I immediately thought of the construction possibilities that flexibility would give the itacolumites and then read how people had thought of it already. One never thinks of rubbery rock! Suppose all rocks on Earth were semi-flexible- How much would that change our geology?
Well, most rocks are indeed "semi-flexible" - on geologic time scales. That's how everything from granite to limestone ultimately can make folds. Granted most rocks can only flex into folds when they are confined at some depth in the subsurface, and most would (do) break brittlely near the surface (faults rather than folds, or faults, eventually, after gentle folding). That's why this material is unusual - it flexes under surface conditions, and on time scales of seconds rather than millions of years.
I immediately thought of the construction possibilities that flexibility would give the itacolumites and then read how people had thought of it already. One never thinks of rubbery rock! Suppose all rocks on Earth were semi-flexible- How much would that change our geology?
Well, most rocks are indeed "semi-flexible" - on geologic time scales. That's how everything from granite to limestone ultimately can make folds. Granted most rocks can only flex into folds when they are confined at some depth in the subsurface, and most would (do) break brittlely near the surface (faults rather than folds, or faults, eventually, after gentle folding). That's why this material is unusual - it flexes under surface conditions, and on time scales of seconds rather than millions of years.
Cool.
Love that stuff!
Love explanation!