Republic of the Philippines

University of Eastern Philippines

University Town, Northern samar
S.Y. 2019-2020

Report
in
Geology For Civil Engineers

Submitted by:
Bugani, Jherica
Danque, Jessica
Gallano, Caryl Dawn
Ortonero, Cris
Villamor, Darwin

Submitted to:
Engr. Ric Gonzaga

Geology in the field of Civil Engineering

 Geology is the study of earth, the materials of which it is made, the structure of
those materials and the effects of the natural forces acting upon them and is important
to civil engineering because all work performed by civil engineers involves earth and its
features. Fundamental understanding of geology is so important that it is a requirement
in university-level civil engineering programs. For a civil engineering project to be
successful, the engineers must understand the land upon which the project rests.
Geologists study the land to determine whether it is stable enough to support the
proposed project. They also study water patterns to determine if a particular site is
prone to flooding. Some civil engineers use geologists to examine rocks for important
metals, oil, natural gas and ground water.
Engineering geology is the application of the geology to engineering study for
the purpose of assuring that the geological factors regarding the location, design,
construction, operation and maintenance of engineering works are recognized and
accounted for. Engineering geologists provide geological and geotechnical
recommendations, analysis, and design associated with human development and
various types of structures. The realm of the engineering geologist is essentially in the
area of earth-structure interactions, or investigation of how the earth or earth
processes impact human made structures and human activities.
Engineering geology studies may be performed during the planning,
environmental impact analysis, civil or structural engineering design, value engineering
and construction phases of public and private works projects, and during post-
construction and forensic phases of projects.

Geologic Structure
The rocks, which from the earths crust, undergo various deformations,
dislocations and disturbances under the influence of tectonic forces. The result is the
occurrence of different geological structures like folds, fault, joints and unconformities
in rocks. The details of mode of formation, causes, types, classification, importance etc
of these geological structures from the subject matter of structural geology.
Geologic structures are usually the result of the powerful tectonic forces that
occur within the earth. These forces fold and break rocks, form deep faults, and build
mountains. Repeated applications of force—the folding of already folded rocks or the
faulting and offsetting of already faulted rocks—can create a very complex geologic
picture that is difficult to interpret. Most of these forces are related to plate tectonic
activity. Some of the natural resources we depend on, such as metallic ores and
petroleum, often form along or near geologic structures. Thus, understanding the
origin of these structures is critical to discovering more reserves of our nonrenewable
resources.
Structural geology is the study of the processes that result in the formation of
geologic structures and how these structures affect rocks. Structural geology deals
with a variety of structural features that can range in size from microscopic (such as
traces of earlier folds after multiple events of deformation have occurred) to large
enough to span the globe (such as midoceanic ridges).

Types of Geologic Structures

1. Primary Structures - those which develop at the time of formation of the rocks.
2. Secondary Structures - which are those that develop in rocks after their formation
as a result of their subjection to external forces.
3. Compound Structures / Unconformities - form by a combination of events some
of which are contemporaneous with the formation of a
group of rocks taking part in these "structures".

Stress - is the force applied over a given area of the rock mass.
It is of three different kinds:
 Compressional stress, which tends to squeeze the rock.
 Tensional stress, which tends to pull a rock apart.
 Shear stress, which results from parallel forces that act on different
parts of the rock body in opposite directions.

Strain - it is the change in the shape or size of a rock in response to stress. A rock is
said to deform elastically if it can return to its original size once the stress is
removed. Plastic deformation on the other hand, results in permanent changes in
the size and shape of the rock, even after the stress is removed. Plastic deformation
of a rock is also known as ductile deformation. After deforming plastically for
some time, a rock which continues to be subjected to stress may finally break, a
behaviour known as brittle deformation.

Measuring Geological Structures:

 Strike – the direction in which a geological structure is present. It is the
direction of the trace of the intersection between the beding plane.
 Dip - it means slope or inclination, it is expressed as direction and angle. It is
the direction along which the inclination of the bedding plane occurs.

Types of Secondary Geologic Structures

A. FOLDS
Folds are bends or flexures in the earth's crust, and can therefore be identified
by a change in the amount and/or direction of dip of rock units. Most folds result from
the ductile deformation of rocks when subjected to compressional or shear stress.

Types of Folds
1. Monocline – is a simple bend in the rock layers so that they are no longer
horizontal but are inclined. The oldest rocks are at the bottom and the
youngest are at the top.
2. Anticline – fold that arches upward. The rocks dip away from the center of the
fold. The oldest rocks ae found at the center of an anticline and the
youngest ones are draped over them at the top of the structure.
3. Syncline – fold that bends downward. The rocks curve down to a center. The
youngest rocks are at the center and the oldest at the outside.

B. FAULTS
A fault is a fracture in the earth's rock units along which there has been an
observable amount of movement and displacement. Unlike folds which form
predominantly by compressional stress, faults result from either tension, compression
or shear.

Types of Faults
1. Normal Fault - is a fault in which the hanging wall appears to have moved
downwards relative to the footwall (i.e. downthrown block = hanging wall
block).
2. Reverse Fault - is a fault in which the hanging wall appears to have moved
upwards relative to the footwall (i.e. upthrown block = hanging wall block).
Because the displacement in both normal and reverse faults occurs along the
dip of the fault plane, they may be considered types of dip slip faults.
3. Thrust Fault - is a reverse fault in which the fault plane is dipping at low
angles (< 45°). Thrusts are very common in mountain chains (fold and thrust
belts) where they are characterized by transporting older rocks on top of
younger ones over long distances.
4. Strike Slip (Wrench, Tear or Trans Current) Fault - is a fault in which the
movement is horizontal along the strike of the fault plane. Strike slip faults are
either dextral or sinistral. A dextral fault (also known as right lateral fault) is
one in which the block on the observer's right hand side appears to have
moved towards him, whereas a sinistral strike slip fault (also known as left
lateral) is one in which the block on the observer's left hand side appears to
have moved towards him.
5. Oblique Slip Fault - is one in which the displacement was both in the strike and
dip directions (i.e. the displacement has strike and dip components). Keep in
mind that an oblique slip fault can also be either normal or reverse.

From this classification of faults, it can be seen that normal faults result
predominantly from tensional stress, reverse faults and thrusts from compression (or
shear), and strike slip faults from tension, compression or shear.

C. JOINTS
Joints are fractures in the rocks characterized by no movement along their
surfaces. Although most joints are secondary structures, some are primary, forming at
the time of formation of the rocks.

Types of Joints
 Columnar Joints - are joints that form in basalts. When the basaltic lava cools, it
contracts giving rise to hexagonal shaped columns.
 Mud Cracks - are joints that form in mud. As the mud loses its water, it
contracts and cracks.
 Secondary Joints - are joints that form in rocks as a result of their subjection to
any form of stress (compression, tension or shear). Joints that are
oriented in one direction approximately parallel to one another make up
a joint set. Rocks often have more than one set of joints with different
orientations, which may intersect, and are then known as joint systems.
Note that tensional stress usually results in one set of joints, whereas
compression may form more than one set.
 Sheet joints - are joints that form in granitic rocks in deserts causing them to
break into thin parallel sheets. These joints form when the rocks expand
as a result of the rapid removal of the overlying rock cover, possibly
due to faulting or quarrying. This process is called exfoliation.
 Types of Compound Structures/Unconformities
1. Angular unconformities: are those in which the angle of dip of the younger
layers is different from that of the older ones.
2. Disconformities: are those in which the units above and below the unconformity
surface are parallel to each other, but not continuous in deposition or
age.
3. Nonconformities: are those in which plutonic or metamorphic rocks are covered
by sedimentary or volcanic units.

EFFECTS AND CIVIL ENGINEERING IMPORTANCE OF FOLDS, FAULTS,

JOINTS AND UNCONFORMITIES

Effects of Folding
 Change in Attitude
 Shattering of Rocks
 Weak in strength parameters
 Porous and pervious in nature
 Strained nature

Effects of Faulting
 Fracture and shattering of rocks along faults zones
 Serves as pathways for water causes leakage
 Fault zone lubricated with water are potential sites for further movements
 Gouge and breccia causes problems
 Faults bring together, different rocks hence homogeneity is lost.

Importance of Folding and Faults

1. Location of dams
2. Location of tunnels
3. Location of reservoir
4. Quarrying
5. Ground water occurrence
6. Laying roads and railway tracks along hill
7. Oil, gas amd ore deposits

Effects of Joints
 Sources of weakness in rocks, pathways for seepage of water.
 Jointed rocks, lubricated by the presence of water, are susceptible to motion.
 Joints are usually treated by grouting.
 Only a well jointed and porous rock can become a good aquifer or n oil and gas
reservoir.

Importance of Joints
1. Location of dams and reservoir
2. Occurrence if landslide
3. Quarrying
4. Tunneling
Engineering Considerations for Unconformities
 They allow The percolationof water
 It indicates a break in the sequence of rocks, and hence, their engineering
properties
 Hence, exhaustive studies have to be done, to analyze the mechanical
properties of rocks in the vicinity of unconformity.

References:
https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/gauravhtandon1/structural-geology-ii-26485320

https://civilengineeringbible.com/article.php?i=36

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/geology/geologic-structures/geologic-structures-
defined

https://www.scribd.com/doc/99879381/Engineering-Considerations-for-Geologic-Structures