Department of mining

Engineering ,UET Lahore

 Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
FOLDS
Folds are undulations or waves in the rocks of the
earth.
OR
Rocks are bent by crustal deformation into a series
of wave-like undulations called folds.
MECHANISM OF FOLDING
1. Flexure Folding: folds result from
compressional stresses or tectonic stress slowly
applied to rocks will cause them to bend or couple
The rocks undergo permanent strain and are ductile.
2.Flow Folding/Incompetent Folding:
Where
Where competent beds are absent or plastic due to High
tempt and Confining pressure at depths. Mass move
under pressure as a viscous liquid rather then solid.

3. Shear Folding/Slip Folding:

Results from minute displacements along closely

spaced fractures.
 Flat rocks Folded rocks

Tectonic stress
+
lots of time

P006281 P007923

SIZE OF FOLDS
Continental Folds are hundred of miles long
Width ranges from fraction of inches to miles
CHARACTERISTICS OF FOLDS
Parts of a fold
Limbs / Flanks- The
two “sides” or sloping
sides of a fold.
Fold axis or hinge line -
A line connecting points
of maximum curvature
along a fold.
Axial plane - An
imaginary surface that
divides a fold approx
symmetrically.
 Anticline / Antiforms:a fold that is convex in the
direction of youngest beds.
Syncline / Synforms - a fold that is convex in the
direction of oldest beds.

Nose of fold: The place on map where a bed shows the

maximum curvature.
The attitude of axial plane is defined by dip and strike .
Anticline
Syncline
ANTICLINES AND SYNCLINES ARE COMMON IN
FOLD AND THRUST BELTS RELATED TO MOUNTAIN
BELTS
Crest: The line along the highest part of the fold
or on the same bed. e.g c-c’
Crestal Plane: The Surface formed by all the
crests.
Trough: The line along the lowest part of fold or
on the same bed. e.g t-t’
Trough Plane: The plane connecting trough lines.
COMMON TYPES OF FOLDS
Depending on their orientation, anticlines and
synclines can be described as
1. Symmetrical Folds: Where axial plane is vertical and
two limbs have same amount of dip
2. Asymmetrical Folds: Where axial plane is not vertical
and two limbs dip at different angles
 3.Overturned Folds: Axial plane is inclined both
limbs dip in in same direction, usually at different
Angles.
4. Recumbent Folds: Axial plane becomes horizontal
due to intense folding and lower limb becomes nearly
flat
 5. Isoclinal
Folds: Have parallel limbs which dip
at same angle and in same direction

6.Plunging Folds: Folds having inclined axis.

7. Anticlinorium: Large anticline having number of
secondary folds of smaller size
8. Synclinorium:

Large syncline having number of secondary folds of

smaller size

9. Fan Folds: Both limbs are overturned. In anticline

both limbs dips towards each other and in syncline
away from each other.
10. Chevron Folds: Folds which are sharp and
angular at anticlinal and syncline.

11. Monocline/Homocline: Horizontal strata show

local steepening of dip
 13. Drag Fold: Minor folds developed within the body
of a weaker beds, which lie between stronger beds.

Developed during major folding and faulting, when

competent bed slide past incompetent bed.
FOUR GENERAL CLASSES OF FOLDS BASED ON INTRALIMB
ANGLE ARE: GENTLE, OPEN, TIGHT, AND ISOCLINAL.
OTHER SHAPES OF FOLDS ARE INDICATED IN FIG.AS
ROUNDED, ANGULAR, CHEVRON, AND BOX.
14. Open Folds: Folding is open and beds meet and
bends at obtuse angle.

15. Close Folds: Tight folding causes the beds to flow

plastically towards crest and trough causing thinning
and thickening of beds.
16. Dome and Basin: When strata is folded in two
directions at right angle to each other, each anticline is
converted into “Dome” and each syncline is converted
into “Basin”.
SOME MAP SYMBOLS USED FOR FOLDS
Importance of Folds
 Faults

Ruptures along which the opposite walls have

relatively moved past each other.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
Parts of faults:
Strike: Trend of horizontal line
in the plane of fault.
Dip: Angle between the
horizontal surface and the plane
of fault.
Hanging wall: The block above
the fault.
Footwall: The block below the
fault.
Hade: Angle between the fault
plane and vertical plane that
strikes parallel to the fault.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
Fault line/Fault trace/Fault
outcrop: The intersection of fault
with the surface of earth.
Fault Plane: Fracture surface.
Fault Slip: Amount of movement
results from faulting indicated by
points originally in contact. Total
displacement is known as net slip.
Zone/Shear Zone: Several parallel
faults occur close together, the
resulting zone of broken and
crushed rock.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
Fault Scarp: Feature on the surface
of the earth that looks like a step
caused by slip on the fault.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
 Classification
A.Geometrical classifications
1.Classification based on rake of net slip
i.Strike-slip fault
ii.Dip-slip fault
iii.Diagonal-slip/Oblique fault
2.Classification based on attitude of fault to
attitude of beds
i.Strike fault
ii.Dip fault
iii.Bedding fault
iv.Diagonal-slip/Oblique fault
v.Longitudinal fault
vi.Transverse fault Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
3.Classification based on fault pattern
i.Parallel faults
ii.En-echelon faults
iii.Peripheral faults
iv.Radial faults
4.Classification based on value of dip of fault
i.High angle faults (>45 )
ii.Low angle faults (<45 )
5.Classification based upon apparent movement
i.Normal fault
ii.Reverse fault

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
 Types of fault

There are different types of fault. These can be

classified on the basis of the direction of
displacement relative to the orientation of the fault
plane at the time of displacement.
Major Types:
Dip-slip faults
Strike-slip faults
Oblique-slip fault:

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
Normal Fault:
Tensional forces causes hanging
wall moves down relative to the
footwall or vice versa.
Accommodate lengthening or
extension of the crust.
Exhibit a variety of scales.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
 Horst & graben

Grabens/Rift Fault: Downthrown

blocks bounded on either side
by non-parallel normal faults.
Horsts: Up thrown blocks
bounded on either side by non-
parallel normal faults.
Half-Grabens: Parallel faults on
either side of a block develop,
but the block becomes tilted
instead of dropping down as in a
graben.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
Detachment Faults:
Fault plane is at less than 30
degrees
Movement is more horizontal
than vertical due to the low angle
of the fault plane.
Develop due to tensional stress

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
Reverse faults:
Compressional forces causes
hanging wall moving up relative to
the footwall.
Fault plane is oriented between
30 and 90 degrees (measured
from horizontal)
Movement has both a horizontal
and vertical component.
Accommodate shortening of the
crust.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
Thrust Faults:
Fault plane is at less than 30
degrees
Movement is more horizontal than
vertical due to the low angle of the
fault plane.
Develop due to compressional
stress.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
 Strike –slip faults
Dominant displacement is horizontal and
parallel to the strike of the fault

5.Right-lateral/ Dextral:
As you face the fault, the block on the
opposite side of the fault moves to the right

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
Left-lateral/ Sinistral:
As you face the fault, the
block on the opposite side of
the fault moves to the left

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
7.Transform fault:
Large strike-slip fault that cuts
through the lithosphere.
Accommodates motion between
two large crustal plates.
Where such faults form a plate
boundary e.g The San Andreas
fault

8.Transcurrent
fault/Transverse thrust:
A strike-slip fault characterized by a
steeply inclined surface.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
Oblique-slip Fault:
Oblique-slip faulting suggests both dip-
slip faulting and strike-slip faulting.
It is caused by a combination of shearing
and tension of compressional forces

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
10.Parallel Faults:
Series of faults running
more or less parallel to one
another and all hading in the
same direction.

11.Step Faults:
Parallel faults having downthrown in
the same direction, gives step like
arrangement.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
Radial faults:
Having radial pattern.
13.Peripheral Faults:
Curved, more or less
circular like outcrops on level
surface.
14.Enechelon Faults:
Comparatively small faults
that overlap each other.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
Features characteristic of
fault planes
Slickensides:- Polished and
striated surfaces that result
from friction along fault
plane.
Gouge:- rock along a fault
may be pulverized to a fine
grained material, which looks
and feel like clay.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
Breccia:-angular and sub-
angular fragments of various
sizes.a
Horses:- Block caught along a
gravity fault
Mylonite:- dark and fine
grained microbreccia of
sedimentary and volcanic rocks
that looks like streaked or platy
structure.

Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
 Department of mining
Engineering ,UET Lahore
 Fractures along which there has been no
appreciable displacement parallel to the
fracture and only slight movement normal to
the fracture plane.
 May vary from fractions of inches to several
meters long.
1. Joints occurs in all types of rocks.
2. When stress exceeds their brittle
strength.
3. By contraction due to cooling.
4. Compression and tension during earth
movements
5. Tectonic stresses on rock mass.
6. Continued deformation may lead to
development of one or more additional
joint sets.
 Joint Set/par ralel:
 Joints that share a
similar orientation in
same area.
 Joint system:
 Two or more joints
sets in the same area.
 Systematic joints :-
 Planer and have a sub
parallel orientation and
regular spacing.

 Nonsystematic joints:
 Non Planer joints do not
share a common
orientation and those
highly curved and
irregular fracture
surfaces.
 Tension joints
 Shear joints
 Tension Joints
 Formed by tensional forces.
Relatively open have rough
and irregular surfaces.
 Columnar Joints:
 Columnar jointing results
when basalt or (flows, dikes,
sills and volcanic necks )
cools from the outside in
causing shrinkage of magma
and the development
hexagonal joints.
 Longitudinal Joints:
 Joints in the anticline

 Shear Joints
 By shear forces causing
folding and faulting
 Conjugate Joints:
 paired fracture systems,
formed in the same time, and
produced by tension or shear.
Many of them intersect at an
acute angle which will be
bisected.
 Strike joints:
 Parallel to strike of rock
 Dip joints:
 Parallel to dip of rock
 Oblique joints:
 Joint run in a direction
that lies between the
strike and dip directions
of rock beds
 Bedding Joints:
 parallel to the bedding planes in
rocks
 Fractures will be terminated at the
contact between the two rocks.
 Master Joints:
 Joints usually run in two directions nearly
right angles along dip and strike one that
is more strongly developed and extends
longer distance.
 Mural Joints:
 Granite shows three set of joints mutually
at right angles, which divides rock mass
into more or less cubical blocks
 Sheet Joints:
 Those joints form sub parallel to the surface
topography. These joints may be more observed in
igneous rocks. These joints formed by tension cracks
during cooling of rocks thought that they form by
unloading overlong time when erosion removes large
quantities of the overburden rocks.
 Plumose joints:
 Joints that have feathered
texture on their surfaces,
and from this texture the
direction of propagation
of joints can be
determined.
 Veins:
 Filled joints and shear fractures and the filling
range from quartz and feldspar (pegmatite
and aplite) to quartz, calcite and dolomite.
 Importance of studying joints and shear
fractures
 Joints and fractures serve as the plumping
system for ground water flow in many area
and they are the only routes by which ground
water can move through igneous and
metamorphic rocks.
 Joints and fractures porosity and permeability
is very important for water supplies and
hydrocarbon reservoirs.
 Joints orientations in road cuts greatly affect
both construction and maintenance. Those
oriented parallel to or dip into a highway cut
become hazardous during construction and
later because they provide potential
movement surfaces.