, meaning that the
strain is not equal throughout the body, and the passengers are protected
from some of the impact. Bagaimana tentang translasi dan rotasi? Komponen
deformasi ini sedikit lebih susah untuk dikenali, tapi itu memang terjadi.
Contohnya,.struktur batuan yang telah bergerak sepanjang bidang sesar. For
example, a rigid body of rock that has moved along a fault plane clearly has
been translated relative to the opposing side of the fault (Figure 1.7a), and a
fault block in which strata are inclined relative to
horizontal strata on the opposing wall of the fault has clearly been rotated
(Figure 1.7b). Such rotations occur at all scales, as emphasized by work in
paleomagnetism, which demonstrates that continental blocks have been rotated
around a vertical axis as a consequence of shear along major strike-slip faults
and plate boundaries. In order to describe deformation, it is necessary to define
a reference frame. The reference frame used in structural geology is loosely
called the undeformed state. We cant know whether a rock body has been
moved or distorted unless we know where it originally was and what its original
shape was. Ideally, if
we know both the original and final positions of an array of points in a body of
rock, we can describe a deformation with mathematical precision by defining a
coordinate transformation. For example, in Figure 1.8a, four points (labeled m, n,
o, and p) define a may be able to describe strainsay, because of the presence
of deformed fossilsbut we have no absolute record of translations or rotations.
Then we may talk about relative displacement and relative rotation. A flat-lying
bed of Paleozoic limestone in the Midcontinent region of the United States was at
one time below sea level and, because of plate motion, it was formed at a
different latitude than today, but we cant immediately characterize these
movements.1 If,
however, we see a fault offset a limestone bed by 2 meters, we say that one side
of the fault has moved 2 m relative to the other side.