Harrah Mae M.

Casamayor

BSCE/2ND YR

BCE221 (4633)

IN A NUTSHELL

1. Explain the branches of geology in detail.

Geology has different branches which includes the following:

 Physical geology - focuses on the stresses that cause land deformation on the earth
like weathering and earthquakes. 
 Structural geology – a branch of geology that is concerned as to how and what caused
rock deformation. 
 Geomorphology – this is a study of the land formations, its characteristics, the land
formation’s structure, location, and the cause of its emergence. An example of these
landforms includes valleys, volcanoes, dunes, etc.  
 Historical Geology - from the word itself “history” means it focuses on the geologic
patterns of rocks from the past to understand the rocks existing now.
 Mineralogy – this branch of physics is concerned with the physical properties,
structure, and compositions of rocks made of minerals. Examples of these rocks are
Sedimentary, Igneous, and Metamorphic rocks.
 Paleontology – This branch of geology studies the life that existed from the past
through fossils as a basis. This study does not only focus on identifying which type of
species these found fossils were, but they also used this to mark patterns of life
evolutions.
 Environmental Geology – this study focuses on the relationship of human beings and
the Earth. It is concerned as to humans rely on Earth and the impact between this
interaction.
 Coal Geology – this branch of geology is concerned with the formation and
development of coal overtime which turned into one of the very useful resource from
Earth.

2. Explain the importance of physical, structural geology, and petrology in civil

engineering.

There are several fields in civil engineering, and each of these fields involves
the Earth and its features. It is essential to learn physical, structural geology, and
petrology as these types of studies was concerned with the Earth itself, which correlates
with civil engineers' work. Physical geology explains the events happening on Earth.
Like, for example, weathering, earthquakes, erosions, etc. On the other hand, structural
geology is a discipline that studies how deformed rocks exist due to the events on Earth
that caused this deformation. At the same time, petrology is a study of rocks that
explains the rocks' descriptive parts such as chemical composition, texture, structure,
 physical properties, etc. Learning all about these things will help civil engineers
identify or interpret the physical properties of rocks used in their field. With this
knowledge, civil engineers will have the capacity to determine which places are
suitable for building infrastructures, which rock materials are ideal for their projects,
and other construction purposes.

3. Define Engineering Geology. How the geological drawbacks play a significant role in
construction failures.

Engineering Geology is a scientific discipline that applies the knowledge of

geology to the works of an engineer. Examples for this application includes identifying
the stability of a slope or a location for the construction of roads, determining if such
an area is safe from natural calamities for constructing reservoirs, pipelines, and other
engineering works.

The inability to apply information from geology in engineering would cause

major geological drawbacks that would significantly affect the construction. To clearly
understand, an example of this was The Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was made on a three-
meter deep soil and built on clay soil. The tower stood straight in its early years, but the
structure began to lean after finishing its third floor. Building high structures on clay
soil were one of the engineers' mistakes who did the infrastructure. The clay soil was
not sturdy enough to hold the tower upright, resulting in lean sidewards. There was
evident neglect of geological tests here, causing it to have failures.

4. How do we know what is inside the Earth?

The inside of the Earth has three layers called the core, mantle, and crust.
Scientists were able to find out the interior of the Earth by using the information
gathered during earthquakes and computer modeling. They used the energy on Earth
called seismic waves to see through the inside of the Earth. They investigate the
seismic waves that travel in all directions outside the ground breaks at an earthquake.

5. Explain one example of invention or innovation that was used or is currently used to
collect more information on the continental drift theory and plate tectonics.

Technologies were adapted by scientists to investigate more about continental

drift and plate tectonics. An example of this is the seismometers. It is a device with a
pendulum-like mass mounted on a spring, which is sensitive to vibrations. Researchers
use seismometers to measure and record seismic waves, which helps to identify the
Earth's interiors.