Shear zone. A shear zone is a very important structural discontinuity surface in the Earth's crust and upper mantle. It forms as a response to inhomogeneous deformation partitioning strain into planar or curviplanar high-strain zones. Intervening (crustal) blocks stay relatively unaffected by the deformation.
A computer-on-a-chip combines the microprocessor core (CPU), memory, and I/O (input/output) lines onto one chip. The computer-on-a-chip patent, called the microcomputer patent at the time, U.S. Patent 4,074,351, was awarded to Gary Boone and Michael J. Cochran of TI.
CPUs are made mostly of crystalline silicon, which can be sourced from common sand. First, though, that silicon must be purified. This is one of the most critical steps, because even a minute trace of impurities can cause chips to fail.