Structural Geology and Rock

Mechanics
October 10, 2019
Presented by: Arizval Mendoza
 Related Definitions:
• Structural Geology: a branch of geology that
deals with the form, arrangement, and
internal structure of rocks —called
also geotectonic geology.
• Tectonics aims at unraveling the geological
context in which deformation occurs.
• Geodynamics focuses on the forces that drive
mantle convection, plate motion and
deformation of Earth's material.
 Properties of Earth Materials
• When rocks are subjected to differential stress
the resulting build-up in strain can cause
deformation:
• Fault- elastic deformation which can
ultimately lead to the breaking of the rock
material (faults)
• Folds- ductile deformation which can lead to
the development of Folds.
 Stress and Strain
• Stress is a force acting on a
material that produces a strain.
• Strain is a change in size,
shape, or volume of a material.
• Tensional stress (or extensional
stress), which stretches rock.
• Compressional stress, which
squeezes rock; and
• Shear stress, which result in
slippage and translation.
 Stages of Deformation of a Rock
• Elastic Deformation -- wherein the strain is
reversible.
• Ductile Deformation -- wherein the strain is
irreversible.
• Fracture - irreversible strain wherein the material
breaks.
 Strike and Dip
• Strike and dip refer to the orientation or attitude of a
geologic feature
• Strike line of a bed, fault, or other planar feature, is a line
representing the intersection of that feature with a
horizontal plane.
• Dip gives the steepest angle of descent of a tilted bed or
feature relative to a horizontal plane, and is given by the
number (0°-90°) as well as a letter (N, S, E, W) with rough
direction in which the bed is dipping.
 Fracture of Brittle Rocks
• Joints are fractures in rock that
show no slippage or offset along the
fracture.
• From an engineering point of view,
joints are important structures to
understand. Since they are zones of
weakness, their presence is critical
when building anything from dams
to highways. For dams, the water
could leak out through the joints
leading to dam failure. For highways
the joints may separate and cause
rock falls and landslides.
 Fracture of Brittle Rocks
• Fault occur when brittle rocks fracture and
there is an offset along the fracture.
• faults can be divided into several different
types depending on the direction of relative
displacement. Since faults are planar features,
the concept of strike and dip also applies, and
thus the strike and dip of a fault plane can be
measured.
 Types of Faults
• Dip Slip Faults- are faults that have an inclined
fault plane and along which the relative
displacement or offset has occurred along the
dip direction.
 Types of Faults
• Horsts & Grabens - Due to the tensional stress
responsible for normal faults, they often occur in a
series, with adjacent faults dipping in opposite
directions. In such a case the down-dropped blocks
form grabens and the uplifted blocks form horsts.
 Types of Faults
• Reverse Faults - are faults that result from
horizontal compressional stresses in brittle
rocks, where the hanging-wall block has
moved up relative the footwall block.
 Types of Faults
• Strike Slip Faults - are faults where the
relative motion on the fault has taken place
along a horizontal direction. Such faults result
from shear stresses acting in the crust.
 Evidence of Movement on Fault
• Fault Breccias are crumbled up rocks
consisting of angular fragments that
were formed as a result of grinding and
crushing movement along a fault.
• Slickensides are scratch marks that are
left on the fault plane as one block
moves relative to the other. Slickensides
can be used to determine the direction
and sense of motion on a fault.
• Mylonite - Along some faults rocks are
sheared or drawn out by ductile
deformation along the fault.
 Deformation of Ductile Rocks
• When rocks deform in a ductile manner, instead
of fracturing to form faults or joints, they may
bend or fold, and the resulting structures are
called folds.
• Folds result from compressional stresses or shear
stresses acting over considerable time. Because
the strain rate is low and/or the temperature is
high, rocks that we normally consider brittle can
behave in a ductile manner resulting in such
folds.
 Geometry of Folds
• Folds are described by their form
and orientation. The sides of a
fold are called limbs. The limbs
intersect at the tightest part of
the fold, called the hinge. A line
connecting all points on the
hinge is called the fold axis. An
imaginary plane that includes the
fold axis and divides the fold as
symmetrically as possible is
called the axial plane of the fold.
 Types of Folds
• Monoclines are the simplest types of folds.
Monoclines occur when horizontal strata are
bent upward so that the two limbs of the fold
are still horizontal.
 Types of Folds
• Anticlines are folds where the originally
horizontal strata has been folded upward, and
the two limbs of the fold dip away from the
hinge of the fold.
 Types of Folds
• Synclines are folds where the originally horizontal
strata have been folded downward, and the two
limbs of the fold dip inward toward the hinge of the
fold. Synclines and anticlines usually occur together
such that the limb of a syncline is also the limb of an
anticline.