Apparently rigid rock can indeed flow, given enough time. And with the appropriate applied forces of course.
In the south island of New Zealand where I live, the land has shrunk in an E - W direction by about 150cm over a length of about 200 km, in the 150 years of survey history. That is about 5mm per year per 100km. This is all plastic flow, and is building the local mountains higher.
If you look at a sedimentary sequence, you'll often see folds in the rock.
Hard crystalline rocks such as granite do not deform as easily. Sandstone and mud-stone are more easily deformed.
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The ability of a solid to flow is known as plasticity. Plasticity refers to the ability of solids to deform and flow under stress without rupturing or breaking. This property is important in materials science and engineering for shaping and forming processes.
A solid is a state of matter that does not have the ability to flow. It has a definite shape and volume, with its particles arranged in a fixed pattern.
Matter can exist in various states, including solid, liquid, and gas, which can determine its ability to flow. For example, liquids and gases have the ability to flow, while solids generally do not flow in the same manner. The ability of a substance to flow is influenced by factors such as temperature, pressure, and molecular structure.
The state of matter that has the ability to flow is the liquid state. In liquids, particles are close together but not rigidly fixed in place, allowing them to move past each other and flow.
Solid rock has the ability to flow over long periods of time under high temperatures and pressures, a process known as rock deformation or creep. This flow occurs on a microscopic scale due to the movement of mineral grains within the rock. The resulting deformation can lead to the folding, faulting, and other structural changes in the Earth's crust.
Viscosity is a term used to describe a fluid's ability to resist flow. Fluids with high viscosity flow more slowly, while fluids with low viscosity flow more easily.