Structural Geology

What is Structural Geology?

• Structural geology is the

study of the three-dimensional
distribution of rock units with
respect to their deformational
histories.
• The primary goal of structural geology is to use
measurements of present-day rock geometries to
uncover information about the history of
deformation (strain) in the rocks, and ultimately, to
understand the stress field that resulted in the
observed strain and geometries.

• This understanding of the dynamics of the stress

field can be linked to important events in the
regional geologic past.
 Economical Importance of Structural Geology

• The study of geologic structures has been of prime

importance in economic geology.
• Folded and faulted rock strata commonly form traps for the
accumulation and concentration of fluids such as petroleum
and natural gas.
• Veins of minerals containing various metals commonly
occupy faults and fractures in structurally complex areas.
• Deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, and other metals,
are commonly located in structurally complex areas.
• Structural geology is a critical part of engineering geology,
which is concerned with the physical and mechanical
properties of natural rocks.
 Structural fabrics and defects
• Folds
• Joints
• Faults
• Foliations
• These are internal weaknesses of rocks which
may affect the stability of human engineered
structures.
 Deformation of Rocks
• Within the Earth rocks are continually being subjected
to forces that tend to bend them, twist them, or
fracture them. When rocks bend, twist or fracture we
say that they deform (change shape or size).
• Deformation common
at plate margins.
• Deformation concepts…
– Force
– Stress
– Strain
 Stress
• The forces that cause deformation of rock are
referred to as stresses (Force/unit area).
• Differential Stress – Unequal in different directions.
• A uniform stress is a stress wherein the forces act
equally from all directions.
• 3 major types of differential stress
– Compressional stress
– Tensional stress
– Shear stress
 Compressional Stress
• Push Together stress.
• Shortens and thickens crust.
• which squeezes rock.
 Tensional Stress
• “Pull-apart” stress.
• Thins and stretches crust.
• Associated with rifting
 Shear Stress
• Slippage of one rock mass past another.
• In shallow crust, shear is often accommodated
by bedding planes.
 Strain
• Changes in the shape or size of a rock body
caused by stress.
• Strain occurs when stresses exceed rock
strength.
• Strained rocks deform by folding, flowing, or
fracturing
 How Rocks Deforms
• Elastic deformation – The rock returns to original size and
shape when stress removed.

• When the (strength) of a rock is surpassed, it either flows

(ductile deformation) or fractures (brittle deformation).

• Brittle behavior occurs in

the shallow crust; ductile in
the deeper crust.
 We can divide materials into two classes.

• Brittle materials have a small or large region of

elastic behaviour but only a small region of
ductile behaviour before they fracture. 
• Ductile materials have a small region of elastic
behaviour and a large region of ductile
behaviour before they fracture. 
 How a material behaves will depend on
several factors
• Temperature - At high temperature molecules and their bonds can stretch and move,
thus materials will behave in more ductile manner. At low Temperature, materials are
brittle.  
• Confining Pressure - At high confining pressure materials are less likely to fracture
because the pressure of the surroundings tends to hinder the formation of fractures. At
low confining stress, material will be brittle and tend to fracture sooner. 
• Strain rate -- At high strain rates material tends to fracture. At low strain rates more
time is available for individual atoms to move and therefore ductile behaviour is
favoured. 
• Composition -- Some minerals, like quartz, olivine, and feldspars are very brittle.
Others, like clay minerals, micas, and calcite are more ductile This is due to the chemical
bond types that hold them together. Thus, the mineralogical composition of the rock
will be a factor in determining the deformational behaviour of the rock. Another aspect
is presence or absence of water. Water appears to weaken the chemical bonds and
forms films around mineral grains along which slippage can take place. Thus wet rock
tends to behave in ductile manner, while dry rocks tend to behave in brittle manner.
 Evidence of Former Deformation

• Evidence of deformation that has occurred in the past is very

evident in crustal rocks.
• For example, sedimentary strata and lava flows generally
follow the law of original horizontality. Thus, when we see
such strata inclined instead of horizontal, evidence of an
episode of deformation.
• In order to uniquely define the orientation of a planar
feature we first need to define two terms –
– Strike (trend)
– Dip (inclination)
 Mapping Geologic Structures

• Strike(trend)
The compass direction of the line produced by the intersection of an
inclined rock layer or fault with a horizontal plane.
– Generally expressed as an angle relative to north.
• N37°E
• N12°W

• Dip (inclination)
The angle of inclination of the surface of a rock unit or fault measured from a
horizontal plane.
– Includes both an angle of inclination and a direction toward which the rock is
inclined.
• 82°SE
• 17°SW
 Mapping Geologic Structures
• In recording strike and dip measurements on a geologic
map, a symbol is used that has a long line oriented parallel
to the compass direction of the strike.
• A short tick mark is placed in the centres of the line on the
side to which the inclined plane dips, and the angle of dip is
recorded next to the strike and dip symbol as shown
above. 
• For beds with a 900 dip (vertical) the short line crosses the
strike line.
• For beds with no dip (horizontal) a circle with a cross inside
is used as shown below..
 Joint
• Any fracture, without any movement is called
as joint.
• When rock are under stress, and are at
shallow depth then they may show brittle
behavior and may get cracked.
• Often rocks are cracked at their elastic limit,
which may vary respect to their material
properties.
• Joints can be classified into three groups depending on their
geometrical relationship with the country rock:

• Strike joints – Joints which run parallel to the direction of strike

of country rocks are called "strike joints“.

• Dip joints – Joints which run parallel to the direction of dip of

country rocks are called "dip joints“.

• Oblique joints – Joints which run oblique to the dip and strike
directions of the country rocks are called "oblique joints".
 Folds
• Any bent or curved in a rock strata as a result of
permanent deformation due to tectonic forces, is
called as FOLD.
• They occur singly as isolated folds and in extensive
fold trains of different sizes, on a variety of scales.
• A set of folds distributed on a regional scale
constitutes a fold belt, a common feature of orogenic
zones.
• Folds are commonly formed by shortening of existing
layers.
 Faults
• Fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a
volume of rock, across which there has been
significant displacement along the fractures as a
result of earth movement.
• Energy release associated with rapid movement
on active faults is the cause of most
earthquakes.
• These earth quake may cause tremendous loss
of life and property.
Faults
 Faults
• Faults occur when brittle rocks
fracture and there is an offset along
the fracture.
• When the offset is small, the
displacement can be easily measured,
but sometimes the displacement is so
large that it is difficult to measure.
 Fault Terminology
• A fault line is the surface trace of a fault, i-e the
line of intersection between the fault plane.
• A clearly seen line is formed by the intersection
of faulted surfaces and can be observed even on
satellite image.
• Hanging wall: fault block above the fault plane is
called as hanging wall.
• Foot wall: fault block below the fault plane is
called as foot wall.
• Fault blocks classified as

Footwall (rock mass

below the fault)

Hanging wall
(rock mass
above the fault)
• Three dominant types
– Normal fault
– Reverse Fault
– Thrust (a low angle reverse fault)
– Strike Slip Fault
 Normal fault

– Hanging wall moves down relative to the footwall.

– Accommodate lengthening or extension of the
crust.
– Exhibit a variety of scales
 Normal Fault
• Larger scale normal faults are associated with fault-
block mountains (Basin and Range of Nevada).

• Normal fault bounded valleys are called graben

• Normal fault bounded ridges are called horsts.

• Basin area has a series of horsts and grabens.
 Reverse faults
– Hanging wall block moves up relative
to the footwall block
– Reverse faults have dips greater than 45o
– Accommodate shortening of the crust
– Strong compressional forces
 Thrust fault
• A special case of reverse fault.
– Hanging wall block moves up relative to the
footwall block
– Thrust faults are characterized by a low dip angle
(less then 45o).
– Accommodate shortening of the crust
– Strong compressional forces
 Strike-Slip Faults
• Dominant displacement is horizontal
and parallel to the strike of the fault
• Types of strike-slip faults
– Right-lateral – as you face the fault, the block on
the opposite side of the fault moves to the right
– Left-lateral – as you face the fault, the block on the
opposite side of the fault moves to the left
Types of Strike Slip Fault
• Fault Splays: Fault is segments into
many small faults.
Sometimes, A big fault initiate many
small other fault known as fault splays or
implication.
Sierra Nevada mountains
 Criteria to identify the faults
Fault scarp
• A fault scarp is the topographic expression of
faulting attributed to the displacement of the
land surface by movement along faults.
• During faulting, one block may rise and appear
as a raised ridge and shows steep bedding.
• Slickenside:
In geology, a slickenside is a smoothly polished surface caused by
frictional movement between rocks along the two sides of a fault. This
surface is normally striated in the direction of movement.  The
surface feels smoother when the hand is moved in the same direction
that the eroded side of the fault moved.
 Mineralization
• Friction along blocks of faults may cause
dynamic metamorphism, fracturing and
brecciation etc
Stream alignment:
Offset streams are found along strike slip
fault . If a stream is changing its path then it
shows the presence of faults.
Raised ridges along coastal areas
Valleys:
Valleys are of great importance because it is said that
90 % of the valleys are being formed along the faults e.g
Kaghan valley has alignment with Kunhar river and these
streams are found along strike slip fault

Kaghan Valley .
Hot water streams:
Hot water streams highly suggests the
presence of fault .

Waterfalls:
Water fall also suggests the presence
of oblique faults.
Surface Geomorphology
IMPORTANCE OF STRUCTURAL
GEOLOGY IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
 What Structural Geologists Should do in
Studying Structures?
Map the geometry of structures accurately in the field
and construct an accurate geologic map.
Measure the orientation of small structures in the field to
know the shapes and relative position of larger
structures
Study the sequence of development and superposition of
different kinds of structures to determine the
sequence condition of deformation.
Try to apply rock-mechanics data to relate structures to
stresses that present in the Earth at the times of
deformation.
Try to compare structures in one area with those else-
where that may have formed by similar-mechanism.
Utilize the geophysical data and other geology
disciplines. Geophysical data such as gravity,
magnetic, and seismic
IMPORTANCE OF STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY AND ITS
RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER FIELDS

• Engineering: Problems such as construction of

bridges, dams, power plants, highways, and
airports, and beneath buildings problems

• Environmental: Problems such as land use,

planning, earth quake hazard, volcanic hazard,
waste isolation and disposal, control of the
distribution of ground water

• Petroleum and mining geology: Understanding

the geometric techniques, projection of faults
geologic contacts, larger trends of regional
processes that control the concentration of
mineral and hydrocarbons
Questions????????