·         Folding and faulting has had a significant impact on all landscapes.

·         In Ireland we can see the impact of these processes in the Munster Ridge and Valley province, whilst we can see an example of faulting in Lough Neagh and the Lower Bann valley.

·         Folding is caused by convection currents within the earth’s mantle that move plates around the crust.

·         Sometimes when these plates collide, rocks are crumpled up and said to be folded.

·         Most folding occurs when layers of sedimentary rock are compressed by horizontal forces.

·         This causes the layers to be pushed upwards to form anticlines or downwards to form synclines.

·         Rocks can be folded at depth when they are subjected to great heat and pressure which allows the rock to bend without breaking (e.g. Loughshinny, North Co. Dublin)

·         Different types of fold are created depending on the strength and direction of the pressure on the rock.

·         The Chevron Fold is an example. They are folded very tightly, meaning the angle between the limbs is very sharp

·         Diagram

·         Faulting is the process that occurs when rocks crack or fracture due to great stress from earth movements.

·         They are classified according to the type of movements that takes place. The three main faults are Normal (result of tension), Tear (one block moves sideways or horizontally relative to one another) and Reverse (result of compression).

·         Rocks contain many small fractures or joints, but where a lot of movement has happened along a fracture it’s called a fault.

·         Faults occur in parallel sets because the stress that produces them operates over a large area.

·         Landforms associated with faulting include the Great African Rift Valley and Graber Rift Valley.

·         These are formed when crust is stretched and a block of land slips between sets of parallel faults.

·         Diagram