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Introduction
• Rheology is the study of the flow of material.
• In Other words: The relation between stress and
strain with time.
• Do rocks flow?
• Geologically speaking and due to the
availability of time, rocks are able to flow. Not
in the same physical meaning, but with the final
result, which can be achieved by rocks.
Strain Rate
Strain rate (ė) is the time interval it takes to accumulate a
certain amount of strain; and it is defined as the elongation
per time.
• ė = e/t = l/l0t t in second
Example: 30% finite longitudinal strain (|e|= 0.3) is achieved
in an experiment that lasts one hour (3600 s). The
correspond strain rate is ė = 0.3/3600 = 8.3 x 10–5/s
Now let’s see what happens to the strain rate when we change
the time interval, but maintain the same amount of finite
strain of 30%.
t=1 day (86.4 x 103 s) ė =3.5 x 10–6/s
t=1 year (3.15 x 107 s) ė =9.5 x 10–9/s
t=1 m.y. (3.15 x 1013 s) ė =9.5 x 10–15/s
Q: What is the strain rate of a 200 km long
thrust sheet moving 50 km in 1 m.y.?
Answer: Now we can calculate the strain rate
ė = e/t = l/l0t = 50/200 x 3.15 x 1013
ė = 0.8 x 10-14/s
Initial position
Moderate
Viscosity
• Videos of pahoehoe
flows, Hawaii
Relative Viscosities
Substance Viscosity (Pa s)
Air (at 18 oC) 1.9 x 10-5 (0.000019)
Water (at 20 oC) 1 x 10-3 (0.001)
Canola Oil at room temp. 0.1
Motor Oil at room temp. 1
Corn syrup at room temp. 8
Pahoehoe lava 100 to 1,000
A'a lava 1000 to 10,000
Andesite lava 106 to 107
Rhyolite lava 1011 to 1012
Strain Rate of the Mantle
• We can make an estimate of the strain rate
for the mantle using a viscosity of 1021 Pa.s
and a differential stress of 50 MPa