Gollis
UNIVERSITY
Department of Geology
Course:Engineering Geology
Chapter 1: Introduction
Lecturer: Mohamed Jama
Email:
[email protected] Course Contents
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER II: CRYSTALS, MINERALS AND ROCK PETROLOGY
CHAPTER III: GEOLOGICAL WORK OF NATURAL AGENCIES
CHAPTER IV: STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF ROCKS, LANDSLIDE AND EARTH QUAKES
CHAPTER V: SITE EXPLORATION
CHAPTER VI: CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND THEIR PROPERTIES
CHAPTER VII: DAMS AND RESERVOIRS
1.1General Introduction
What is Geology?
Geology (from Greek, Geo = Earth, Logos =science) is the science that deals with
the study of earth as a whole. Thus, it is the science, which deals with the origin,
age, and structure of the earth.
Further more it studies the evolution, modification and extinction of surface and
subsurface features.
Similarly Geology also includes the study of various natural dynamic and
physiochemical processes operating on and in the earth, and the agents, forces
involved and evolved in such processes.
THE SCIENCE OF GEOLOGY
Geology is the study of the Earth, including the materials that it is made of, the physical and chemical
changes that occur on its surface and in its interior, and the history of the planet and its life forms.
THE EARTH AND ITS MATERIALS
The Earth’s radius is about 6370 kilometers, nearly one and a half times the distance from New York to
Los Angeles (Fig. 1–1).
If you could drive a magical vehicle from the center of the Earth to the surface at 100 kilometers per
hour, the journey would take more than two and a half days.
INTERNAL PROCESSES
Processes that originate deep in the Earth’s interior are called internal
processes.
These are the driving forces that raise mountains, cause earthquakes, and
produce volcanic eruptions. Builders, engineers, and city planners might consult
geologists, asking, “What is the probability that an earthquake or a volcanic
eruption will damage our city? Is it safe to build skyscrapers, a dam, or a nuclear
waste repository in the area?”
SURFACE PROCESSES
Surface processes are all of those processes that sculpt the Earth’s surface.
Most surface processes are driven by water, although wind, ice, and gravity are
also significant.
The hydrosphere includes water in streams, wetlands, lakes, and oceans; in
the atmosphere; and frozen in glaciers.
It also includes ground water present in soil and rock to a depth of at least 2
kilometers
Surface processess
Surface processess
THE EARTH’S LAYERS
The energy released by an earthquake travels through the Earth as waves. Geologists have found
that earthquake waves abruptly change both speed and direction at certain depths as they pass
through the Earth’s interior.
THE CRUST
The crust is the outermost and thinnest layer. Because the crust is relatively cool, it
consists of hard, strong rock.
Crust beneath the oceans differs from that of continents. Oceanic crust is 5 to 10
kilometers thick and is composed mostly of a dark, dense rock called basalt.
In contrast, the average thickness of continental crust is about 20 to 40 kilometers,
although under mountain ranges it can be as much as 70 kilometers thick. Continents are
composed primarily of a light-colored, less dense rock called granite.
THE MANTLE
The mantle lies directly below the crust. It is almost 2900 kilometers thick and makes up 80
percent of the Earth’s volume.
Although the chemical composition may be similar throughout the mantle, Earth temperature and
pressure increase with depth.
These changes cause the strength of mantle rock to vary with depth, and thus they create layering
within the mantle.
The upper part of the mantle consists of two layers.
The Lithosphere
The uppermost mantle is relatively cool and consequently is hard, strong rock. In fact, its
mechanical behavior is similar to that of the crust.
The outer part of the Earth, including both the uppermost mantle and the crust, make up the
lithosphere (Greek for “rock layer”). The lithosphere can be as thin as 10 kilometers where
tectonic plates separate. However, in most regions, the lithosphere varies from about 75
kilometers thick beneath ocean basins to about 125 kilometers under the continents.
A tectonic (or lithospheric) plate is a segment of the lithosphere.
The Asthenosphere
At a depth varying from about 75 to 125 kilometers, the strong, hard rock of the lithosphere gives
way to the weak, plastic asthenosphere.
This change in rock properties occurs over a vertical distance of only a few kilometers, and
results from increasing temperature with depth.
Although the temperature increases gradually, it crosses a threshold at which the rock is close to
its melting point.
As a result, 1 to 2 percent of the asthenosphere is liquid, and the asthenosphere is mechanically
weak and plastic. Because it is plastic, the asthenosphere flows slowly, perhaps at a rate of a few
centimeters per year.
THE CORE
The core is the innermost of the Earth’s layers. It is a sphere with a radius of about 3470
kilometers and is composed largely of iron and nickel. The outer core is molten because of the
high temperature in that region.
Near its center, the core’s temperature is about 6000ºC, as hot as the Sun’s surface.
The pressure is greater than 1 million times that of the Earth’s atmosphere at sea level.
The extreme pressure overwhelms the temperature effect and compresses the inner core to a
solid.
To visualize the relative thickness of the Earth’s layers, let us return to an analogy used early.
Imagine that you could drive a magical vehicle at 100 kilometers per hour through the Earth,
from its center to its surface.
You would pass through the core in about 35 hours and the mantle in 29 hours. You would drive
through oceanic crust in only 6 minutes, and most continental crust in about half an hour.
When you arrived at the surface, you would have spent the last 3.5 hours traversing the entire
asthenosphere and lithosphere.
Internal structure of the earth
The real interior of the earth is nowhere exposed to our direct observation. But
there are two methods of investigation of the internal structure of the earth.
These are:
i) Direct method
ii) Indirect method.
i) Direct method: is the method in which the investigation of the internal
structure of the earth is carried by direct drilling.
But with our present scientific skills we can hardly penetrate more than a few
kilometers below the surface.
Ground investigation
Indirect method
ii) Indirect method: is the method in which the investigation of the internal
structure of the earth is done by seismic refraction and reflection.
Much of Our knowledge of the internal constitution of the earth has come from
the study of the seismic waves generated by earthquakes.
On the basis of these studies, a three-fold shell like structure has been
suggested for the earth and this has almost been universally accepted.
Seismic waves
Seismic wave is a general term for elastic wave produced by earthquake or
originated artificially by explosions.
Elastic wave is a wave propagated by medium having inertia and elasticity in
which displaced particles transfer momentum to neighboring particles, and are
them selves restored to the original position.
Seismic wave includes both body and surface waves
(a) Body waves: are seismic waves, which are penetrating the interior of the
earth.
These waves create little damage because of their low amplitude. These waves
further divide into primary (p) waves and secondary (s) waves.
(i) Primary (P) waves: are longitudinal or compressional waves that involve back
and forth vibrations of particles of matter in the same direction in which waves
travel.
So the disturbances proceed as series of compressions and rarefaction.
Because the rigidity of a fluid is zero, S waves cannot be transmitted by such a
medium.
(b)Surface (L) waves: are analogous to water waves, which involve orbital
motions of particles of matter and are limited to the vicinity of a free surface.
These waves are destructive because they have high amplitude.
The three kinds of seismic waves travel with different velocities. Hence they
arrive geophone at different time after an earthquake.
P waves arrive first, next S waves and finally L waves.
The velocities of P and S waves increase with depth, so refraction causes them
to travel along curved paths through the earth.
In addition, both refraction and reflection occur at boundaries between
regions with different physical properties.
The analysis of seismic waves received at different observatories around the
world has led to the identification of 3 principal regions with in the earth.
These regions are crust, mantle and core.
What is Engineering Geology?
Engineering geology is branch of science, which deals with the study of
construction sites, and construction material.
It has great importance in safe, economic and stable designs of engineering
projects.
A. In construction jobs
In all types of heavy construction jobs which include buildings, towers, dams,
reservoirs, high ways and bridges, traffic and hydropower tunnels,
embankments and retaining structure, geological information about the site of
construction and construction material is important.
In the matter of planning of an engineering project, geology serves the
engineer in the following ways
(i)It provides the engineer with a general guidance about the suitability of site for a
proposed project.
(ii) It enables him to appreciate the limiting factors imposed upon his
planning by topography, geomorphology, and ground water conditions of the area.
(iii) It gives him a general idea about the availability of different types of construction
materials.
(iv) It guides him in limiting the exploratory operations (drilling etc) for selecting the final
site.
The engineer, who is responsible for the quality control of the construction materials,
will be greatly benefited by his geological background of the natural materials as
sands, gravels, crushed rocks etc.
Similarly for construction in geologically sensitive areas like in coastal belts and
seismic regions geological information is important.
In coastal regions the behavior of rocks towards the sea should be studied before
planning and designing of the project in these areas.
In the seismic zones, which are frequently visited by earth quakes; the past seismic
history of the area will enable the engineer to assess nature and magnitude of
danger to a proposed civil structure from seismic shocks.
Problems that can happen the lack of engineering geologist in the construction
projects.
Dam failure due to the lack of engineering geologist
the most common reason behind the failure of dam structures
from the review taken from past studies is overtopping. The
overtopping is caused either due to overtopping, which is
something concerned with the design of the spillway.
(B) In town and regional
planning
Engineering geology contributes significantly towards better town
and regional planning by providing the planning engineer a broad
perspective of nature and properties of the materials that make
the landscape of the area or region.
C) In water resources
development
In exploitation of water for human use from both surface and
subsurface sources, the engineer has to depend to a great extent
on the geological information.
Study of the water cycle is an essential pre- requisite for planning
and execution of major water development programs.
This obviously involves understanding of the water bearing
properties of the rocks as well as the factors that influence the
movement of water through them.
(d) In Miscellaneous fields
Geology is becoming important in many other engineering fields of activity of
the modern times.
These include land evaluation, oceanography, space exploration and nuclear
explosion for industrial and engineering purposes.
Thank you for your attention
End.
