PROBLEMS WITH REPRESENTATION O F R O C K -

FRACTURE CLUSTERS
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By H. H. W. Herda, 1 H. H. Einstein, 2 Member, ASCE, and

W. S. Dershowitz, 3 Member, ASCE

ABSTRACT: Representation of geological discontinuities by means of structural

diagrams, often called stereoplots, is standard practice. When the dip directions
of such discontinuities form a roughly circular cluster about the horizontal, bimodal
pole distributions are observed (and vice versa). This is problematic in the inter-
pretation of any rock-engineering or structural-geology problem where one does
not want to be misled by single fracture sets being represented by two projected
sets and vice versa, fn this paper, the mathematical relations are developed that
substantiate this unimodal-bimodal relationship. The paper goes beyond this in
analytically developing a few other relationships between dip directions and poles.
Examples from several practical cases illustrate the theoretical relationships. The
mathematical relations provide a rational proof for the bimodal-unimodal relation
and allow one to generalize it. The practically important consequence of this paper
is to make the reader aware of the possibility of making mistakes in using ster-
eoplots. This can be avoided if both dip and pole distributions are plotted, partic-
ularly for cases where dip or pole clusters represent joint sets that are very steep
or very flat.

INTRODUCTION

The use of stereoplots to record and present the attitude of geological

discontinuities is common practice [see, e.g., Billings (1972) and Vistelius
(1966)]. In particular, the identification of joint or fracture clusters (or sets)
is accomplished using stereoplots. (The term stereoplot is somewhat am-
biguous; while some authors such as Vistelius use it for what should be
called "conformal" projection, its more general meaning is the "contouring
of three-dimensional features on a plane," and it is in this sense that it is
used in this paper.) The usual method of determining clusters and thus
fracture sets is by contouring fracture poles as shown in Fig. 1(a). In his
research on fractures, the second writer and his coworkers have found that,
on numerous occasions, this clustering method was not entirely satisfactory
and that clustering by visual inspection of contour plots was more appro-
priate. Particularly surprising was the fact that a single approximately cir-
cular cluster of fracture-dip orientations often produced two separate clus-
ters of pole points [Fig. 1(b)] and vice versa, a single pole cluster often
produced a double cluster of fracture-dip orientation points. In other words,
what is in reality a single fracture-dip-orientation cluster may be represented
by a double pole cluster in the stereoplots and vice versa. The consequences
in geologic, hydrologic, and engineering geologic applications can be sig-
nificant.

'Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Sci., Univ. of Massachusetts at Boston,

Boston, M A 02125.
2
Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Massachusetts Inst, of Tech., Room 1-330, Cambridge,
M A 02139.
3
Golder Associates, Seattle, W A .
Note. Discussion open until April 1, 1992. To extend the closing date one month,
a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Journals. The manuscript
for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication on June 14, 1990.
This paper is part of the Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, Vol. 117, No. 11,
November, 1991. © A S C E , ISSN 0733-9410/91/001M754/S1.00 + $.15 per page.
Paper No. 26378.

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FIG. 1(a). Determination of Fracture Sets by Contouring

FIG. 1(b). Two Apparent Clusters of Pole Points Representing Single Near-Hor-
izontal-Fracture Set

For the case shown in Fig. 1(b) it is easy to see what happens by assuming
a roughly circular cluster of fracture dips near the equator and constructing
the corresponding poles. The figure eight shown in Fig. 1(b) will result.
Despite the fact that this is "easy to see," the second writer has been exposed
to many cases in engineering practice and in the literature where the fact
that a single set was represented by two sets and vice versa was apparently
not recognized.
In an initial step to better understand the problem, we applied a "back-
of-the-envelope" procedure and showed that rotating the dip of a fracture
in a small circle centered about the horizontal (corresponding to fracture
dips oriented in a small circle about the equator) led to a pole trace in the
form of a figure eight in the center of the stereoplot similar to the contour
shown in Fig. 1(b). Conversely, a pole-contour small circle about the hor-
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 izontal results in a figure-eight dip trace at the center of the plot. The figure
eight, which was simply inferred when contouring such cases, therefore
corresponds to a mathematical relation between a circle on the equator and
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the figure-eight curve at the north pole of the reference sphere (Figs. 2(a)
and 2(b)). Given this relation, we wanted to explore it further by first
developing a formal and generally valid mathematical relation. Using this
mathematical relation, we wanted to see if such unimodal-bimodal relations
exist for other orientations and for noncircular distributions. This is what
is presented as follows, supplemented by a number of synthetic simulations,
and some examples featuring actual fracture-attitude data.
Readers who are not interested in the mathematical derivations should

Projection of pole contour

in tangent plane

North pole N of fl Tangent plane to fl at N

Unit sphere fl

Equator Sof
sphere fl
Small circle K on surface
of unit sphere

FIG. 2(a). Geologic Unit Sphere with Dip Contour Projection in Tangent Plane

Projection of dtp contour

s" in tangent plane
7
L

North pole N of U — /-' Tangent plane to fl at N

—- Unit sphere fl
/ ,''
„-->
J
)

1
- — — Unit dip vector, U n

/ - - • " " " /

-^_
Vector, U_ — " \ ^~~~~y^
/c
Unit Pole —-^ \ /*•
^ Equator £of
Vector, Up / \ ^ sphere fl

X - SolaU circle K on surface

of Unit sphere

FIG. 2(b). Geologic Unit Sphere with Pole Contour Projection in Tangent Plane

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 skip the mathematical derivations, pausing only to look at the section headed
"Mapping Circular Pole Contours into Dip Contours" (generated from the
mathematics); they can then proceed to the applications in the section headed
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"Applications to Actual Fracture-Attitude Data."

POLE-VECTOR-CONTOUR POSITIONS

It is very important to first note that dip and pole vectors are dual to
each other. Specifically, referring to Fig. 2, the small circle K representing
a contour of dip vectors in Fig. 2(a) is a small circle representing a contour
of pole vectors in Fig. 2(b); the projection of K is, respectively, the figure-
eight pole contour or the figure-eight dip contour centered at JV. We will
assume poles forming a small circle at the equator [Fig. 2(b)]. The reason
for concentrating on the geometry of Fig. 2(b) is the fact that most of our
practical examples shown later in this paper are of this type.
It is first necessary to develop the mathematical formulation for the pole
vector producing a contour in the form of a small circle on a unit sphere
[Fig. 2(b)]. To generalize this, we will then let the pole vector trace out an
elliptically curved contour. Once these pole contours are formulated they
will be related to the associated dip contours.

Circular Pole Contours

It is assumed that the unit length pole vector UP (which is a radius vector
of the unit sphere D, [Fig. 2(b)] traces out a small circle K of fixed radius
X on the unit sphere fl as t (the parameter variable of the small circle) varies
from 0 to 2TT [Figs. 3(a), 3(£>), and 4]. The line OC perpendicular to the
plane of circle K passing through the center C of K and through the center
O of the unit sphere 11 lies in the XZ plane and makes a fixed radian angle
a s: 0 with the positive X axis [see Figs. 3(a) and 3(b)]. The cases
sin a > X [Fig. 3(a)], sin a = X, and 0 < sin a < X [Fig. 3(£>)] are
distinguished.
The unit pole-vector components are as follows [see Figs. 3(a), 3(£>),
and 4], where VP = (XP, YP, ZP):
XP = (1 - X2)1'2 cos a + X sin a sin t (1)
YP = X cos t (2)
2 1/2 2
ZP = signum[^ P - (1 - X ) sec a](l - X P - Y2P)m (3)
The choice of sign for ZP comes about because the small circle rises above
the XY plane exactly when XP > (1 — X2)1'2 sec a (see Fig. 3). When
a = 0 (horizontal mean pole) (l)-(3) reduces to

UP = [(1 - X2)1'2, X cos t, X sin t] (4)

Elliptical Pole Contours

An ellipse lying in the tangent plane to the unit sphere il at (1, 0, 0) and
centered at that point (shown in rotated form in Fig. 5) can be described
as follows:
Y = kbcost (5)
Z = Xa sin t (6)
Here X, a, and b, all < 1 , are fixed and t varies, 0 s ( £ 2TT. It is desirable
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K ( on a ) / ' " 2~

FIG. 3(a). Inclined Circular Pole-Vector Contour below Equatorial Plane

to allow the ellipse to have general orientation, i.e., any fixed angle between
its major axis and the meridian at its center is possible. Rotating the ellipse
clockwise through a fixed angle <$> in the tangent plane and then projecting
it onto (1 (moving all points parallel to the .Y-axis), one obtains (Fig. 5):
r = Z sin $ + Y cos $ (7)
Z' = Z cos cj) — Y sin <$> (8)
X' = +(1 - Y'2 - Z' 2 ) 1 ' 2 (9)
Finally, the ellipse is rotated downward through a fixed angle a, so that its
center remains in the^XZ plane (see Fig. 5). One thus obtains the unit pole-
vector components UP = (XP, YP, ZP):
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 z
I.
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K ( on f! )

O.Y

K ( on n )

FIG. 3(b). Inclined Circular Pole-Vector Contour Intersecting Equatorial Plane

XP = X' cos a + Z' sin a (10)

YP = Y' (11)
-X' sin a + Z' cos a (12)
A pole-vector contour is traced out as t varies from 0 to 2TT. These com-
ponents are, for given X, a, b, 4>, and a, smooth but complicated functions
of t. Indeed, when a = b, this treatment formally contains the circular case
as well.

DIP-VECTOR-CONTOUR POSITIONS

It is now possible to derive the contour positions of the dip vectors of the
planes associated with the pole vectors just discussed. Because every pole
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a *^sS-

FIG. 4. Inclined Circular Pole-Vector Contour Viewed from above

vector (except at the north or south pole) represents a single dip vector,
the pole-vector contours completely determine the dip-vector contours.
Let the unit pole vector be \JP = (XP, YP, ZP). The unit length strike
vector (of the fracture plane described by the pole UP) U s = (Xs, Ys,
Zs) lies in O's equatorial plane (Fig. 1): Zs = 0; U5 is normal to the dip
vector: XPXS + Yj,Ys = 0; and VJS is also a unit length vector: X2S + Ys
= 1. This means U5 = (Xs, Ys, 0), where

Xs = (13)
(xP + hy*
y = ^L I\A\
s
(x2P + Y2Py2 k
'
The unit length dip vector is assumed to point into fi's northern hemi-
sphere [Fig. 2(b)]. [This is done to make Fig. 2(b) clearer; if the dip were
pointing downward—as it does in reality—the plane, etc., would have to
be plotted below the reference sphere.] We thus choose HD = UP x
Us = (XD, YD, ZD), where

XD =
(xi /YI)"2 (15)

D
~ (x2P + Y2Py>2 {
'
ZD = (X2P 2
+ Y Py 2
(17)
A dip-vector contour D is generated by taking a pole-vector contour as
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FIG. 5. Rotated Elliptical Pole-Vector Contour At Equator and Further Rotated

Downward below Equator

expressed by (1), (2), and (3) or (10), (11), and (12), or some other closed
parametric curve on the sphere fl and by then using (15), (16), and (17).
This is done in this paper only for the cases of circular and elliptic contour
curves, in the interest of simplicity. We must emphasize again that the
mathematics presented here allows one to use arbitrary closed curves.

SYNTHETIC EXAMPLES

The mapping functions just developed will now be used to show a few
typical examples of associated pole and dip contours. These examples are
synthetic to clearly demonstrate typical forms (actual fracture clusters will
be discussed later).
Circular or elliptical pole contours will now be assumed and the associated
dip contours are derived and shown. As stated in the introduction, this is
analogous to starting out with dip contours and deriving pole contours. One
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 useful special case of mapping circular dip contours into pole contours will,
nevertheless, be discussed.
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Mapping Circular Pole Contours into Dip Contours

If the mean pole-vector angle a is zero or small, i.e., the poles are near
the equator, the dips cluster near the north pole N of il [Fig. 2(b)]. For the
special case a = 0, i.e., a horizontal mean pole, one substitutes the com-
ponents of (4) into (15), (16), and (17), obtaining
-X(l - X T 2 sin /
° " (1 - X2 sin2/)1'2 {
'
2
Y - _-^ s i n / c o s /
YD
(1 - X2 sin2/)"2 [
'
2 2 1/2
ZD = (1 - X sin f) (20)
This dip-vector contour can be projected orthogonally onto the tangent
plane to tl at N [see Fig. 2(b)], denoting the projection as (X,Y), where:
X = XD (21)
Y = YD (22)
To simplify, one can eliminate / from X and Y [in (18), (19), and (20)] and
one finds
= * 2 ( > i 2 ~ A- 2 )
i - (x2 - x2) y
'

0.15

0.10 —

0.05

Y o.oo

-0.05

-0.10

-0.15

FIG. 6. Projection of Dip Contours in Tangent Plane at North Pole of Unit Sphere
where Dip Contours Represent Circular Pole Contours about Horizontal; a = 0

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FIG. 7. Schmidt Polar Equal-Area Projection of Dip Contours at North Pole where
Dip Contours Represent Circular Pole Contours about Horizontal; a = 0

FIG. 8. Schmidt Polar Equal-Area Projection of Dip Contours at North Pole where
Dip Contours Represent Circular Pole Contours about Nonhorizontal (Tilted) Di-
rection; a = sin" 1 (0.4)

This equation describes the family of dip-distribution contours and it is

shown in Fig. 6 for X = k/lG, k = 1-5. Note the unequal scales in Fig. 6.
The same values of X are used in the remaining simulation figures (Figs. 7 -
11). The figure eight mentioned in the introduction is readily apparent.
Larger values of X correspond to larger loops; this dependence of loop size
on X will be true for all other simulation figures as well.
The representation is mathematically interesting, but one should be con-
cerned about the distortion of the contours (due to the projection), espe-
cially for the larger values of X. To avoid this distortion, we use the Schmidt
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FIG. 9. Schmidt Polar Equal-Area Projection of Dip Contours at North Pole where
Dip Contours Represent Elliptical Pole Contours about Horizontal; a = 0, c|> = + ir/
6, a = 1, and b = 0.2

FIG. 10. Schmidt Polar Equal-Area Projection of Dip Contours at North Pole where
Dip Contours Represent Elliptical Contours about Nonhorizontal (Tilted) Direction;
a = 0.3, $ = - I T / 4 , a = 1, and b = 0.4

polar equal-area projection in all the remaining representations. The family

of dip-vector contours [(18), (19), and (20)] (for k = k/10, k = 1-5) shown
in Fig. 6 is represented in Fig. 7 using the Schmidt polar equal-area pro-
jection.
To see the effect of a nonhorizontal or "tilted" mean pole for a circularly
distributed pole set, the family of pole contours [(1), (2), and (3)] with
a = sin - 1 (0.4) and k as just shown is mapped into a dip contour using
(15), (16), and (17), resulting in the Schmidt polar equal-area projection of
dip-vector contours as shown in Fig. 8. Again, recall that Figs. 7 and 8 can
also represent the poles of dip vectors clustered in a circle those that are
horizontal or tilted.
Mapping Elliptical Pole Contours into Dip Contours
To be mathematically general, it is important that such an elliptic contour
can have its center anywhere on the sphere and that it can have its major
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FIG. 11. Schmidt Polar Equal-Area Projection of Pole Contours in Partial Girdle
Near Equator where Pole Contours Represent Dip Contours Roughly about North;
(m/2) Direction; a = 1.45 (~ir/2)

FIG. 12. Fracture-Dip Distribution for Site C1901.2; Mean Attitude of Cluster: 99/
89 (Lower Hemisphere: Schmidt Polar Equal-Area Projection)

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S
UPPER HEMISPHERE POLE PROJECTION

FIG. 13. Fracture-Pole Distribution for Site C1901.2; Mean Attitude of Cluster: 99/
1 (Upper Hemisphere: Schmidt Polar Equal-Area Projection)

axis oriented at any angle to the meridian at its center. We illustrate the
mapping process with two cases.
To begin, let the mean pole be at the equator (a = 0). Let the major
axis of the ellipse be oriented 30° clockwise of north (4> = TT/6). Let
a = 1, b = 0.2, \ = fc/10, and k = 1-5. (The specialized notation has
been explained previously.) The Schmidt polar equal-area projection of dip-
vector contours appears in Fig. 9.
Now consider elliptically distributed poles with mean pole below the
equator. Assume a = 0.3, <> | = — IT/4, a = 1, b = 0.4, X = k/10, and k
= 1-5. The Schmidt polar equal-area projection of dip-vector contours can
be seen in Fig. 10. Note that this projection does not have a symmetry axis.
Such a result is not possible for the circularly distributed poles just discussed.
Because of dip/pole duality, all this holds true with the roles of dips and
poles reversed. In that case, Figs. 7-10 will be the Schmidt polar equal-
area projections of pole vector contours, obtained from circularly or el-
liptically distributed dips. What is particularly important in all these cases
and confirms the statement in the introduction is the proof that unimodal
(circular or elliptical) distributions of poles or dips near the equator cause
bimodal distributions of dips or poles near the north pole.
Mapping Dip Contours into Pole Contours—Special Case
Steeply dipping fracture sets are often encountered, and we now show
how to map circular dip-vector contours centered near the north pole of O
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 greenet3
67 POINTS
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6
LOUER HEMISPHERE DIP PROJECTION

FIG, 14. Fracture-Dip Distribution for Site Greene t3; Mean Attitude of Cluster:
145/67 (Lower Hemisphere: Schmidt Polar Equal-Area Projection)

into the corresponding pole-vector contours. This "reverse problem" can

be handled using dip/pole duality.
It was noted earlier that the concepts of dip vector and pole vector are
dual to each other, so the subscripts P and D can be interchanged. For
example [see (1), (2), and (3)], given circularly distributed dips whose unit
dip-vector components are:
XD = (1 - X2)1'2 cos a + k sin a sin t (24)
YD = k cos t (25)
2 12 2 2 m
ZD = signum[XD - (1 - k ) ' sec a](l - X D - Y D) (26)
one obtains [from (15), (16), and (17)] by again interchanging subscripts P
and D:
y _ ~XDZD (71\
P
~ (X2D + Y2Dy2 {
'

p
(xi + Yiy2 (M)

ZP = (XI + Y2Dy2 (29)

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s
UPPER HEMISPHERE POLE PROJECTION

FIG. 15. Fracture-Pole Distribution for Site Greene t3; Mean Attitude of Cluster:
145/23 (Upper Hemisphere: Schmidt Polar Equal-Area Projection)

If the mean dip-vector angle a is near ir/2 (so that the mean dip is near
the north pole N of ft) the poles will be near the equator of ft. In this case,
for circularly distributed dip vectors, we use (27), (28), and (29) to obtain
pole-vector contours. We illustrate this for the case a = 1.45, X = k/10,
and k = 1-5. The Schmidt polar equal-area projection is shown in Fig. 11.
Note that this pole vector set has a partial girdle distribution because most
(but not all) of the dip-vector contours (for X = k/10 and k = 2-5) enclose
the north pole N of ft. The transformation that maps dips into poles carries
only neighborhoods of N into girdles about the equator d of ft. If a dip-
vector contour does not enclose N, then its interior is not a neighborhood
of N, and therefore its pole-vector-contour image does not enclose ft. For
example, in Fig. 11, the outermost contour on the right is a sliver about
110° wide and does not contain the north pole N in its interior.

APPLICATIONS TO ACTUAL FRACTURE-ATTITUDE DATA

In this section, we present Schmidt polar equal-area projection maps

prepared from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) fracture-
attitude data collection. In each case, first dip and then pole projections
are shown, the dips in the lower hemisphere and the poles in the upper
hemisphere. The notation is dip (pole) direction/dip (pole) inclination.
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 cl904. 1
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b
LOUER HEMISPHERE DIP PROJECTION

FIG. 16. Fracture-Dip Distribution for Site C1904.1; Mean Attitude of Cluster: 271/
82 (Lower Hemisphere: Schmidt Polar Equal-Area Projection)

Site c 1901.2 data are shown in Fig. 12 and Fig. 13. This is a case where
a single circular pole cluster, which is approximately horizontally oriented,
represents a symmetric figure-eight dip (fracture-orientation) cluster. As a
matter of fact, Fig. 12 corresponds closely to the figure-eight configuration
shown in Fig. 7, which implies a nearly circular distribution of the poles
and a nearly horizontal mean pole at this site. This can be verified in Fig.
13. In other words, fracture orientations that are clustered into two groups
(Fig. 12) are represented by a single pole cluster (Fig. 13).
Data from the Greene t3 site are depicted in Figs. 14 and 15. In this case
a single roughly circular pole cluster, which is, however, not horizontally
oriented, represents a nonsymmetric double cluster of the associated dips
as expected from the synthetic treatment earlier. Fig. 14 corresponds quite
well to Fig. 8.
Data from site c 1904.1 are presented in Fig. 16 and Fig. 17. In this case
a single nearly circular dip cluster that is centered near the north pole (Fig.
16) produces a girdle pole cluster near the equator. The mathematically
derived form (Fig. 11) thus corresponds well to the actual data (Figs. 16
and 17).
CONCLUSIONS
Observations from a number of field studies on fracture sets indicated
that unimodal pole distributions can be associated with bimodal dip distri-
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s
UPPER HEMISPHERE POLE PROJECTION

FIG. 17. Fracture-Pole Distribution for Site C1904.1; Mean Attitude of Cluster: 271/
8 (Upper Hemisphere: Schmidt Polar Equal-Area Projection)

butions and vice versa, when represented in stereoplots. A circular dip

cluster near the equator, representing a single horizontal set of fractures,
produces a bimodal figure-eight contour plot of poles. Despite the fact that
this can be easily seen or reconstructed by simply plotting points on ster-
eoplots, it has not been pointed out so far. More importantly, it raises the
question of whether noncircular distributions at the equator and dips/poles
representing fracture sets at other orientations produce similar unimodal/
bimodal relations. This led us to first roughly and then mathematically relate
dip and pole distributions. The analyses and examples presented here not
only confirm our observations but show that the unimodal/bimodal rela-
tionship is general.
The fact that certain unimodal-appearing clusters are actually bimodal
and vice versa is of great practical significance. Many geologic, engineering
geologic, and geotechnical problems involve the representation of attitude
clusters or sets in stereoplots and usage of these clusters or sets in subsequent
analyses. Clearly, if two apparent clusters are actually only one or vice
versa, this will have significant consequences. While the mathematical re-
lation developed in this paper provides the constructive proof, the most
important practical consequence is to use both dip and pole representations,
particularly if the mean fracture dips or poles are near the horizontal or
near the vertical.
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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writers would like to express their gratitude to Mr. F. S. Jeng, grad-
uate student at MIT, who implemented a computer program to draw the
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stereoplots and projections used in this paper. They also would like to
acknowledge the fact that the first writer was able to develop the analysis
during his sabbatical stay at the Weizmann Institute.

APPENDIX I. REFERENCES

Billings, M. P. (1972). Structural geology, 3rd Ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs,

N.J.
Vistelius, A. B. (1966). Structural diagrams. Pergamon Press, New York, N.Y.

APPENDIX II. NOTATION

The following symbols are used in this paper:

a, b = semi-axes of ellipse E in tangent plane;

C = center of K or E;
E = ellipse lying in tangent plane to fl at (1,0,0); later ro-
tated, projected onto O, and translated;
K = small circle on surface of CI;
k = index variable for values of \ ;
N = north pole of CI;
O = origin of Cartesian coordinate system;
OC = line segment perpendicular to plane of K;
t = parameter variable of K or E;
UD, Vs ,% = unit length dip, pole, and strike vectors in CI;
X, Y, Z = axes of Cartesian three-space coordinate system;
X', Y, Z' = coordinates of projection onto Cl of point on rotated
ellipse E;
XD, YD, ZD = components of unit length dip vector U^,;
XP, YH, ZP = components of unit length pole vector VP;
Xs, Ys = components of unit length strike vector Us;
a = angle between OC and positive .Y-axis;
d = equator of ft;
X = radius of K;
c|) = clockwise angle of rotation of ellipse E in tangent plane;
and
ft = unit sphere of geology.

1771

J. Geotech. Engrg., 1991, 117(11): 1754-1771