GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Anticlines and synclines are examples of structures caused by compression. Folds like these form from compression. This anticline (up-fold) and syncline (down-fold) are in limestones in the Valley and Ridge of Giles County. Lateral shear stress pushes rocks horizontally past each other in two opposite directions.

Detailed explanation-2: -Anticlines and synclines are caused when tectonic plates move together and compress the earth’s crust between them. Having nowhere else to go, the crust rises into folds much like a rug would if the ends were pushed together. Tectonic plates are the massive slabs of land that make up the earth’s crust and upper mantle.

Detailed explanation-3: -Compression of the crust forms anticlines, which are landforms that curve upward and form an “A” shape; and synclines, which sink downward and form an “S” shape. These two features resemble the folds in rock layers. They may form mountains and valleys due to weathering and erosion that take place over time.

Detailed explanation-4: -Anticlines and synclines most commonly form in sections of the crust that are undergoing compression, places where the crust is being pushed together.

Detailed explanation-5: -An anticline is a structural trap formed by the folding of rock strata into an arch-like shape. The rock layers in an anticlinal trap were originally laid down horizontally and then earth movement caused it to fold into an arch-like shape called an anticline.