STRUCTURAL

GEOLOGY

Structural Geology is study of change in rock structure
(Deformation) due internal/external forces such as stress and

strain.

These forces applied due to tectonic activities of earth.

BASIC TERMINOLOGY
Strike and dip refer to the orientation or attitude of a geological
feature.

The strike line of a bed, fault, or other planar feature, is a line
representing the intersection of that feature with a horizontal
plane.

The dip gives the steepest angle of descent of a tilted bed or
feature relative to a horizontal plane, and is given by the
number (°-90°) as well as a letter (N,S,E,W) with rough direction
in which the bed is dipping.
The dip direction is the azimuth of the direction the dip as
projected to the horizontal (like the trend of a linear feature in
trend and plunge measurements), which is 90° off the strike
angle.


TECTONIC FORCES AND ROCK
BEHAVIOR

Rocks behavior during tectonic force is easily understand by
Stress-strain curves and its depends upon the temperature of
the Rock, direction of force, timing and the speed of the forces
applied on it.

 GEOLOGICAL FEATURE
Tectonic collision deforms crustal rocks producing geologic
structures.

• Folds
• Faults
• Joints and Fractures

FOLDS

Rocks are bent by crustal deformation into a series of wave-like
undulations called folds.

Most folds result from compression stresses which shorten and
thicken the crust.

FAULT

Faults are breaks in rock units were movement has occurred.
There are three major types of faults.

(1)Normal - Hanging wall (top surface) moves down relative
to the footwall (bottom surface), caused by tension (extension)

(2) Reverse - Hanging wall moves up relative to the
footwall, caused by compression (shortening).

Reverse faults have dips greater than 45° and thrust faults have
dips less then 45°.

(3) Strike-Slip - Movement along the fault is horizontal,
parallel to the strike of the fault plane. If, standing on one side
of the fault, the block on the other side is displaced to the right,
the fault is termed right-lateral. If the block on the other side is
displaced to the left, the fault is termed left lateral.


JOINTS

They are fractures with no offset.

Joints normally have a regular spacing related to either the
mechanical properties of the individual rock or the thickness of
the layer involved.

Joints generally occur as sets, with each set consisting of joints
sub-parallel to each other.

Joints form in solid, hard rock that is stretched such that its
brittle strength is exceeded (the point at which it breaks).

When this happens the rock fractures in a plane parallel to the
maximum principal stress and perpendicular to the minimum
principal stress (the direction in which the rock is being
stretched). This leads to the development of a single sub
parallel joint set. Continued deformation may lead To
development of one or more additional joint sets.


TYPE OF JOINTS

Joints can be classified into three groups depending on their
geometrical relationship with the country rock:

Strike joints - Joints which run parallel to the direction of
strike of country rocks are called "strike joints"

Dip joints - Joints which run parallel to the direction of dip
of country rocks are called "dip joints"

Oblique joints - Joints which run oblique to the dip and
strike directions of the country rocks are called "oblique joints".

UNCONFORMITIES

Unconformities are surfaces where erosion has occurred and
represent gaps in the geologic record. There are three types of
unconformities

Angular Unconformity - An unconformity in which the
upper and lower layers are not parallel

Disconformity - An unconformity in which the upper and
lower layers are horizontal

Nonconformity - An unconformity in which the upper
layers overlie metamorphic or igneous rocks

USE OF STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY IN
MODERN DEVELOPMENT

The study of structural geology has been of prime importance
in Economic Geology, Petroleum Geology and Mining Geology.

Folded and faulted rock strata commonly form traps for the
accumulation and concentration of fluids (Petroleum and
natural gas). Faulted and structurally complex areas are notable
as permeable zones for hydrothermal fluids fluids and the
resulting concentration areas for base and precious metal ore
deposits.

Deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and other metals, are
commonly located in structurally complex areas.

Structural geology is a critical part of Engineering Geology,
which is concerned with the physical and mechanical properties
of natural rocks. Structural fabrics and defects such as faults,
folds, foliations and joints are internal weaknesses of rocks
which may affect the stability of human engineered structures
such as dams, road cuts, open pits mines and tunnels for
various purpose.

Geotechnical risk, including earthquakes can only be
investigated by inspecting a combination of structural geology
and geomorphology. In addition areas of Karst landscapes
which are underlain by underground caverns and potential
sinkholes or collapse features are of importance for these
scientists. In addition, areas of steep slopes are potential
collapse or landslide hazards.

Environmental Geologist and hydrogeologist need to
understand structural geology because structures are sites of
ground water flow and penetration, which may affect, for
instance, seepage of toxic substances from waste dumps, or
seepage of salty water into aquifers.

Plate Tectonics is a theory developed during the 1960s which
describes the movement of continents by way of the separation
and collision of crustal plates. It is in a sense structural geology
on a planet scale, and is used throughout structural geology as
a framework to analyze and understand global, regional, and
local scale features.