Mekdela Amba University

College Of Natural and Computational Science

Department of Geology
Structural Geology Lecture Note

By Alemnew A.(Msc. in Engineering Geology)

2/21/2025 By Alemnew A.(Msc in Geological Engineering 1
 Definition
• Structural Geology is the study of an architecture and
geometry of rocks and rock formation that have developed
from deformation.
• The architecture of rock is a result of the forces that
deform rocks (stress applied) and the effects of this force
(strain).
❖ Structural Geology is also the study of the 3D
distribution of rock with respect to their deformational
histories.
❖Structural Geology is the study of factors such as origin,
occurrence, classification, type and effects of various
secondary structures like folds, faults, joints, rock
fabrics and primary such as Bedding and Vesicular
structures, which develop during time of their formation.
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 Cont.…

• What we study in structural geology is strain and its related

translations and rotations.
• This is the end product of deformation.
• We never observe stress or the forces responsible for the
deformation.
• In Structural Geology, we study geological materials that were
deformed in the past, whether it be a landslide that formed
two hours ago or a fold that formed 500 Ma ago.
• The stresses that were responsible for that deformation are
no longer present.
• Even when the stresses of interest are still present, such as in
the test of the strength of a concrete block in an engineering
experiment, you cannot measure stress directly.
• What you do is measure the strain of some material whose
material response to stress, or “rheology”, is very well known.

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 Cont.….

Definitions of Terminologies w

• Attitude of structural elements: refers to the general

orientation of the structural elements (using the
geographic coordinate and an imaginary horizontal plane).
• Trend: direction of a line in a horizontal plane
• Bearing: a horizontal angle measured east or west of true
north or south.
E.g. N 450W, N450E, S300W, S300E.
• Azimuth: a horizontal angle measured clockwise from a
true north.
Eg. 0150,, 0450, 1500, 2200
• who:
• Studies deformation of rocks
• Identifies and interprets geological structures and their tectonic implications

Studies deformation of rocks

• Identifies and interprets geological structures and their tectonic implications

• deformation of rocks
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•
By Alemnew A.(Msc
Identifies and interprets geological structures and their tectonic implications
in Geological Engineering 4
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• Strike: the trend (direction) of a horizontal line on an

inclined plane
• Dip: the inclination of a line of greatest slope on an
inclined plane. It is measured perpendicular to the strike.
• Inclination: The general term for the vertical angle
measured downward from the horizontal to a plane or a
line.
• Apparent dip: the inclination of a line on an inclined plane
measured in a direction oblique to the strike direction. It
is always less than the true-dip.
• Plunge: a vertical angle from horizontal to a line i.e. an
inclination of a line.
• Pitch: an angle between a horizontal line and any line along
an inclined plane.
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Objectives of Structural Geology
• Structural geology is concerned with deciphering three
important problems:

• What is structure or deformation?

• How does deformation (or deformation movements)

take place? How do rocks behave during deformation?

• What is the cause of deformation? Under what

physical conditions did the structure form?

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 Cont.…
What is structure or deformation?
• In answering this question, it requires
• Recognizing and describing the geometrical aspects
of the structure (primary, secondary, and contact).
• Recognition or description of structures may be based on –
➢Aerial photo and remote sensing data interpretation.
➢Direct observation in the field.
➢Micro-fabric study in thin-section.
➢Drilling into the subsurface.
➢Geophysical monitoring and probing of the subsurface.
➢Laboratory study of experimentally deformed rocks etc.

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• Measuring and Recording the orientation of structural

elements (physical and geometric elements), e.g. angles
between lines and between planes.
• This may include careful recording of data in notebook,
making sketches, taking pictures etc.
• This is the descriptive or geometric aspect of the
structural analysis.

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 Cont.…
How does deformation take place? , How do
rocks behave during deformation?
• Examining and understanding the deformation behaviour
of rock (e.g. brittle, ductile, elastic, viscous behaviour
etc.) and the type of deformational movements and
changes (including distortion, dilation, translation, rotation
of the deforming body)

• Evaluating and determining the structural change in terms

of extension, stretch, angular shear, shear strain etc.
(=STRAIN ANALYSIS).This is kinematic analysis of
structures.
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 Cont.…
What is the cause of deformation?
Under what physical conditions did the structure
form?
❖This involves:
• Explaining and analysing the type of stress field
responsible for deformation. (e.g. the values of principal
stress axes, normal and shear stresses etc.)

• Interpreting and Reconstructing the physical conditions

prevailed during deformation. (e.g. P-T conditions, pore-fluid
conditions, relation to Plate tectonics etc.).

• This is the dynamic analysis of structure. The basis for

dynamic analysis is theoretical and experimental research.

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Recognition of Geologic Contacts & Primary
Structures
• The Two Categories of Fundamental Structures, these are
contact and primary structure.

• Contacts: are boundaries that separate one rock body from

another.
Normal Depositional Contact
• Sedimentary layers and/or volcanic layers are deposited on
each other conformably, forming a sequence of parallel to
sub-parallel beds.
• Takes place during continuous deposition or during
separate events so close in time that the age difference
between the young and the older layers cannot be
detected with our existing time pieces.
• Normal depositional contacts are usually planar to slightly
irregular in form.
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 Cont.…
Depositional contact can be conformable or unconformable
• Conformable contact: are those two beds of continuous
depositional sequence
• Unconformity Contact: are those representing time gap
(depositional hiatus) between two layers of [Link]
non-sequential difference in time is caused by erosion
and/or a period of non-deposition.
• There are about four types of Unconformities. These are:
Parallel Unconformity
Disconformity
Angular Unconformity
Nonconformity
Tectonic Contact
• It is a contact formed by brittle and semi brittle
deformation of rocks.
• It could be fault (normal, thrust) or shear zone contact.
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 Cont.….
• Angular unconformity is used
when layers below are clearly tilted or
folded and then eroded before deposition
continuous on the eroded surface.
• Disconformity is used when beds
above and below are parallel but a well-
developed erosional surface can be
recognized by irregular incision, soil
development, or basal gravel deposits on
top.
• Para-conformity is used for obscure
unconformities where correlation with time
markers elsewhere indicates missing
strata, even though no evidence of gap is
present locally.
• Nonconformity is used for deposition
of bedded strata on unbedded (usually
igneous or metamorphic) basement.

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 Cont.…
Intrusive Contacts
• Intrusions may be igneous or sedimentary rocks.
Sedimentary intrusive contact
• Sedimentary intrusions are of two types: Soft-sediment intrusions
and salt diapirs.

• Soft-sediment intrusions: involve the squeezing and/ or buoyant

rise of buried but yet-unconsolidated water-rich muds and sands in
to adjacent or overlying country rock.

• Salt diapirs: are domes, pillars, and walls of salt that buoyantly
rise as rheids from thick beds of evaporates in to overlying
sedimentary country rocks.

• The term “diapir” is used to describe any body that has been able
to flow as a fluid or solid state and can intrude the surrounding
country rock.

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 Cont.…

Igneous Intrusive Contact

• This happens when molten magma (or lava) intrudes into pre-
existing rock layers and cools to form an igneous rock body.

• The contact between the molten rock and the surrounding

rocks is called an intrusive contact.

• This type of contact is often observed between igneous

intrusions like dikes, sills, or plutons and the surrounding rock
units.

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Primary Structures
• They originate during the formation of the rock, either through
depositional processes or deformational processes.
• Primary structures in sedimentary rocks form before
lithification.
• In volcanic and intrusive igneous rocks, primary structures
form during the flow and cooling of magma.
• Metamorphic rocks do not possess primary structures, for
metamorphic rocks are made secondarily at the expense of pre-
existing sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic rocks.

Primary sedimentary structures

Bedding
• Ranges from massive layering to delicate lamination, is a
fundamental primary structure in sedimentary rocks.
• Bedding is distinctive because of color, texture, composition
and resistance to physical properties.
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 Cont.…

Cross- stratification/bedding
• Found with in clastic sedimentary rocks, in siltstone and
sandstone.
• It is characterized by bedding or lamination oriented at an
angle to the bedding surfaces that mark the top and bottom of
the cross-stratified unit.
• The cross-beds or cross-laminations are tangential to the lower
bedding surface and they are sharply truncated along the upper
surface.

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Ripple Marks Cont.

• Ripple marks are repeated wave forms of sand, silt, and mud
that are created in shallow water because of the action of
currents,
• Oscillation ripple marks have a symmetrical concave form that
reveals facing with in a sedimentary sequence.
• Current ripple marks are asymmetrical, imparting a polarity to
the primary structure by which current direction can be
determined.

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 Cont.…

Graded Bedding
• Some sandstones and conglomerates are marked by zones of
graded bedding,
• Since the grain size becomes finer upward, graded bedding
constitutes a useful facing/youngling indicator.

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 Cont.…

Load Structures
• These are also primary sedimentary structures developed as a
result of density difference between the overlaying coarser
material and the underlaying fine sediments.
• Load structures can be further classified as: load cast and
flame structures.

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 Cont.….

Groove Structures
• Groove Marks: - are relatively long linear casts produced by
the scratching and plowing of current of current-propelled
objects across the soft surface of mud.
• Flute casts:- are foot print shaped features that taper
from wide to narrow from toe to heel.

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Desiccation structures
• They are developed in materials, which are highly water
saturated.
• Mud cracks

• Dish structures

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Primary Volcanic structures
Flow Structures
• are formed by continuous and smoothly moving lava on the
sloping surface of e arth.
• Lavas of basic composition are quite mobile because of
their low viscosity and they can flow to greater
distances and after solidification offers very smooth
surface. Such flows are known as ropy lava and are also known
as 'pahoehoe’ structure.

• Lavas of acidic composition, due to their high viscosity, do not

flow to greater distances, after solidification they are found
to offer a very rough surface. Such lava flows are known as
block lava. It is also known as 'aa' structure.

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 Cont.…
pahoe-hoe basalts Aa structure

Pahoe-hoe basalts
Aa structure

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Pillow Structure: It’s a pillow-shaped structure formed when:

• Lava is comparatively viscous and less mobile,
• Extrusion of the lava is underwater, or subaqueous extrusion.

• Pillows form when hot viscous lava is suddenly exposed to

cold water.

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 Cont.…
Columnar Structures:
• The Columnar Structures are
produced by columnar jointing, a
fracture that accommodates
negative dilation during final
congealing and shrinkage of a flow.
• Columns tend to be polygonal in the
same way that mud-cracks
resulting from shrinkage of mud
are polygonal
Vesicular Structures:
• are Identified by the empty
cavities in the igneous rocks.
These cavities are produced
due to the escape of gaseous
matter from the Lava during
cooling

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Intrusive igneous rock structures
• Intrusive igneous rock structures formed bellow the Earth’s
surface where magma is subjected to cooling and
solidification.
• Intrusive igneous rock structures are classified in two ways,
based on the relationship of intrusive igneous structures to
country rock.
Concordant Intrusion:
Concordant Intrusion are those which are parallel to the
bedding plane, i.e. they don’t disturb the individual layers of
country rocks but however they deposited with the bed or layer.
E.g. Laccoliths, Lopoliths and Sills.

Discordant Intrusion:
• Discordant i ntrusion are those which are Perpendicular to
the bedding plane, i.e. they cuts across the bedding
layers of country rocks. Dike, Stock, Batholith.
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 Cont.…
• Laccoliths: - are the intrusions that result in uplift folding of the
pre - existing rocks. They are concordant types of intrusions,
occur between parallel layers of rock at relatively shallow depths.
• Lopoliths: - are the intrusions that result in down lift folding of the
pre - existing rocks. They are concordant types of intrusions,
occur between parallel layers of rock at relatively deeper depths.
• Sill: - is a horizontal or near-horizontal sheet like intrusion that
follows through the bedding planes and does not cut across
planes.
• Dike: - is the thin sheet of the igneous rock that formed when
magma moves vertically through fracture in a pre-existing rock body.
• Stocks: - are just the top of a largest body of batholith, that
has a relatively small part of it exposed at the surface.
• Batholith: - is the largest igneous intrusion, usually so large that
their bottom is rarely exposed. They are formed deep below
the surface when large masses of magma cool and solidify.

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1.4 Classification and Description of Secondary
Structures
• Secondary structures are structures that form in
sedimentary or igneous rocks after lithification and in
metamorphic rocks during or after their formation due to
stress.
• Secondary structures can be classified as:
• Penetrative
• Nonpenetrative
• Penetrative - characterizes the entire body of rock at the
scale of observation.
• Non-penetrative - Does not characterize the entire body of
rock.

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 Cont.…

• These terms are totally scale dependent.

• A cleavage can be penetrative at one scale (i.e. the rock appears to

be composed of nothing but cleavage planes), but non-penetrative
at another (e.g. at a higher magnification where one sees coherent
rock between the cleavage planes):

• The importance of scale applies not only to description, but also to

our mechanical analysis of structures.

• For example, it may not be appropriate to model a rock with

fractures and irregularities at the mesoscopic scale as an elastic
plate, whereas it may be totally appropriate at a regional scale.
There are no firm rules about what scale is appropriate for which
analysis.

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 Cont.…

At a small scale the faults can At a relatively larger scale of

be Considered to be observation, the faults appear
penetrative To be widely spaced

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Structures can also be classified as:
Brittle and Ductile
• Brittle Structures: - when elastic deformation leads to
failure; a material (rock body) loses cohesion by the
development of a fracture or fractures across which the
continuity of the material is broken, this type of
behavior is called Brittle Behavior and governs the
development of faults and joints.
• Ductile Structures: - ductile behavior in contrast
produces permanent strain that exhibits smooth variation
across the deformed sample or rock with out any marked
discontinuity. E.g folding of rocks.

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 Cont.….

• In describing the overall relationship of rock masses, the

fundamental secondary structures in nature are grouped as:
• Joints: - are planar cracks formed in response to tectonic
and thermal stresses. E.g. longitudinal joints.
• Shear fractures: - are cracks with slight sliding or
shearing parallel to the plane of fractures.
• Faults: - are discrete fracture surfaces along which
rocks have been offset by movement parallel to the
fracture surfaces.
• Folds: - are structures that form when beds and layers
are transformed in to curved bent and crumbled shapes.
• Foliations: - are very closely spaced parallel planar
alignments of features.
• Lineation's: - preferred linear alignments of features
that pervade rock bodies.
• Shear zones: - a tabular to sheet like planar or curvy-
planar zone composed of rocks that are highly strained
than rocks adjacent to the zone.
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 1.5 Environment of Deformation
Deformation takes place as a result of external forces,
the sources of which can be:
• tectonic forces
• movement of magma
• gravity of the earth
• Tectonic forces are the most common causes of
deformation. The principal forces and resistance that
control plate movements are: -
• Ridge Push (RP)
• Slab Pull or Negative Buoyancy (SP)
• Slap (or Trench) Suction (SS)
• Ridge Resistance(RR)
• Slab Resistance or Slab Drag (SR/SD)
• Mantle Drag (MD)
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 Cont.…

• Certain characteristic families of structures are associated

with particular tectonic environments.
• Tectonic regimes are categorized into two major parts:
Active plate margin regimes
Intra-plate regimes
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 Cont.….

TECTONIC REGIMES MAJOR STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

A. ACTIVE PLATE MARGINS REGIMES

Constructive plate margin (Mid-oceanic ridge); e.g. Icelandic Extensional fault system; strike-slip fault system
Rift system

Conservative plate margin; e.g. San Andreas fault system, Strike-slip fault system
Dead Sea transform fault

Destructive plate margin (Converging plate margin); e.g. Subduction complexes; Fold and thrust belt
Japanese Island Arc system

Collision Zone; e.g. Himalayan collision zone Over-thrust sheet; fold nappies; strike-slip faults

B. INTRA-PLATE REGIMES
Passive Continental Margin; e.g. Western African continental Normal faulting; Syn-depositional structures
margin; Eastern American continental margin

Continental Rift Zones; e.g. East African Rift; North Sea Extensional (normal) faulting; Strike-slip systems
Basin linking extensional faults

Intra-plate Strike-slip Zones; e.g. Northern Rocky Mountain Major fault systems, associated en-echelon folding.

Intra-plate fold and fault belts; e.g. Basin and Range, USA Variable folding and thrusting; Extensional faulting
associated with regional uplift

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 Cont.…
• Why an understanding and knowledge of Structural Geology
is important? (objective)
• Understanding structural geology can help us more fully appreciate
the problem of finding more of the earth’s natural resources, such as
water, metal ores, petroleum & gas, rock aggregates, etc.
• To understand earthquake for example, one must know about faults.
• Appreciating how major mountain belts and the continent have
evolved calls for a comprehension of faulting and folding.
• Understanding plate-tectonic theory as a whole also requires a
knowledge of structural geology
• In areas of active tectonics, the location of geologic structure is
very important in selection of suitable sites for buildings, dams,
highway, bridge, tunnels, nuclear power plants, etc.
• The knowledge of structural geology is also very important in
geohazards (landslide, earthquake, tsunami, subsidence, erosions, etc)
mitigation and control measures.

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 End of Chapter 1

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