Fracture (geology)

A fracture is any separation in a geologic formation, such as a joint or a fault that divides the rock into two or more pieces. A fracture will sometimes form a deep fissure or crevice in the rock. Fractures are commonly caused by stress exceeding the rock strength, causing the rock to lose cohesion along its weakest plane. Fractures can provide permeability for fluid movement, such as water or hydrocarbons. Highly fractured rocks can make good aquifers or hydrocarbon reservoirs, since they may possess both significant permeability and fracture porosity.

Brittle deformation

Before beginning, it is important to understand that fractures are all forms of brittle deformation. There are two types of primary brittle deformation processes. Tensile fracturing results in joints. Shear fractures are the first initial breaks resulting from shear forces exceeding the cohesive strength in that plane.

After those two initial deformations, several other types of secondary brittle deformation can be observed, such as frictional sliding or cataclastic flow on reactivated joints or faults.

Fracture

A fracture is the separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacement discontinuity surfaces within the solid. If a displacement develops perpendicular to the surface of displacement, it is called a normal tensile crack or simply a crack; if a displacement develops tangentially to the surface of displacement, it is called a shear crack, slip band, or dislocation.Fracture strength or breaking strength is the stress when a specimen fails or fractures.

The word fracture is often applied to bones of living creatures (that is, a bone fracture), or to crystals or crystalline materials, such as gemstones or metal. Sometimes, in crystalline materials, individual crystals fracture without the body actually separating into two or more pieces. Depending on the substance which is fractured, a fracture reduces strength (most substances) or inhibits transmission of light (optical crystals). A detailed understanding of how fracture occurs in materials may be assisted by the study of fracture mechanics.

Fracture (2004 film)

Fracture is a 2004 New Zealand film written and directed by Larry Parr and based on the novel by Maurice Gee. The film is set in Wellington and stars Kate Elliott, Jared Turner and Australian John Noble. The film was met with positive reviews and was the second highest grossing local film at the New Zealand box office in 2004 behind In My Father's Den.

Plot

A young solo mother (Elliott) loves her son and his needs are foremost, but she still has room in her heart for her very broken brother (Turner), even as her fundamentalist mother cruelly rejects her. But when the brother is responsible for a woman's broken neck, during his burglary of her house, families are changed as crisis amplifies and at times the young mother seems to be the only adult.

Cast

Tagline

A single crack can shatter everything.

Production

The film had originally been set for a 2003 release but was delayed during production by the dissolution of director Larry Parr's production company Kahukura Productions.

Bone fracture

A bone fracture (sometimes abbreviated FRX or Fx, F_x, or #) is a medical condition in which there is a damage in the continuity of the bone. A bone fracture can be the result of high force impact or stress, or a minimal trauma injury as a result of certain medical conditions that weaken the bones, such as osteoporosis, bone cancer, or osteogenesis imperfecta, where the fracture is then properly termed a pathologic fracture.

Although broken bone and bone break are common colloquialisms for a bone fracture, break is not a formal orthopedic term.

Signs and symptoms

Although bone tissue itself contains no nociceptors, bone fracture is painful for several reasons:

Geology

Geology (from the Greek γῆ, gē, i.e. "earth" and -λoγία, -logia, i.e. "study of, discourse") is an earth science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change. Geology can also refer generally to the study of the solid features of any celestial body (such as the geology of the Moon or Mars).

Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth by providing the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates. Geology is important for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation, evaluating water resources, understanding of natural hazards, the remediation of environmental problems, and for providing insights into past climate change. Geology also plays a role in geotechnical engineering and is a major academic discipline.

Geologic materials

The majority of geological data comes from research on solid Earth materials. These typically fall into one of two categories: rock and unconsolidated material.

Country rock (geology)

Country rock is a geological term meaning the rock native to an area. It is similar and in many cases interchangeable with the terms basement and wall rocks.

The term is used to denote the usual strata of a region in relation to the rock which is being discussed or observed.

The following are areas in geology when the term country rock is used;

Geology (journal)

Geology is a publication of the Geological Society of America (GSA). The GSA claims that it is the most widely read scientific journal in the field of earth science. It is published monthly, with each issue containing 20 or more articles, and an annual total of 1166 pages.

One of the goals of the journal is to provide a forum for shorter articles and less focus on pure academic research type articles.

See also

References

External links