page_title: Anticline
section_title: Formation processes
hierarchical_section_title: Anticline / Formation processes
caption_attribution_description: English: An Anticline near Bcharre, Lebanon. Photo taken in May 2005. Not home 01:03, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
context_page_description: 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 a anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is the location where the curvature is greatest, and the limbs are the sides of the fold that dip away from the hinge. Anticlines can be recognized and differentiated from antiforms by a sequence of rock layers that become progressively older toward the center of the fold. Therefore, if age relationships between various rock strata are unknown, the term antiform should be used.
  The progressing age of the rock strata towards the core and uplifted center, are the trademark indications for evidence of anticlines on a geologic map. These formations occur because anticlinal ridges typically develop above thrust faults during crustal deformations. The uplifted core of the fold causes compression of strata that preferentially erodes to a deeper stratigraphic level relative to the topographically lower flanks. Motion along the fault including both shortening and extension of tectonic plates, usually also deforms strata near the fault.
context_section_description: Anticlines are usually developed above thrust faults, so any small compression and motion within the inner crust can have large effects on the upper rock stratum.  Stresses developed during mountain building or during other tectonic processes can similarly warp or bend bedding and foliation (or other planar features).  The more the underlying fault is tectonically uplifted, the more the strata will be deformed and must adapt to new shapes.  The shape formed will also be very dependent on the properties and cohesion of the different types of rock within each layer.
  During the formation of flexural-slip folds, the different rock layers form parallel-slip folds to accommodate for buckling.  A good way to visualize how the multiple layers are manipulated, is to bend a deck of cards and to imagine each card as a layer of rock stratum. The amount of slip on each side of the anticline increases from the hinge to the inflection point.
  Passive-flow folds form when the rock is so soft that it behaves like weak plastic and slowly flows.  In this process different parts of the rock body move at different rates causing shear stress to gradually shift from layer to layer. There is no mechanical contrast between layers in this type of fold.  Passive-flow folds are extremely dependent on the rock composition of the stratum and can typically occur in areas with high temperatures.
caption: Anticline near Ehden, Lebanon
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