Hmm... not sure really. This blog tracks my Open University studies and probably other stuff too. Started off as just my 'geology and ecology' year - hence the title. But seems to have carried on into 'oceanography and more geology'. Ho hum.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Anticlines and synclines

More terminology today - sheesh! Been wrestling with anticlines and synclines... and I'm not sure if I'm winning or not. Basically, if you think of a wave, anticlines are the crest of the wave, and synclines are the trough.
So when you see anticlines exposed at the surface, after erosion, the oldest rock bed will be in the centre, at the apex of the fold, with beds of younger rock dipping away from the apex. Like in this lovely little diagram - if yellow is the youngest rock and blue the oldest.

With synclines, the opposite happens - the youngest rocks will be at the apex of the fold, moving outwards towards older beds, and the beds will dip inwards, towards the centre of the fold. Yellow is still the youngest rock and blue the oldest.

Sounds so simple when you say it like that, doesn't it?

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