Confining Pressure Recall from Chapter that pressure, like temperature, increases with depth as the thickness of the overlying rock increases Buried rocks are subjected to confining pressure, which is much like water pressure, where the forces are applied equally in all direction he deeper you go in the Ocean, the greater the confining pressure The same is true for rock that is buried. Confining pressure "squeezes" the materials in Earth's crust. Therefore, rocks that are deeply buried are
"held together" by the immense pressure and tend to flow, rather than fracture