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Subject CIV3247 Geoengineering
1.1
 Topic 1 : Geology and Geoengineering
Department of Civil Engineering, Monash UniversityEdition Date: 1/2000
 
TOPIC 1GEOLOGY AND GEOENGINEERINGTABLE OF CONTENTS
PREVIEW....................................................................................................................2Introduction..............................................................................................................2Objectives.................................................................................................................2PREFACE....................................................................................................................2Origin...................................................................................................................2Geology and Pedology..........................................................................................2Geomorphology, landforms and landscapes..........................................................3Particulate Mechanics...........................................................................................3GEOLOGY AND CIVIL ENGINEERING...................................................................3CONSTRUCTIONAL AND DESTRUCTIONAL PROCESSES..................................4Emerged Coastal Plains............................................................................................4Tectonic landforms...................................................................................................4Volcanoes and Intrusions..........................................................................................5Zones of Deposition..................................................................................................6Metamorphism..........................................................................................................7Weathering...............................................................................................................7Mass wasting............................................................................................................8Erosion.....................................................................................................................9Karsts.......................................................................................................................9GEOLOGICAL CYCLE...............................................................................................9GEOLOGICAL TIME..................................................................................................9REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING.............................................................10REVIEW QUESTIONS..............................................................................................10
 
Subject CIV3247 Geoengineering
1.2
 Topic 1 : Geology and Geoengineering
Department of Civil Engineering, Monash UniversityEdition Date: 1/2000
 
PREVIEWIntroduction
All infrastructure and mining projects interact with the ground. The behaviour of soiland rock and their interaction with the infrastructure are therefore vitally important tothe design, maintenance, safety and life of the project. Properties of these materials canvary immensely. They exhibit a wide range of behaviour and as a result each major sitemust be treated in some ways as unique. The design of foundations, tunnels, retainingwalls, slopes etc are therefore site specific. Experience gained from other sites must beapplied with care and with a thorough knowledge of soil behaviour.A great deal of information relating to the engineering behaviour of rock and soil can bedetermined through knowledge of the material constituents and of its formation. Topic1 looks at the many geological processes that form rock and soil. As will becomeapparent, water has a significant influence on these processes and on the engineeringproperties of rock and soil.
Objectives
•
To gain knowledge of the various constructive and destructive geological processesthat lead to rock and soil formation
•
To understand the roles played by the crust, mantle and core and plate tectonics
•
To obtain an appreciation of geological time and a knowledge of the relative ages
•
To appreciate the importance of geology to civil engineering construction
PREFACE
Origin
Rocks can be igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic in origin. Their properties areclosely related to the minerals that make up the rock, their formation process andweathering condition. Rocks are generally in their strongest state when fresh, andgradually become weaker and softer the greater the weathering. All rock depositscontain joints, faults and other discontinuities that significantly change the behaviourand the properties of the mass. These discontinuities dominate the behaviour of therock mass.Most soils are formed by physical and chemical weathering of rocks, the process eitherhappening
in-situ
, leading to residual soils, or involving transport processes, by air, iceor water, followed by deposition in a range of environments, e.g. aeolian, lacustrine,marine, alluvial, glacial. The properties of a soil reflect the material of its origin, itsmode of transportation, its depositional environment and its subsequent history.
Geology and Pedology
Geology is the scientific study of the earth's crust. Pedology is the scientific study of soil (Gk. Pedon - ground), not necessarily for utilitarian purposes.
 
Subject CIV3247 Geoengineering
1.3
 Topic 1 : Geology and Geoengineering
Department of Civil Engineering, Monash UniversityEdition Date: 1/2000
 
Geomorphology, landforms and landscapes
Geomorphology is the study of the classification, description, nature, origin anddevelopment of present landforms. A landform is any physical form or feature of theearth’s crust having a characteristic shape and produced by natural causes; e.g. plain,mountain, slope, dune, plateau. All together, the landforms make up the surfaceconfiguration of the earth. Landscape is an assemblage of landforms, generally that canbe seen in a single view. Landscapes are being transformed continuously byconstructional and destructional processes.
Particulate Mechanics
One feature that differentiates soil and rock from other engineering materials is the non-continuum nature of the medium, considered at any scale. All ‘soil and rock’, comprisean assemblage or skeleton of individual particles or grains and their behaviour undermechanical stress cannot be described adequately by conventional theories of continuum stress analysis (although it is often used). In addition, the interaction of theparticles with water further complicates their mechanical behaviour, and for these twomain reasons a new branch of engineering mechanics, known as geomechanics - hasdeveloped as the scientific basis of geotechnical engineering.Unfortunately, soil and rock are often considered as two different groups of materials,rather than a continuous spectrum. This has seen the development of two almostseparate disciplines in geomechanics : rock mechanics and soil mechanics, both withtheir own separate classification systems, testing procedures, analysis and designmethods. This separation can cause considerable problems when designing in weatheredmaterials that lie somewhere between a "soil" and a "rock". In this subject we willattempt to marry the two approaches. The terms soil and rock will be retained forclarity.The different disciplines have emerged as rock is seen to be essentially an intactmaterial that is intersected by discontinuities (joints, faults etc). Although the intactrock blocks are made up of grains, they are generally strongly cemented together. Asthe strength of these bonds is (usually) significantly stronger than the strength of thediscontinuities, it is the discontinuities that control behaviour of the rock mass. As aresult, most rock mechanics problems deal with the mechanics of discontinua. Soil onthe other hand is a particular material with only at best very weak bonds between grains.Although discontinuities may exist, they tend to be of a similar strength to the soil. Soilmechanics therefore deals with continuum mechanics, treating the soil as a (usually)homogeneous assemblage of particles.
GEOLOGY AND CIVIL ENGINEERING
Engineering structures rest on/in the earth’s surface. This surface (landscape)comprising soil and rock is continuously being modified by various constructional anddestructional processes. An understanding of the processes and resulting landforms angive us some vital clues to the nature and properties of the underlying materials.Civil Engineering design can accommodate almost any ground conditions which arecorrectly assessed and understood.
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06 / 01 / 2010This doucment made it onto the Rising List!
tn07j8966

Very informative and use full for practicing Geo-technical consultants. Kindly send me permission for download.

reply01 / 30 / 2010
alexiscolina

please send me a copy

reply08 / 25 / 2009
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