HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Syncline
OR:
Syncline on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an
anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is t ...
is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimposed smaller folds. Synclines are typically a downward fold (synform), termed a synformal syncline (i.e. a trough), but synclines that point upwards can be found when strata have been overturned and folded (an antiformal syncline).


Characteristics

On a geologic map, synclines are recognized as a sequence of rock
layers Layer or layered may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Layers'' (Kungs album) * ''Layers'' (Les McCann album) * ''Layers'' (Royce da 5'9" album) *"Layers", the title track of Royce da 5'9"'s sixth studio album * Layer, a female Maveri ...
, with the youngest at the fold's center or ''hinge'' and with a reverse sequence of the same rock layers on the opposite side of the hinge. If the fold pattern is circular or elongate, the structure is a basin. Folds typically form during crustal deformation as the result of compression that accompanies orogenic mountain building.


Notable examples

* Powder River Basin,
Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...
, US *
Sideling Hill Sideling Hill, also Side Long Hill, is a long, steep, narrow mountain ridge in the Ridge-and-Valley (or Allegheny Mountains) physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains, located in Washington County in western Maryland and adjacent Wes ...
roadcut along Interstate 68 in western
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
, US, where the Rockwell Formation and overlying Purslane Sandstone are exposed * Forêt de Saou syncline in Saou, France * The Southland Syncline in the southeastern corner of the
South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
of New Zealand, including The Catlins and the Hokonui Hills * Strathmore Syncline, Scotland * Wilpena Pound, Flinders Ranges,
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
* Fort Valley, Shenandoah County, Virginia * The
Picuris Mountains The Picuris Mountains are a mountain range in northern New Mexico. They are considered a subrange of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Geography The mountains are located to the east of Dixon and surround Picuris Pueblo to the west, north, and e ...
of
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
, US, contain an example of an overturned syncline, the
Hondo Hondo may refer to: Places * Rio Hondo (disambiguation), the name of several locations, derived from the Spanish word for "deep" Canada * Hondo, Alberta, an unincorporated community United States * Hondo, New Mexico, an unincorporated com ...
Syncline.


Gallery

File:Sideling Hill cut MD1.jpg, Syncline exposed in
Sideling Hill Sideling Hill, also Side Long Hill, is a long, steep, narrow mountain ridge in the Ridge-and-Valley (or Allegheny Mountains) physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains, located in Washington County in western Maryland and adjacent Wes ...
roadcut File:Provo Canyon syncline.jpg, Snow-dusted syncline in Provo Canyon,
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
File:Syncline.JPG, Road cut near Fort Davis, Texas showing a syncline File:Rainbow Basin.JPG, Rainbow Basin Syncline in the
Barstow Formation The Barstow Formation is a series of limestones, conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones and shales exposed in the Mojave Desert near Barstow in San Bernardino County, California.Dibblee, T.W., Jr. (1967). Areal Geology of the Western Mojave Des ...
near Barstow, California File:SynclineCalico.JPG, Syncline in the lower parking lot of
Calico Ghost Town Calico is a ghost town and former mining town in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert region of Southern California, it was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town, and was later ...
; the ductile folding is at the base and the brittle is above. File:Roundtop Hill outcrop1.jpg, Synclinal fold in
Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleoz ...
Wills Creek Formation Wills Creek Formation is a mapped Silurian bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. Description The Wills Creek is defined as a moderately well bedded greenish-gray shale containing local limestone and sandstone zon ...
or Bloomsburg Formation at
Roundtop Hill (Maryland) Roundtop Hill is a mountain in Washington County, Maryland, southwest of the town of Hancock. The elevation at the summit is . Geography Unlike surrounding mountains, Roundtop Hill is not part of an extended ridge system, and is only about in le ...
File:Bear Valley east wall.jpg, East wall of
Bear Valley Strip Mine The Bear Valley Strip Mine is an abandoned coal strip mine located in Coal Township, Northumberland County, to the southwest of the town of Shamokin, Pennsylvania. It lies in the Western Middle Field of the Anthracite belt in the Ridge-and-Va ...
, near Shamokin, Pennsylvania File:Upheaval Syncline campsite.jpg, Syncline in Navajo Sandstone, Upheaval Dome,
Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their ...
, Utah File:The Catlins.jpg, Satellite view of part of New Zealand's Southland Syncline, showing parallel folds running northwest–southeast File:Wilpena Pound - Aerial View.jpg, Wilpena Pound, a synclinal basin in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia


See also

*
Anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is t ...
* Homocline * Monocline * Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians


References

Structural geology {{Geology-stub