This chapter outlines what is known about the pressures and temperatures in the Earth. We start by discussing pressure and see that although rocks near the surface are strong, they become weak and flow plastically at depth. As a result, reasonable pressures can be calculated by treating them as extremely viscous liquids; we refer to this pressure as lithostatic. Exceptions to this approximation occur if fluids are released by metamorphic reactions or melt is generated at rates that exceed the rate at which surrounding rock can deform.
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