Definition: Shapes and characters of individual parts

of a rock mass in any scale and the manner in which

these parts are distributed and oriented in space
(1) PRIMARY STRUCTURES: original features of sedimentary
or igneous rocks resulting from deposition or
emplacement.
e.g. cross-bedding, ripple mark, graded bedding:
sedimentary structures
porphyritic texture, cumulate layering: igneous structures
(2) SECONDARY STRUCTURES: structures reflecting
subsequent deformation or metamorphism. e.g. fold, joint,
fault, foliation, porphyroblastic texture
 Structural Geology Concept

Rocks below the earth's surface are hot and tend to flow, whereas rocks
at the surface are relatively cool and tend to be more brittle. Thus,
rocks at the surface (or near-surface) fracture while rocks deep
inside the earth flow.

DEFORMATION: when rocks are subjected to stresses (forces) greater

than their own internal strength. Caused by stress and resulting in
strain

Stress -- force acting upon an object to create deformation

Strain -- resultant of the stress applied; end product

There are several types of stresses that can be applied to a rock unit:
1. Extension or tension (pulling apart)
2. Compression (pushing together)
3. Shearing or twisting (one portion in one direction, the other portion
in another direction)
Three kinds of differential stress occur

• Tensional stress (or extensional stress), which

stretches rock;

• Compressional stress, which squeezes rock; and

• Shear stress, which result in slippage and translation.

 squeezes rock

Stress equal on all direction

stretches rock
Compress
rock
 Slippage&
translation

which result in slippage and translation.

 When rocks deform they are said to
strain. A strain is a change in SIZE,
SHAPE, OR VOLUME OF A MATERIAL
 STAGES OF DEFORMATION
When a rock is subjected to increasing stress it passes
through 3 successive stages of deformation.

ELASTIC DEFORMATION -- wherein the strain is reversible

DUCTILE DEFORMATION -- wherein the strain is irreversible

FRACTURE - irreversible strain wherein the material breaks.

divide materials = 2 classes that depend on their relative behavior under stress.
• Brittle materials have a small or large region of elastic behavior but only a
small region of ductile behavior before they fracture
• Ductile materials have a small region of elastic behavior and a large
region of ductile behavior before they fracture
TEMPERATURE - At high T molecules and their bonds can stretch and
move, thus materials will behave in more ductile manner. At low T,
materials are brittle

With increase in
temperature,
stick-slip changes
into stable sliding
CONFINING PRESSURE
At high confining P
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 behavior is
favored
COMPOSITION:
CHEMICAL BOND,
MINERALOGY & WATER

WET ROCK tends to

behave in DUCTILE
MANNER

DRY ROCKS tend to

behave in BRITTLE
MANNER
e.g.) If a rock has a higher content of quartz,
there is an increasing tendency of stick-slip.
On the other hand, serpentine tends to inhibit stick-slip
 Rocks near the
surface (CRUST) -
brittle

At a depth of about 15 km - a point

called the BRITTLE-DUCTILE
TRANSITION ZONE

point rock strength decreases because Rocks near the

fractures become closed and the temperature
is higher, making the rocks behave in a ductile Lithosphere -
manner
DUCTILE
FAULT

FOLDING
There can be two (2) resulting responses to stress:
1. Ductile deformation -- usually occurring deeper and with higher
temperatures; flow
2. Brittle deformation -- usually occurring shallower and with cooler
temperatures

Ductile deformation produces folds:

1. Anticline -- upwarping of rocks to produce an "A-like" structure
2. Syncline -- downwarping of rocks to produce "spoon-like" structure
3. Dome -- three-dimensional anticline resembling inverted cereal bowl
4. Basin -- three-dimensional syncline resembling upright cereal bowl

*When BRITTLE deformation occurs and rocks fracture, they can

simply crack producing a FRACTURE WITH NO OFFSET, CALLED
A JOINT.

When BRITTLE deformation occurs and rocks fracture, they

can also CRACK PRODUCING A FRACTURE WITH OFFSET,
CALLED A FAULT.
FAULTS AND STRESSES

Faults of different types are characteristic of the stress field in which

they formed.

Faults are nothing more than failure of the crust in shear.

The crust is generally in a TRIAXIAL state of stress with three
PRINCIPAL STRESS DIRECTIONS, one vertical and two horizontal
(like a set of cartesian axes).
THERE ARE 4 MAJOR FAULTS TYPES IN 2 CATEGORIES:

•1. Dip-slip faults: associated with vertical motion

•Normal fault -- produced from tensional forces
•Reverse fault -- produced from compressional forces

•2. Strike-slip faults: associated with horizontal motion

•Right-lateral strike-slip fault -- right side comes towards you as
you peer across
•Left-lateral strike-slip fault -- left side comes towards you as you
peer across
NORMAL FAULTS - are faults
that result from HORIZONTAL
TENSIONAL STRESSES in brittle
rocks and where the hanging-wall
block has moved down relative to
the footwall block
Horsts & Grabens - Due to the tensional stress responsible for
normal faults, they often occur in a series, with adjacent faults
dipping in opposite directions.
· The down-dropped blocks form grabens
· The uplifted blocks form horsts.
HALF-GRABENS - A normal fault that HAS A CURVED FAULT
PLANE WITH THE DIP DECREASING WITH DEPTH can cause the
down-dropped block to rotate
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
A THRUST FAULT:is a special case of A REVERSE FAULT WHERE
THE DIP OF THE FAULT IS LESS THAN 15O. Thrust faults can
have considerable displacement, measuring hundreds of kilometers,
and can result in older strata overlying younger strata.
THRUST FAULT
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. Strike
slip faults can be of two varieties, depending on the sense of
displacement.
1. To an observer standing on one side of the fault and looking
across the fault, if the block on the other side has moved to the
left, we say that the fault is a left-lateral strike-slip fault

2. If the block on the other side has moved to the right, we say
that the fault is a right-lateral strike-slip fault
Transform-Faults are a special class of strike-slip faults. These are
plate boundaries along which two plates slide past one another in a
horizontal manner
EVIDENCE OF MOVEMENT ON FAULTS
· SLIKENSIDES 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.

·FAULT BRECCIAS are crumbled up rocks consisting of angular

fragments that were formed as a result of grinding and crushing
movement along a fault.
FAULT

FOLDING
When rocks deform in a DUCTILE MANNER,
instead of fracturing to form faults, they may
bend or fold, and the resulting structures are
called FOLDS

Folds RESULT FROM COMPRESSIONAL

STRESSES acting over considerable time.
Because THE STRAIN RATE IS LOW, rocks
that we NORMALLY CONSIDER BRITTLE
can BEHAVE IN A DUCTILE manner
RESULTING IN SUCH FOLDS

TYPE OF FOLD:
MONOCLINE FOLDING
ANTICLINE
SINCLINE
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.
· In the diagrams above, the fold axes are
horizontal, but if the fold axis is not horizontal the fold
is called a plunging fold and the angle that the fold
axis makes with a horizontal line is called the plunge
of the fold.
·
An imaginary plane that includes the fold axis and
divides the fold as symmetrically as possible is called
the axial plane of the fold.
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
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
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
 TYPE OF FOLDS
Folds can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Symmetrical folds have limbs that dip at the
same angle, but in opposite directions. Asymmetrical folds have limbs that dip at different
angles in opposite directions. A plane through the fold axis is perfectly vertical for a
symmetrical fold, but has a dip for an asymmetrical fold. The plane is called the axial plane.

If the fold axis has a dip, the anticline or syncline is plunging.

Fracture: Surface of discontinuity, generally with little
displacement
• Extensional Fractures: Displacement perpendicular to
fracture, tensional (Mode I)
• Shear Fractures: Displacement parallel to fractures (Mode II
& III)
RELATIONSHIP TO ROCK STRENGTH

Stronger or "stiffer" rocks have more closely spaced joints.

Strain equivalent along layers of different types.

But if a bed is stronger higher stresses are required to

achieve the same amount of strain in the stronger layers,
therefore they fracture more frequently.
Joint: Extensional Fracture

Surface Morphology or Ornamentation of Joints

•Extensive surface morphology that illustrated joint growth: Origin, Arrest lines.
•Morphology of joint surfaces resembles that of a broken glass or plexiglass
and can be experimentally produced as extensional fractures.

Relationship to Stress
•The joint is an extensional fracture with the deformation involving opening of
the fracture.
· Occur perpendicular to the minimum principal stress, or direction of least
stress.
•Stress described by three perpendicular axes, max, intermediate and minimum
principal stresses. Relationship between stress and strain is known as Young's
Modulus.

Types of Joints
•Systematic and Non Systematic
•Orthogonal, Conjugate, Columnar, etc.
TECTONIC INTEPRETATION
 FAULT & FOLD

DIFFERENT ROCKS behave DIFFERENTLY UNDER STRESS,

we expect that some rocks WHEN SUBJECTED TO THE SAME
STRESS WILL FRACTURE OR FAULT, WHILE OTHERS WILL
FOLD. When such CONTRASTING ROCKS OCCUR in the
same area, such as DUCTILE ROCKS overlying BRITTLE
ROCKS, the BRITTLE ROCKS MAY FAULT and THE DUCTILE
ROCKS MAY BEND OR FOLD over the fault.