CHAPTER 5

INTRODUCTION OF
STRUCTURAL
GEOLOGY
1
At the end of this chapter, a student should
understand the followings (CO2:PO1):

• What is rock deformation

• Strike and Dip
• Fold Structure
• Three Types of Faults
• Joints Influencing the nature of the rock Bed
• Unconformity Structures
• Geological Mapping and Terminology
• Geological structure is the study of the permanent deformation and
rock failure created by the changes in stress through geologic time.

• Tectonic processes are responsible for the many discontinuity planes

(fractures, faults, joints) that permeate rock masses controlling their
strength, stress-strain characteristics and the transmission and
storage of fluids.

Structures may be conveniently subdivided into two groups:

(i) brittle structures - recording the brittle-elastic failure of rocks in

the past. Faults and joints fall in this broad category.

(ii) ductile structures - preserving the permanent visco-plastic

deformation of rock throughout geologic time. Folds and
metamorphic foliations are the expression of this type of structure.
 DEFORMATION OF ROCKS
Compression
Compress or squeeze the rock body such as in the
convergent tectonic plate

Tension
Forces pulling the rock apart such as in the divergent of he
continent

Shear
Result from forces acting parallel but in opposite directions
such a in folds
The factors that governs the way a rock deform are as
follows:

Confining pressure and temperature

Rock may behave in a brittle manner when near the

surface of earth where the confining pressure and
temperature are relatively low

Time over which the stress is applied

A rock may not respond plastically if the stress applied

is rapid, but may undergo extensive plastic deformation
if the stress applied is low but long sustained
• Planes can be defined in space
by their inclination or dip and
their strike, the bearing of the
line of intersection of the plane
and a horizontal surface.
• Notice that the bearing of the
projection of the dip on a
horizontal surface is in a
direction at right angles to the
strike. This is called the dip
direction.
 On maps, the strike and dip
are indicated by a line parallel
to the strike with a tick and
number value to indicate the
dip direction and dip
respectively.

 In the example, the cross-

section is oriented in the dip
direction to show the true
dip.

 Any other direction, oblique

to the dip direction, will show
an apparent dip less than the
true dip.
•Folds result from the plastic deformation of
rocks at low strain-rates, usually under
elevated temperature and pressure conditions.

•Folds are broadly subdivided into anticlines

(upwards convex) and synclines (downwards
convex).
synclines
•In synclines and anticlines, the axial plane
is the plane of symmetry passing through the
apex of the fold.

•The line of intersection of the fold apex and

the horizontal plane is called the axis of the
fold.
Anticlines
synclines

anticlines
 If the fold-axis is inclined to the horizontal, the "dip"
of the axis is called the plunge. Plunging folds are
the rule rather than the exception.

 Folds with a horizontal axis are a two-dimensional

idealization. In nature, folds are symmetric or
asymmetric plunging structures.
•Symmetric plunging anticlines and
synclines produce characteristic
"bulls-eye" outcrop patterns.

•In anticlinal plunging folds, the

beds increase in age towards the
centre of the pattern. Such
structures are called domes.

•In synclinal folds, the beds at the

centre of the pattern are the
youngest and the beds get older in a
radial direction. Such structures are
called basins.
• Folds are classified on the basis of several
geometric factors:

Tightness of folding

Orientation of axial plane

Thickness of folded beds

(i) The tightness of folds

• can be described as open (limbs dip gently), tight (limbs

dip steeply) or isoclinal (limbs are parallel).
(ii) Orientation of axial plane

•The orientation of the axial plane relative to the

horizontal together with the orientation of fold limbs
allow subdivision into upright (axial plane vertical, limbs
symmetric), overturned (axial plane moderately
inclined, one limb overturned), or recumbent (axial
plane near horizontal, one limb inverted).
(iii) Thickness of folded beds

•Thickly-bedded, brittle units tend to form concentric folds

with the bed thickness preserved normal to bedding
surfaces.

•Thinly-bedded, clay-rich units have a tendency to develop a

foliation parallel to the axial plane and form similar folds
with the vertical distance between top and bottom of the
unit preserved through the deformation.
• A fault is a crack in the Earth's crust along which
movement has occurred.
• Movement along a fault produces earthquakes
and seismic waves.
• Faults are planar discontinuity surfaces along
which there has been significant displacement in
shear.
• In common with all planar structures, a fault has
a strike and dip.
The footwall block is a mining term
and refers to the fault block for which
a miner could stand on the fault
plane (the left hand block in the
diagram).

The hanging wall block is the

block that would be overhead.

In general (unless the fault is

vertical), there will be both a vertical
and horizontal component of
movement.

The vertical movement is called the

throw and the horizontal component
the heave.
Faults are subdivided using the relative movement of the two
blocks:
Dip-Slip Fault
- Normal fault
- Reverse fault

Strike-Slip Fault

Oblique-Slip Fault
(A) Dip-slip fault
(i)Normal Fault
• In normal faulting, the hanging wall block moves down relative to the
footwall block. The fault plane usually makes a high angle with the
surface (> 45 degrees). Normal faults are associated with crustal
tension.
• In normal faulting, the largest (most compressive) stress is vertical.
• The smallest and intermediate stresses are horizontal. The shear
fracture (fault) makes an angle of less than 45 degrees with the
major (most compressive) principal stress direction, in this case the
vertical.
• If the average stress is subtracted from all the principal stresses, the
crust is in relative tension.
(ii) Reverse Fault (Thrust fault)

• In reverse faulting, the hanging wall block

moves up relative to the footwall block.
• The fault plane usually makes a low angle
with the surface (< 45 degrees).
• Reverse faults are associated with crustal
compression and are also known as
thrust fault
• In reverse faulting, the smallest (least
compressive) stress is vertical. The largest
and intermediate stresses are horizontal.
• The shear fracture (fault) makes an angle
of less than 45 degrees with the major
(most compressive) principal stress
• If the average stress is subtracted from all
the principal stresses, the crust is in
relative compression.
(B) Strike-slip Fault (Lateral fault)

• In strike-slip faulting, the two blocks move either to the left

(sinistral) or to the right (dextral) relative to one another.
•Strike-slip faults are associated with crustal shear and are also known
as wrench faults.
•In strike-slip faulting, the intermediate stress is vertical. The largest
and smallest stresses are horizontal.
•The shear fracture (fault) makes an angle of less than 45 degrees with
the major (most compressive) principal stress direction, in this case
again the horizontal.
•There is no vertical movement.
(c) Oblique-slip fault
• A fault which has a component of dip-slip and
a component of strike-slip is termed an
oblique-slip fault.
• Nearly all faults will have some component of
both dip-slip and strike-slip, so defining a fault
as oblique requires both dip and strike
components to be measurable and significant.
• Joints are discontinuities on which there has been little or
no displacement in shear (in contrast to faults). Joints are
present in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.
• They are evidence of brittle failure of the rock mass at
some stage in the deformation history.
• If no movement has occurred on a fracture it is called a
joint.

Classification of joints:
1. Shear joints: form at an angle to the direction of maximum
compressive stress
2. Tension joints: form parallel to the direction of maximum
compressive stress and perpendicular to the direction of maximum
extension
 DID YOU KNOW?
Faulting and jointing can exist in all
type of rock while folding is only
exist in sedimentary rock and
metamorphic rock where they have
layering structure.
•Unconformities are geologic structures created by erosion
that are often difficult to distinguish from faults.
•An unconformity is an erosional surface between two or
more bodies of rock.

1. Disconformity

• a series of sedimentary rocks

form, next a non-deposition
or massive erosion event
occurs, then a series of more
sedimentary rocks are
deposited
Disconformity where the blue line defines
the non-depositional or erosion surface
2. Angular unconformity
a series of sedimentary rocks
form, next rocks are folded or
tilted, next a non-deposition or
massive erosion occurs, then a
series of more sedimentary rocks
form

3. Nonconformity
igneous or metamorphic rock
form, next a non-deposition or
massive erosion event occurs,
then a series of sedimentary
rocks form