LESSON 1 – INTRODUCTION TO 2.

Historical Geology – origin and development through

time
GEOLOGY
• Paleontology – ancient life (fossils)
• Stratigraphy – succession of strata (layers)
Geology – the study of the solid Earth, the rocks which • Geochronology – age of earth materials to
comprises it, and the processes provide a temporal framework

WHY STUDY GEOLOGY: ORIGIN OF THE EARTH

1. Supplying the things we need 1. Catastrophism – earth’s landscapes shaped by sudden
2. Protecting the environment and often worldwide great catastrophes
3. Avoiding geologic hazards
4. Understanding our surroundings • Unknown causes that no longer operate
• Proposed by Baron Georges Cuvier
2. Uniformitarianism – physical, chemical and
EARTH SYSTEMS: biological laws that operate today also operated in the
geologic past
1. Atmosphere
2. Hydrosphere • Force + Time = Force
3. Biosphere • To understand the past, we look at the present and
4. Geosphere relate the two
• Proposed by James Hutton

HEAT ENGINES:
1. Internal
2. External
LESSON 2 – MATTER AND MINERALS

EARTH’S INTERNAL PROCESSES: LAYERS

Mineralogy – branch of geology that studies the
• Earth’s Interior: composition, properties, and genesis of minerals
- Crust
Minerals – building blocks of rocks
- Mantle
- Core
• Lithosphere – rigid, broken into pieces thar are
in motion CHARACTERISTICS OF MINERALS:
• Asthenosphere – weak N – naturally occurring
I – inorganic
D – definite chemical composition
MAIN BRANCHES OF GEOLOGY: O – orderly crystalline structure
H – homogenously solid
1. Physical Geology – composition, processes beneath
and on the surface

• Volcanology – monitoring, volcanic processes, HOW MINERALS FORM:

hazards
1. Sodium and chlorine ions
• Seismology – earthquake and seismic waves
2. Basic building block of the mineral halite
• Environmental Geology – interaction between
3. Collection of basic building blocks (crystal)
humans and geologic environment
4. Intergrown crystals of the mineral halite
• Engineering Geology – application of geology
information
• Economic Geology – metalliferous and non-
REVIEW ON CHEMISTRY
metalliferous
• Mineralogy – minerals Atom – the smallest particle that cannot be chemically
• Petrology – rocks split
• Geochemistry – chemical composition
Proton – positively charged particles
• Geophysics – physical properties of rocks
• Geomorphology – landforms and landform Neutron – particle with no charge
evolution

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SCI 405 – Geology
Nucleus – the central part of an atom composed of • Conducts heat and electricity
neutrons and electrons • Malleable and ductile
• Have a metallic luster
Electron – negatively charged particle surrounding the
nucleus • High melting and boiling point

Atomic Number – refers to the number of protons in an PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

atom OPTICAL PROPERTIES
Element – refers to the group of atoms of the same 1. Color – most conspicuous characteristics of a mineral
number of protons
• The use of color as a means of identification is
Atomic Mass Number – mass of particular atom often misleading
• Atomic Mass = No. of Protons + No. of Neutrons • Only applicable to some minerals
• Impurities – refers to the elements that are not
Isotope – atoms of the same element with different atomic part of the original compound of mineral
mass number
2. Luster – the appearance of quality of light reflected
• Stable Isotope – contain nuclei that do not tend from the surface of a mineral
to change spontaneously
• Unstable Isotope – have a potential to undergo • Metallic – minerals that have the appearance of a
radioactive decay metal
• Submetallic – minerals with metallic appearance
Electron Cloud – a region where electron moves but develop a dull coating or tarnish
Principal Shells – a principal orbit where an electron • Vitreous – glassy appearance
revolves around the nucleus • Dull/Earth – dull appearance like soil
• Pearly – appearance like a pearl or inside a
Valence Electron – refers to the electron/s on the clamshell
outermost shell • Silky – appearance like satin cloth
Chemical Bond – refers to the force or mechanism that • Greasy – appearance as though coated in oil
holds two or more atoms together to form crystals, the 3. Streak – color of a mineral in powdered form, can also
minerals, and then rocks help distinguish minerals with metallic and nonmetallic
Chemical Compound – refers to the results of bonding luster
of two or more atoms • Metallic minerals have a dense, dark streak
Octet Rule – atoms tend to gain, lose, or share electrons • Nonmetallic minerals have a light-colored streak
until they are surrounded by eight valence electrons 4. Diaphaneity – the ability of a mineral to transit light

• Opaque – no light is transmitted

TYPES OF CHEMICAL BONDING • Translucent – light, but not an image is
transmitted
1. Ionic Bonding – formed by the attraction of two atoms
• Transparent – both light and image are visible
with opposite charges

• Usually formed between metals and non-metals

• Stiff, strong, and frequently crystalline and solid OTHER PROPERIES
• Melts at high temperatures
1. Crystal Shape
• Can conduct electricity when dissolved in water
• Insulators when in solid state • Habit – refers to the common characteristic
shape of a crystal or aggregate of crystals
2. Covalent Bonding – formed by equal sharing of
electrons from both participating atoms 2. Mineral Strength

• Very powerful chemical bonds that exist between • Tenacity – refers to the strength of a mineral or
atoms its resistance to breaking or deforming
• Have a relatively low melting and boiling point • Brittle – can be shatter into small pieces when
• Cannot conduct electricity due to lack of free struck
electrons • Malleable – can be easily hammered into
• Not soluble in water different shapes
• Sectile – can be cut into thin shavings
3. Metallic Bonding – refers to the collective sharing of
• Elastic – can bend and snap back into its original
the sea of valence electrons between several positively
shape after the stress is being released
charged ions

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SCI 405 – Geology
 • Hardness – measures the resistance of a mineral LESSON 2 – ROCKS AND THE ROCK
to abrasion or scratching
CYCLE
- Mohs Hardness Scale – a relative hardness
scale which consist of 10 minerals arranged
in order from softest (1) to hardest (10)
• Cleavage – refers to the tendency of a mineral to Rock – aggregate of minerals/grains, the most common
break along planes of weak bonding and abundant material on earth

3. Mineral Mass • Composed of smaller crystals called minerals

• The grains or crystals may be microscopically
• Density – defines the mass per unit volume of a small or easily seen with the unaided eye
mineral • Textures of Rock
• Specific Gravity – describes the density of - Clastic – is illustrated by grains and cement
mineral in a sandstone
- Crystalline – is illustrated by the
4. Sensory Properties
interlocking crystals in a granite
• Taste – ex. halite (rock salt)
• Feels – have distinct feels
• Smell – ex. sulfur (rotten egg-like smell) TWO BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF ROCK

5. Magnetism – ability of the mineral to be attracted in a 1. Texture – coarse-grained or fine-grained

magnet (ex. magnetite)
2. Mineral Composition – what are the minerals present
6. Double Refraction – ability of a mineral to produce
• Example 1: the large crystals of light-colored
double image when light is transmitted
minerals in granite result from the slow cooling
7. Effervescence – ability of a mineral to fizz when an of molten rock deep beneath the surface. Granite
acid is placed is abundant in the continent crust
• Example 2: Basalt is rich in dark minerals. Rapid
cooling of molten rock at earth’s surface is
MINERAL GROUPS responsible for the rock’s microscopically small
crystals. The oceanic crust is a basalt-rich layer.
1. Silicates – rock-forming minerals composed of silicon
and oxygen

• Tetrahedron-shaped bond – a pyramid shape ROCK’S MINERAL COMPOSITION AND

with four identical faces TEXTURE
• Silicate Structure • A rock’s mineral composition and texture, in turn,
- Independent trihedra reflect the geologic processes that created it
- Single chain
• Has many practical applications, as in the search
- Double chain
for energy and mineral resources and the solution
- Sheet structure
to environmental and engineering problems
- Three-dimensional framework
• Common Silicate Minerals
- Olivine group
FIRST MAJOR GROUP OF ROCKS: IGNEOUS
- Pyroxene group (Augite)
- Amphibole group (Homblende) Igneous Rocks – form when molten rock solidifies at the
- Biotite surface (extrusive) or beneath the surface (intrusive)
- Muscovite
- Potassium Feldspar (Orthoclase) • ‘ignis’ – latin word for fire
- Plagioclase • Ex.: SP Crater in Northern Arizona
- Quartz
Magma – molten rock that is underground
2. Non-silicates – economic minerals for construction
Lava – molten rock that breaks through earth’s surface
• Important Non-silicate Minerals How do igneous rocks form?
- Carbonates
- Halides 1. Molten rock may crystallize at depth or at earth’s
- Oxides surface
- Sulfides 2. When magma crystallizes at depth, intrusive
- Sulfates igneous rocks form. When magma solidifies on
- Native elements (ex. gold, copper) earth’s surface, extrusive igneous rocks form.

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SCI 405 – Geology
IGNEOUS ROCKS TEXTURE: MOST COMMON SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
1. Phaneritic – coarse-grained (> 1mm) 1. Shale
2. Limestone
• Intrusive igneous rocks 3. Quartz Sandstone
• Ex. granite
2. Aphanitic – fine-grained (< 1 mm)
THIRD MAJOR GROUP OF ROCKS:
• Extrusive igneous rocks METAMORPHIC
• Ex. rhyolite
Metamorphic Rocks – is formed deep below earth’s
3. Porphyritic – made up of coarse and fine grains surface where temperatures and pressures are high and in
association with mountain-building episodes
• Phenocrysts – coarse grains
• Groundmass – fine grains • ‘meta’ – greek word for after
• Ex. andesite • ‘morph’ – greek word for form
4. Glassy – no crystals, just glass • Ex.: Vishnu Schist in Grand Canyon
Metamorphism – a process that transforms the
• Ex. obsidian
mineralogy, texture ad sometimes chemical composition
of the parent rock (original rock)

IDENTIFYING IGNEOUS ROCKS

1. Felsic – 65% SiO2, light-colored METAMORPHISM DUE TO HIGH PRESSURE
2. Intermediate – 55-65% SiO2, salt and pepper AND TEMPERATURE
3. Mafic – 45-55% SiO2, dark-colored
Heat
4. Ultramafic - <45% SiO2, green to black
• Subducting sediments are metamorphosed due to
increase in pressure and temperature
SECOND MAJOR GROUP OF ROCKS: • Shallow crustal rocks are metamorphosed by heat
SEDIMENTARY emanating from a nearby magma body
• Rocks buried in a large sedimentary basin may
Sedimentary Rocks – consist of particles derived from
encounter low-grade metamorphic conditions
weathering of other rocks
• Low geothermal gradients are observed in
• This layer consists of durable sand-size grains of subduction zones because cold oceanic crust and
the mineral quartz that are cemented into a solid overlying sediments are descending into the
rock, where the grains were once part of extensive mantle
dunes
Pressure
• ‘sedimentum’ – latin word for settling
• Ex.: Navajo Sandstone in Utah • During mountain building, rocks subjected to
differential stress are shortened in the direction of
How do sedimentary rocks form?
maximum stress and lengthened in the direction
1. Weathering and erosion produce clasts which are of minimum stress
then transported to the site of deposition.
Dissolved ions may eventually become cement
2. The process of lithification takes place during Foliation – refers to any planar (nearly flat) arrangement
progressive burial of mineral grains or crystals within a rock
Five Steps in Clastic Sedimentary Rock Formation Foliated Metamorphic Rocks – are usually layered or
bended
1. Weathering of pre-existing rocks
2. Erosion or transport of weathering products • Platy and elongated minerals having random
3. Deposition of the material orientation
4. Compaction and cementation of the sediment • When differential stress causes rocks to flatten,
5. Lithification the mineral grains rotate and align roughly
perpendicular to the direction of maximum
differential stress
IDENTIFYING SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
Non-foliated Metamorphic Rocks – do not develop a
1. Detrital – composed of a clast of mineral and layered or banded appearance
rock fragments
2. Chemical – precipitation from solution waters
3. Organic – best example: coal
Cebeda, Princess Danica A.
SCI 405 – Geology
CLASSIFICATION OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS Tectonic Processes – are processes that deformed earth’s
crust to create major structural features
1. Type of foliation exhibited
2. Chemical composition of parent rock • Tekto – to build
Continental Drift Hypothesis – continents were once
united into a single supercontinent called Pangaea
Rock Cycle – allows us to view many of the
interrelationships among different parts of the earth • “Pangaea” – all lands
system
Alfred Wegener – suggested that Pangaea broke up long
• Helps understand the origin of igneous, ago and that the continents moved to their current position
sedimentary and metamorphic rocks
• To see that each type is linked to the others by
external and internal processes that act upon and EVIDENCES OF THE CONTINENTAL DRIFT
within the planet HYPOTHESIS:
1. Continental Jigsaw Puzzle
THE ROCK CYCLE • Wegener suspected that the continents might once
1. Magma is molten rock that forms deep beneath have been joined when he noticed the remarkable
the earth’s surface similarity between the coastlines on opposite
2. Over time, the magma cools and solidifies. This sides of the Atlantic Ocean
process, called crystallization, may occur either • However, other Earth scientists challenged
beneath the surface or, following a volcanic Wegener’s use of present-day shorelines to “fit”
eruption, at the surface these continents together
3. In either situation, the resulting rocks are called • These opponents correctly argued that wave
igneous rocks erosion and depositional processes continually
modify shorelines
• Sir Edward Bullard – constructed a map that
ALTERNATIVE PATHS pieced together the edges of the continental
shelves of South America and Africa at a depth of
1. Igneous rocks may remain deeply buried rather about 900 meters (3000 feet)
than being exposed to weathering and erosion at
earth’s surface 2. Fossils matching across the seas
2. Eventually these masses may be subjected to the • Identical fossil organisms had been discovered in
strong compressional forces and high rocks from both South America and Africa
temperatures associated with mountain building • Wegener learned that most paleontologists agreed
3. When this occurs, they are transformed directly that some type of land connection was needed to
into metamorphic rocks explain the existence of similar Mesozoic-age
life-forms on widely separated landmasses
- Paleontologists – scientists who study the
fossilized remains of ancient organisms
• Mesosaurus – a small aquatic freshwater reptile
LESSON 3 – PLATE TECTONICS whose fossil remains are limited to rocks of
Permian age (about 260 million years ago) in
eastern South America and southwestern Africa
CONTINENTAL DRIFT TO PLATE TECTONICS - If Mesosaurus had been able to make the long
journey across the South Atlantic, its remains
• Until the late 1960s most geologists held the view
should be more widely distributed
that the ocean basins and continents had fixed
- As this is not the case, Wegener asserted that
geographic positions and were of great antiquity
South America and Africa must have been
• Over the following decade, scientists came to
joined during that period of Earth
realize that Earth’s continents are not static;
• Glossopteris – Wegener also cited the
instead, they gradually migrate across the globe
distribution of the fossil “seed fern” Glossopteris
• These movements cause blocks of continental
as evidence for Pangaea’s existence
material to collide, deforming the intervening
- With tongue-shaped leaves and seeds too
crust and thereby creating Earth’s great mountain
large to be carried by the wind, this plant was
chains
known to be widely dispersed throughout
• Furthermore, landmasses occasionally split apart.
Africa, Australia, India, and South America
As continental blocks separate, a new ocean basin
- Later, fossil remains of Glossopteris were
emerges between them. Meanwhile, other
also discovered in Antarctica
portions of the seafloor plunge into the mantle

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SCI 405 – Geology
 - Wegener also learned that these seed ferns called lithospheric plates, or simply plates, that are in
and associated flora grew only in cool constant motion with respect to one another
climates, similar to central Canada
- Therefore, he concluded that when these • Seven major lithospheric plates are recognized
landmasses were joined, they were located and account for 94 percent of Earth’s surface area
much closer to the South Pole
3. Rock types and geologic features SEVEN MAJOR LITHOSPHERIC PLATES
• Highly deformed igneous rocks in Brazil closely 1. North American Plate
resemble similar rocks of the same age in Africa 2. South American Plate
• Also, the mountain belt that includes the 3. Pacific Plate
Appalachians trends northeastward through the 4. African Plate
eastern United States and disappears off the coast 5. Eurasian Plate
of Newfoundland 6. Australian- Indian Plate
• Mountains of comparable age and structure are 7. Antarctic Plate
found in the British Isles and Scandinavia. When
these landmasses are positioned as Wegener
proposed the mountain chains form a nearly Pacific Plate – largest, encompasses a significant portion
continuous belt of the Pacific basin
• As Wegener wrote, “It is just as if we were to refit
the torn pieces of a newspaper by matching their • Each of the six other large plates consists of an
edges and then check whether the lines of print entire continent, as well as a significant amount
run smoothly across. If they do, there is nothing of oceanic crust
left but to conclude that the pieces were in fact
joined in this way.”
INTERMEDIATE-SIZED PLATES:
4. Ancient Climate
1. Caribbean Plate
• About 300 million years ago, ice sheets covered 2. Nazca Plate
extensive areas of the Southern Hemisphere and 3. Philippine Plate
India. Arrows show the direction of ice 4. Arabian Plate
movement that can be inferred from the pattern of 5. Cocos Plate
glacial scratches and grooves found in the 6. Scotia Plate
bedrock. Tropical coal swamps also existed in 7. Juan de Fuca Plate
areas that are now temperate
• Restoring the continents to their pre-drift
positions creates a single glaciation centered on
• These plates, with the exception of the Arabian
the South Pole and puts the coal swamps near the
plate, are composed mostly of oceanic
equator
lithosphere

The Theory of Plate Tectonics

Plate Movement
• Rigid lithosphere overlies weak asthenosphere
• One of the main tenets of the plate tectonics
theory is that plates move as somewhat rigid units
relative to all other plates
Lithosphere – includes the crust and the uppermost, and • As plates move, the distance between two
therefore coolest, part of the mantle locations on different plates gradually changes,
• Earth’s strong outer layer whereas the distance between sites on the same
• Lithos – stone plate remains relatively constant

Asthenosphere – is a hotter, weaker region in the mantle

that lies below the lithosphere TYPES OF PLATE BOUNDARIES:
• Asthenos – weak 1. DIVERGENT – where two plates move apart,
resulting in upwelling and partial melting of hot material
from the mantle to create new seafloor
Earth’s Major Plates
• Global Oceanic Ridge System – is the longest
• The lithosphere is broken into about two dozen topographic feature on earth’s surface, exceeding
segments of irregular size and shape 70,000km (43,000mi) in length

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SCI 405 – Geology
 • Mid-Atlantic Ridge – longest mountain range in introduction of water from the slab below leads to
the world which is underwater some melting
• Rift Valley – a deep canyon-like structure along • Partial Melting – is thought to generate some
the crest of some ridge segments which is molten material, which is mixed with unmelted
evidence that tensional (pulling apart) forces are mantle rock
actively pulling the oceanic crust apart at the • Continental Volcanic Arcs – mountain systems
ridge crest like Andes, which are produced in part by
• Seafloor Spreading – mechanism that operates volcanic activity associated with the subduction
along the oceanic ridge system to create new of oceanic lithosphere
seafloor
2. Oceanic-Oceanic Convergence – convergent plate
• Continental Rifting – begins when plate motions
boundary involving two slabs of oceanic lithosphere
produce tensional forces that pull and stretch the
lithosphere which promotes mantle upwelling • In this setting, volcanoes grow up from the ocean
and broad unwrapping of the overlying floor rather than upon a continental platform
lithosphere • Sustained subduction eventually results in a chain
- This process thins the lithosphere and breaks of volcanic structures large enough to emerge as
the brittle crustal rocks into large blocks islands
- As the tectonic forces continue to pull apart • Volcanic Island Arc – or island arc, is a newly-
the crust, the broken crustal fragments sink, formed land consisting of arc-shaped chain of
generating an elongated depression called a volcanic islands
continental rift, which can widen to form a
narrow sea and eventually a new ocean basin 3. Continent-Continent Convergence – results when
one landmass moves toward the margin of another
because of subduction of the intervening seafloor
2. CONVERGENT – two plates move toward each other • Whereas oceanic lithosphere tends to be dense
and the leading edge of one is bent downward as it slides and readily sinks into the mantle, the buoyancy of
beneath the other continental material generally inhibits it from
• Also called subduction zones because they are being subducted, at least to any great depth
sites where lithosphere is descending (being • Consequently, a collision between two
subducted) into the mantle converging continental fragments ensues
• Subduction occurs because the density of the • This process folds and deform the accumulation
descending lithospheric plate is greater than the of sediments and sedimentary rocks along the
density of the underlying asthenosphere continental margins as if they had been placed in
• Oceanic Crust – 3g/cc, Continental Crust – a gigantic vise
2.7g/cc (density) • Continental collision – occurs along convergent
• Peru-Chile Trench – located along the west plate boundaries when both plates are capped
coast of South America, more than 4500 with continental crust
kilometers (3000 mi) long, and its floor is as
much as 8 kilometers (5 mi) below sea level
• Mariana Trench – locate in the Western Pacific 3. TRANSFORM – aka transform fault, plates slide
• Challenger Deep – deepest part of the ocean horizontally past one another without the production or
destruction of lithosphere
Trenches in the Philippines:
• The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, with its zigzag pattern,
• Philippine Trench roughly reflects the shape of the rifting zone that
• Manila Trench resulted in the breakup of Pangaea
• Negros Trench • Fraction Zones – are long, narrow scar-like
• Cotabato Trench features in the seafloor that are roughly
perpendicular to the offset ridge segments
- Include both the active transform fault and its
Types of Convergent Plate Boundaries: “fossilized” trace

1. Ocean-Continent Convergence – where oceanic

lithosphere is subducting beneath continental lithosphere

• As the plate plunges downward, heat and pressure

drive out water from the hydrated (water-rich)
minerals in the subducting slab
• At a depth of roughly 100 kilometers (60 mi), the
wedge of mantle rock is sufficiently hot that the

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SCI 405 – Geology
LESSON 4 – EARTHQUAKES AND Points about Earthquake:
EARTH’S INTERIOR • The shaking of the ground, coupled with the
liquefaction of soils, wreaks havoc on buildings,
roadways, and other structures
US Geological Survey (USGS) – estimates that around - In the famous 1906 San Francisco
500,000 earthquakes occur each year earthquake, much of the damage was caused
by fires that became uncontrollable when
• Many of those happen deep in Earth’s crust, and broken water mains left firefighters with only
without the use of seismographs, they would go trickles of water
undetected • The energy released by volcanic eruptions,
• Seismologists estimate that only around 20% of massive landslides, and meteorite impacts can
the world’s earthquakes are felt by humans and generate earthquake- like waves, but these events
about 100 each year cause damage are usually weak

Earthquakes can change the length of a day Harry F. Reid – conducted a landmark study following
• Mega-earthquakes can shorten the length of a day the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
for the entire planet • The San Francisco earthquake was accompanied
• NASA says that large earthquakes can shift by horizontal surface displacements of several
earth’s axis, thus changing the length of the day meters along the northern portion of the San
• The change of the day's length is not noticeable Andreas Fault
to the naked eye and is measured in microseconds • Field studies determined that during this San
(one-millionth of a second) Francisco earthquake, the Pacific plate lurched as
• Scientists believe the 2004 magnitude 9.1 much as 9.7 meters (32 feet) northward past the
Sumatran earthquake shortened the length of day adjacent North American plate
by 6.8 microseconds • Reid’s conclusions:
- Over tens to hundreds of years, differential
stress slowly bends the crustal rocks on both
Earthquake – is the ground shaking caused by the sudden sides of a fault
and rapid movement of one block of rock slipping past - Frictional resistance keeps the fault from
another faults rupturing and slipping
- At some point, stress along the fault
• Tend to occur along preexisting faults where
overcomes frictional resistance, and slippage
internal stresses cause the crustal rocks or break
occurs
into two or more units
- Slippage allows the deformed (bent) rock to
Faults – fractures in earth’s crust “snap back” to its original, stress-free shape;
a series of earthquake waves radiate outward
• Most are locked, except for brief, abrupt as it slides
movements when sudden slippage produces an - Reid termed this “springing back” elastic
earthquake rebound because the rock behaves elastically,
• They are locked because the confining pressure much as a stretched rubber band does when it
exerted by the overlying crust is enormous, is released
causing these fractures in the crust to be
“squeezed shut” Aftershocks – numerous earthquakes of lesser magnitude
that happen after the strong earthquake (main shock)
Hypocenter – focus, location where the slippage begins
• Result from crust along the fault surface adjusting
Epicenter – the point on earth’s surface directly above the to the displacement caused by the main shock
hypocenter • Gradually diminish in frequency and intensity
Seismic Waves – a form of energy that travels through the over a period of several months following an
lithosphere of earth’s interior earthquake
• Although aftershocks are weaker than the main
• Large earthquakes release huge amounts of stored earthquake, they often trigger the destruction of
up energy as seismic waves already weakened structures
• Energy carried by these waves causes the material
Foreshocks – small earthquakes which often, but not
that transmits them to shake
always, precede major earthquakes by days or, in some
• Analogous to waves produced when a stone is
cases, several years
dropped into a calm pond
• Just as the impact of the • Monitoring to predict forthcoming earthquakes
has been attempted with only limited success
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SCI 405 – Geology
Faults and large earthquakes: Fault Rupture and Propagation

• The slippage that occurs along faults can be • By studying earthquakes around the globe,
explained by the plate tectonics theory, which geologists have learned that displacement along
states that large slabs of Earth’s lithosphere plates large faults occurs along discrete fault segments
are continually grinding past one another that often behave differently from one another
• These mobile plates interact with neighboring • Some sections of the San Andreas, for example,
plates, straining and deforming the rocks along exhibit slow, gradual displacement known as
their margins fault creep and produce little seismic shaking
• Faults associated with convergent and transform • Other segments slip at relatively closely spaced
plate boundaries are the source of most large intervals, producing numerous small to moderate
earthquakes earthquakes
• Foot wall – block of rock below the fault • Still other segments remain locked and store
• Hanging wall – block of rock above the fault elastic energy for a few hundred years before they
break loose

THREE TYOPES OF FAULTS

Seismology – the study of earthquakes and seismic waves
1. Normal fault – a fault wherein the hanging wall moves that move through and around the earth
down relative to the foot wall
Seismographs – instrument that records earthquakes
2. Reverse fault or Thrust fault – a fault wherein the
hanging wall moves up relative to the foot wall • Has a weight freely suspended from a support that
is securely attached to bedrock
3. Strike-slip fault – a fault wherein two blocks of rocks
• When vibrations from an earthquake reach the
slide past one another
instrument, the inertia of the weight keeps it
relatively stationary, while earth and the support
move
Convergent Plate Boundaries – where most of earth’s
strongest earthquakes occur along large faults associated Seismograms – the records obtained from seismographs
with them
• It provides useful information about the nature of
• The convergent plate boundary separating a seismic waves
subducting slab of oceanic lithosphere and the
overlying plate forms an extensive fault zone,
called megathrust fault, that can be thousand TYPES OF SEISMIC WAVES
kilometers long
1. Body waves – travel through earth’s interior
• Along most subduction zones these megathrust
faults remain locked for decades or even • Primary waves or P waves – are “push/pull”
centuries waves; they momentarily push (compress) and
• As the subducting plate slowly descends, it drags pull (stretch) rocks in the direction the waves are
and slowly bends the leading edge of overlying travelling
plate, sometimes producing a bulge on the ocean - This motion is similar to that generated by
floor striking a drum, which moves air back and
• Once the frictional forces between the two stuck forth to create sound
plates is exceeded, the overriding plate snaps - Solids, liquids, and gases resist stresses that
back to its original shape change their volume when compressed and,
• This snapping back generates an earthquake, therefore, elastically spring back once the
whose magnitude depends largely on the size of stress is removed
the zone of slippage - Can travel through all these materials
• Secondary waves or S waves – these waves
“shake” the particles at right angles to their
Transform Plate Boundaries – accommodate motion direction of travel
between two tectonic plates - This can be illustrated by fastening one end
of a rope and shaking the other end
• Strike-slip faults – faults in which the dominant - Unlike P waves, which temporarily change
displacement is horizontal and parallel to the the volume of intervening material by
direction of the fault trace (the line where the fault alternately squeezing and stretching it, S
intersects Earth’s surface) waves change the shape of the material that
• Most large transform faults are not perfectly transmits them
straight or continuous; instead, they consist of - Liquids and gases do not transmit S waves
numerous branches and smaller fractures that
display kinks and offsets
Cebeda, Princess Danica A.
SCI 405 – Geology
2. Surface waves – travel in the rock layers just below the • Light sleepers are awakened, vibration is felt like
earth’s surface the passing of a heavy truck
• Hanging objects swing considerably
• Rayleigh waves – causes earth’s surface and
- Dinner plates, glasses, windows, and doors
anything resisting on it to move up and down,
rattle, standing motor cars may rock slightly
much as ocean swells toss a ship
• Water in containers oscillates strongly
• Love waves – causes earth’s surface to move
• Rumbling sounds may sometimes be heard
from side to side
- This motion in particular damaging to the Intensity V: Strong
foundations of structures
• Generally felt by most people indoors and
outdoors
Comparing the speed and size of seismic waves • Many sleepers are awakened; some are
frightened, some run outdoors
• P waves are the first to arrive at a recording • Strong shaking and rocking are felt throughout
station, then S waves, and finally surface waves the building
• S waves have slightly greater amplitudes than P • Hanging objects swing violently
waves, and surface waves exhibit even greater - Dining utensils clatter and clink; some are
amplitudes broken
• Surface waves also retain their maximum - Small, light and unstable objects may fall or
amplitude longer than P and S waves. As a result, overturn
surface waves tend to cause greater ground - Liquids spill from filled open containers
shaking and, hence, greater property damage, - Standing vehicles rock noticeably
than either P or S waves • Shaking of leaves and twigs of trees is noticeable
Intensity VI: Very Strong
Intensity – scale that uses observed property damage to • Many people are frightened; many run outdoors
estimate the amount of ground shaking at a particular • Some people lose their balance, motorists feel
location like driving with flat tires
Magnitude – scale that uses data from seismographs to • Heavy objects and furniture move or may be
estimate the amount of energy released at an earthquake’s shifted
source - Small church bells may ring
- Wall plaster may crack
- Very old or poorly-built houses and man-
made structures are slightly damaged, though
PHIVOLCS EARTHQUAKE INTENSITY SCALE
well-built structures are not affected
Intensity I: Scarcely Perceptible • Limited rockfalls and rolling boulders occur in
hilly to mountainous areas and escarpments
• Perceptible to people only under favorable • Trees are noticeable shaken
circumstances
• Delicately-balanced objects are disturbed slightly Intensity VII: Destructive
• Still water in containers oscillates slightly
• Most people are frightened and run outdoors
Intensity II: Slightly Felt • People find it difficult to stand in upper floors
• Heavy objects or furniture overturn or topple
• Felt by few individuals at rest indoors - Big church bells may ring
• Hanging objects swing slightly - Old or poorly-built structures suffer
• Still water in containers oscillates noticeably considerable damages
Intensity III: Weak - Some well-built structures are slightly
damaged
• Felt by many people indoors specially in upper - Some cracks may appear on dikes, fish
floor of buildings ponds, road surfaces, or concrete hollow
• Vibration is felt like the passing of a light truck block walls
• Dizziness and nausea are experienced by some • Limited liquefaction, lateral spreading and
people landslides are observed
• Hanging objects swing moderately • Trees are shaken strongly
• Till water in containers oscillates moderately
Intensity VIII: Very Destructive
Intensity IV: Moderately Strong
• People are panicky
• Felt generally by people indoors and some people • People find it difficult to stand even outdoors
outdoors

Cebeda, Princess Danica A.

SCI 405 – Geology
 • Many well-built structures are considerably • Seismologists now favor this newer scale for
damaged measuring medium and large earthquakes
- Concrete dikes and foundations of bridges re • Calculated by determining the average amount of
destroyed by ground settling or toppling slip on the fault, the area of the fault surface that
- Railway tracks are bent or broken slipped, and the strength of the faulted rock
• Tombstones may be displaced, twisted or • Can be calculated by modelling data obtained
overturned from seismograms
- Utility posts, towers and monuments may tilt
or topple
- Water and sewer pipes may be bent, twisted
or broken
• Liquefaction and lateral spreading cause man-
made structures to sink, tilt or topple
- Numerous landslides and rockfalls occur in
mountainous and hilly areas
- Boulders are thrown out from their position
particularly near the epicenter
- Fissures and fault rupture may be observed
- Trees are violently shaken
- Water splashes or slops over dikes or
riverbanks
Intensity IX: Devastating

• People are forcibly thrown to the ground; many

Liquefaction – the phenomenon of transforming a
cry and shake with fear
somewhat stable soil into mobile material capable of
• Most buildings are totally damaged rising toward earth’s surface
- Bridges and elevated concrete structures are
toppled or destroyed • The intense shaking of an earthquake can cause
• Numerous utility posts, towers and monuments loosely packed water-logged materials, such as
are tilted, toppled or broken sandy stream deposits or fill, to be transformed
- Water and sewer pipes are bent, twisted or into a substance that acts like a fluid
broken • When liquefaction occurs, the ground may not be
• Landslides and liquefaction with lateral capable of supporting buildings, and underground
spreading and sandboils are widespread storage tanks and sewer lines may literally float
- The ground is distorted into undulations toward the surface
- Trees are shaken very violently with some
toppled or broken
- Boulders are commonly thrown out; river Earthquake Destruction:
water splashes violently or slops over dikes
and banks 1. Landslides and Ground subsidence
2. Earthquake-induced fires
Intensity X: Complete Devastating 3. Tsunami
• Practically all man-made structures are destroyed
• Massive landslides and liquefaction, large scale
Tsunami – “harbor wave”, series of large ocean waves
subsidence and uplifting of landforms, and many
that major undersea earthquakes may set in motion
ground fissures are observed
• Changes in river courses and destructive seiches • Most tsunamis are generated by displacement
in lakes occur along a megathrust fault that suddenly lifts a large
• Many trees are toppled, broken or uprooted slab of seafloor

Charles Richter – developed the first magnitude scale to

use seismic records
Richter Scale – Richter Magnitude (ML) – is calculated
by measuring the amplitude of the largest seismic wave
(usually an S wave or surface wave) recorded on a
seismogram
Moment Magnitude (MW) – estimates the total energy
released during an earthquake
Cebeda, Princess Danica A.
SCI 405 – Geology