Stereographic Projection

and its use in solving structural problems

Dr. Mohamed Abdel Wahed

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 I- Plotting the projection of a line

Draw the projection of a line that has the following orientation :

The direction (= trend = bearing ) of the line = N60W .

Angle of plunge = 40 .

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 II- Plotting the projection of a plane
Given : strike - true dip - direction of dip

Draw the projection of a plane of the following orientation :

Strike = N40E . Dip = 60 SE .

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 III- Plotting the projection of a plane
Given : true dip - direction of dip

Draw the projection of a plane of the following orientation :

Dip = 60 , direction of dip = S30W

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 IV- Determination of the true dip and strike
Given two apparent dips

- A bedding plane has the following apparent dips :

1- The angle of apparent dip = 40 on a direction = N70E.
2- The angle of apparent dip = 60 on a direction = N30W.
Determine the angle of true dip and the direction of strike of the bedding plane.

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 V- Determination of the apparent dip in a certain direction
given the true dip and strike

A bedding plane has the following attitude : Strike = N60E , dip = 50 SE.
Determine the angle of apparent dip in the direction S30W.

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 VI- Intersection of two planes

The two limbs of a fold have the following attitudes :

The first limb (A) strikes N20E and dips 60 SE.
The second limb (B) strikes N60E and dips 50 NW.
Determine the orientation of he fold axis (trend and plunge).

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 VII- Rotation of data on the stereographic projection
An unconformity surface separates between two groups of beds; Group (A) above
the unconformity surface and group (B) below. The attitude of these beds are :
Group (A) : strikes N25W and dips 30 SW.
Group (B) : strikes N60E and dips 40 SE.
Fined the attitude (strike and dip) of beds (B) at the time beds (A) was horizontal.
Answer: Strike = N31°E , Dip = 51°SE

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VIII- Determination of the stress regime given the orientation of two conjugate
joints or faults

Two conjugate faults have the following orientations :

1- The first faults : strikes N40E and dips 60 SE.
2- The second fault : strikes N80W and dips 50 NE.
Determine the orientation of the stress regime responsible for the development of
these structures.

1- Draw the projection of the faults as

two arcs. The point of intersection of
the two planes is the location of
(σ 2). Determine the trend and plunge
of (σ 2).

2- Determination of (σ 1):
a- Rotate (σ 2) to the horizontal axis of
the net.
b- Plot the arc of the plane normal to
(σ 2).

c- Bisect (‫ )ﻧﺼﻒ‬the angle between

the two planes (A and B), i.e. the
angle C-D, and locate the position
of (σ 1).
Determine the trend and plunge of
U

(σ 1).

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3- Determination of (σ 3):
Measure 90° from (σ 1) along the
plane X-X , and locate the position of
(σ 3).
Determine the trend and plunge of (σ 3).

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 IX- Data Representation
1- Rose Diagrams
The following table represents a set of 64 joint planes. Represent these data in a
rose diagram.

Example Data
Strike Dip Strike Dip
N65E 50SE N46E 82SE
N75E 53S N27E 67NW
N53E 85NW N41E 85NW
N39E 82SE N58E 87SE
N53E 82SE N48E 82SE
N58E 66SE N42E 82NW
N50E 75SE N10E 82E
N51E 85NW N52E 75SE
N40E 87NW N49E 68SE
N30E 85SE N36E 89SE
N59E 82SE N45E 81NW
N44E 88SE N41E 87NW
N54E 86SE N36E 63NW
N71E 82N N14E 86W
N53E 83NW N48E 81NW
N52E 86SE N27E 81SE
N26E 80SE N46E 89NW
N40E 78SE N58E 62SE
N86E 85N N35E 81SE
N67E 89SE N37E 88SE
N61E 85SE N55E 70NW
N72E 85S N38E 80SE
N54E 86SE N47E 77NW
N32E 67SE N34E 85SE
N58E 87NW N45E 74NW
N84E 86S N53E 90SE
N50E 81NW N57E 90SE
N48E 85NW N66E 90SE
N50E 79NW N45E 90SE
N51E 86NW N47E 90SE
N40E 88SE N54E 90SE
N53E 84NW N45E 90SE

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 To plot the data as a rose diagram follow the following steps:

1-Construct the frequency table for the data. (‫) ﺍﻟﺠﺪﻭﻝ ﺍﻟﺘﻜﺮﺍﺭﻯ‬
U U

Determine number of joints in each trend category. Then calculate the

percentage of the number of joints in each category with respect to the total
number of joints. Any joint trend that lies at the boundary between two
categories must be added to both categories.

N10- N20- N30- N60- N70- N80-

Trend N0-10E N40-50E N50-60E
20E 30E 40E 70E 80E 90E
11111111 11111111
111111
planes 1 11 1111 11111111 11111111 1111 111 11
111111
111111 111111
Number
1 2 4 12 22 22 4 3 2
of joints
% 1.56 % 3.13 % 6.25 % 18.8 % 34.4 % 34.4 % 6.25 % 4.8 % 3.2 %

N0- N10- N20- N31- N40- N50- N60- N70- N80-

Trend
10W 20W 30W 40W 50W 60W 70W 80W 90W
planes -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Number
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
of joints
% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 You can choose the categories limits as:

Terend 0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-99 so on
No. of joints 0 2 3 9 19 22 4 3 2 0
Trends must be in azimuth
U

 Both methods of choosing the categories limits are correct and can be used.
Both are used in the computer software dealing with plotting rose diagrams.
 You can use the number of joints in each category or the percent of joints in
each category in constructing the rose diagram.

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Use the following polar net to construct the rose diagram

Polar net

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 2- Construct the rose diagram as follows:
U U

a- Determine the maximum number of joints in the categories in the previous table
(which is 22 joints in the categories (N41-50E) and (N51-60E). Represent this
number (22 joints) on the diagram by a suitable distance along the radius of the
circle. If the radius of the circle = 5 cm, then the 22 joints can be represented by
5 cm on the diagram, measured from its center outwards.
b- In the diagram, hachure ( ‫ )ﻅﻠﻞ‬a triangle with its side = 5 cm in the category
N41-50E and also in the category N51-60E.
c- The distance corresponding to the number of joints in the other categories can be
calculated as follows:

22 joints ----------- is represented by ---------- 5 cm

11 joints ------- should be represented by ------ X cm
X = (5 X 11) / 22 = 2.7 cm

22 joints ----------- is represented by ---------- 5 cm

4 joints ------- should be represented by ------ X cm
X = (5 X 4) / 22 = 0.91 cm
And so on.

N0- N11- N21- N31- N41- N51- N61- N71- N81-

Trend
10E 20E 30E 40E 50E 60E 70E 80E 90E
Number
1 2 4 12 22 22 4 3 2
of joints
% 1.56 % 3.13 % 6.25 % 18.8 % 34.4 % 34.4 % 6.25 % 4.8 % 3.2 %
Distance
0.22 0.45 0.91 2.7 5 5. 0.91 0.68 0.45
on the
cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm
diagram

d- In the diagram, hachure (‫ )ﻅﻠﻞ‬triangles with their sides = the lengths calculated
for each category in the table.
e- The resulting diagram will be as follows:

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 The rose diagram of the previous data
Showing the main trend of joints = N50E

In this rose diagram, only the trends (strikes) of joints area represented.
The angle of dip of these joints are not represented in the diagram. So the joints in
the maximum concentration shown in the diagram (N50E) may be of uniform dips
and represent a main trend, or may vary greatly in dip and represent more than one
main trend. In such case, the point contour diagram is more appropriate for the
representation of data. In point contour diagrams. Both strike and dip are
represented in the diagram.

 If you are constructing rose diagrams for several parts of a study area for the
reason of comparison between these parts, the percentage of the number of
joints in each category with respect to the total number of joints must be used in
plotting.
 This is because the total number of joints in the different subareas within the
study area will be different, that will give erroneous impression and
interpretation when comparing the intensity of the major trends in the different
diagrams.

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 2- Point-contour diagrams

• The point contour diagram represents the data on the stereographic projection
(stereographic net).
• In the point contour diagrams, planes are not represented as arcs but are
projected as poles.
• The pole is the projection of the line normal to the plane, so its projection on
the stereographic net is a point as follows.

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 - The projection of the line normal to the plane (pole) is a point that is
characterized by:

1- The pole lies on a line normal to the strike of the plane.

2- The pole lies in opposite direction to the dip of the plane.
3- The pole lies at a distance = angle of dip of the plane measured from
the center of the net.

 Draw the projection of the pole to a plane as follows:

Draw the pole to the bedding plane that

strikes N30E and dips 60 NW.

1-Draw the projection of the plane as

an arc.

2- Rotate the arc to the vertical axis of

the net. Plot the pole to the arc at
an angle = 60 measured from the
center of the net and in opposite
direction to the dip.

3- Rotate to the North position.

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You can plot the pole to the plane
without drawing the arc as follows :

1- Just mark the position of the strike

of the plane (at N30E).

2- Draw the pole to the plane at 60

measured from the center of the
net in opposite direction to the
dip.

3- Rotate to the North position.

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 The Point-Contour Diagram :

To construct the point-contour diagram the density of the poles in the plot must be
transformed into numbers (to be contoured) as follow:
• To calculate point densities on a stereogram, count the number of points that
are found within a standard sampling area of the net (= 1% of the total area of
the net).
• The method for contouring described here makes use of the Kalsbeek counting
net (see fig)
1- The data must be plotted as poles or lines (for lineation) using an equal-area
net, (fig. a)
2- The Kalsbeek counting net (see Fig. b) has a layout which consists of mutually
overlapping hexagons, each with an area equal to 1/100 of the total area of the
full stereogram.
3- The Kalsbeek net is placed under the tracing paper of the plotted data. A new
clean tracing paper is put on both, and all are fixed together at the center.
4- The number of points occurring in each hexagon is recorded and written at the
center of the hexagon (Fig. c) and, in this manner, an array of numbers covering
the stereogram (Fig. d) is obtained.
5- The obtained density values can be contoured (Fig. e).
6- For convenient density distribution values, the number of points in each
hexagon is transformed as a % of the total number of points in the plot, then
the % values are contoured.

 Point contour diagrams can be easily

constructed by computer software. Many
are available for free in the internet, e.g.:
Stereonet and GEOrient software
 In fact there is no need to follow the manual
methodology.

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 Example of point contour diagram:
Equal area, lower hemisphere projection of poles to joint data, and the determination
of the main joint orientations from the contour diagram.
N = 128 joints , contours are at 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 % .

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Rose and point contour
diagram for the same
data set constructed by
stereonet-v 10 software.
Compare the results.

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