STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY

Prof. Dr. Zakaria Hamimi

Geology Department, Faculty of Science,
Benha University
 Lecture 1

* Course Definition

* Aim of Study

* Grading (Scheme of assessment)

* Basic References
Course Definition
Introduction to Structural Geology

) (
 What is structural geology ?
Structural geology is concerned with the
reconstruction of the inexorable motions that have
shaped the evolution of the Earths outer layer.
Structure comes from Latin word Struere, which
means to build.

- Tectonics (large scale structures) comes

from Greek word Tektos which
means builder.
Structural Geology vs. Tectonics

Tectonics - how Earth Structural geology -

was built deformation processes
Broader than Integral part of
Structural geology tectonics, particularly in
Encompassing study respect to deformation
of surface to core history over time
Including disciplines
as diverse as
paleontology and
geophysics
Aim of Study
This course aims at:

* Study of rock masses in 3-D

* How rocks are deformed ?

* How structures are formed ?

Tectonically Active Areas

Earthquake

Understand and anticipate Natural Hazards
 Mineral resources

Crystallization in fluid-rich environment

Hot, metal-rich fluid migration as vein deposits or

disseminated deposits (remobilized by faults)

(Quartz
Veins)

(modified from slide by Ramon Arrowsmith)

 Oil Traps

Types of oil traps

(Keller, 2002)
Groundwater Aquifers
 Applications of Structural Geology

Engineering Issues Environmental Issues

Bridges Earthquake hazard
Dams Location of landfill
Power Plants sites
Highway Cuts Contamination
Large Buildings cleanup
Airports Distribution of
groundwater
Mineral exploration
 COURSE REQUIREMENTS
AND GRADING
In this course, students performance will be
evaluated within the frame of three main areas :
four exams, class participation and homework
assignments. Each will be weighted as follows :
First periodical exam : 10 degrees
Second periodical exam : 10
Field Trip : 10
Class participation : 5-10
Homework : 5-10
Practical exam : 30
Final exam : 20- 30
Total : 100
 Overall Grading Guidelines
The letter grading systems (ABCDF) will be used in this course.
The following grading scale will be used :
A = Excellent work : This grade indicates that the course is
clearly presented, the material has been thoroughly learned, and
the student has demonstrated the creative application of the
course material to novel situations.
B = Good work : Assigned work is clearly presented and
thoughtful. The student proved that the course has been learned.
C = Acceptable work : This grade reveals that the student has
learned the essential parts of the course.
D = Marginally acceptable work : The student indicated that he
has learned some of the course material.
F = Unacceptable work : The student has not clearly
demonstrated that the course material has been learned.indicated
that he has learned some of the course material.
 LEARNING RESOURCES

- Park, R.G. (2005) Foundations of structural

geology. Blackie & Son Limited, Chapman and
Hall, New York.

- Fossen, H. (2010) Structural geology. Cambridge

University Press, London.

.( 2006) -
.
Lecture 2
 Last lecture main topics

* Course Definition

* Aim of Study

* Grading (Scheme of assessment)

* Basic References
 Geologic Structures
Non-Tectonic Structures Tectonic Structures Global Scale Structures
)Primary Structures( )Secondary Structures( )Geotectonics(

Ductile Structures Brittle Structures

Folds
Faults
Foliations
Joints
Lineations
Primary Sedimentary
Shear Zones Contraction Theory
Structures
Expansion Theory
Primary Igneous Structures
Geosynclinal Theory
Diapiric Structures
Plate Tectonic Theory
Impact Structures
Surge Tectonics
Intrusive and Extrusive
Structures

Gravity-controlled Structures
Lecture 3
Last lecture main topic

* Classification of Geologic Structures

 Primary Sedimentary Structures

These structures are formed in sedimentary rocks during or

just after their deposition. They are important in the top and
bottom determination of stratigraphic sequences.

They are classified into :

1- Structures formed in the bed itself.

II- Structures formed at the top surface of the bed.

III- Structures formed at the base of the bed

 I- Structures formed in the bed itself

1- Stratification (bedding, layering or lamination)

It is a universal feature formed due to the variations in any of the physical or chemical characters of the sediments. There are several factors causing stratification :
- Colour.
- Mineralogical composition.
- Grain size.
- Degree of sorting.
- Cementation.
- Porosity.
- Permeability.
- Cohesion - .
2- Cross bedding (Cross stratification, false
bedding or cross lamination)

When the inner bedding planes within a bed are inclined to the
main bedding planes, this arrangement is known as cross
bedding.

There are two types of cross bedding :

1- Normal cross bedding.

2- Torrential cross bedding.
3- Graded bedding.

This means gradation in grain size within the bed;

coarser at the bottom and finer at the top of the bed. This
gradation is due to fractional sitling during deposition.
This feature could be used in the top and bottom
determination of beds.
Lecture 4
Last lecture main topics

* Stratification (bedding, layering or lamination)

* Cross-bedding

* Graded bedding
II- Structures formed at the top
surface of the bed

1- Ripple marks
It is formed in sediments in which the grains are separate and free
to move in water or air.
It is divided into :

(a) Current (asymmetric) ripple marks.

(b) Oscillation (symmetric) ripple marks.
Ripple marks in soft rocks
Ripple marks in hand specimen
 4- Mud (Sun or Shrinkage desiccation )cracks

They are formed in surface of clays when exposed to drying atmosphere.

They are polygonal in shape and taper downwards.

Mud cracks could be used to the top-bottom dtermination of beds (facing).

They could be used also as strain markers.
3- Rain imprints (Rain pits)

They are small circular depressions

with few mm across rim. They are
formed by the falling of rain drops
on soft mud, and could be used in
the top-bottom determination, where
they are concave upwards.
Lecture 5
Last lecture main topics

* Ripple marks

* Mud cracks

* Rain imprints
 III- Structures formed at the base
of the bed

1- Sole marking
It is an irregularities (lobes) found in the
contact between a competent bed (e.g.
sandstone) and incompetent bed (e.g.
shale). This is due to the load of the
sandstone over the shale.
 l
Sole mark from drill core
 2- Load casts

It resembles the sole marking, formed

due to the load of a competent bed
over an incompetent bed. It is formed
by the injection of the incompetent
bed into the competent bed.
 IV- Bedding deformed by Pene-
contemporaneous deformation

1- Convoluted bedding

They are irregular minor folds consisting of

rounded anticlines and synclines,
developed in sandstone beds just after their
depositon
 2- Clastic dykes

It is a fissure in the rock, formed due to

the elastic expansion of fluids in its
pores
Lecture 6
Last lecture main topics

* Sole marks

* Load casts

* Bedding deformed by pen-contemporaneous

deformation
Primary Igneous Structures
1- Primary layering in gabbros
2- Graded bedding and lamination in
volcanic ashes
Ash plume from Mt Cleveland
3- Volcanic bombs
A volcanic bomb is a mass of molten rock (tephra) larger
than 65 mm (2.5 inches) in diameter, formed when a
volcano ejects viscous fragments of lava during an
eruption. They cool into solid fragments before they
reach the ground. Because volcanic bombs cool after
they leave the volcano, they do not have grains making
them extrusive igneous rocks. Volcanic bombs can be
thrown many kilometres from an erupting vent, and often
acquire aerodynamic shapes during their flight. Bombs
can be extremely large; the 1935 eruption of
Mount Asama in Japan expelled bombs measuring 5-6 m
in diameter up to 600 m from the vent. Volcanic bombs
are a significant volcanic hazard, and can cause severe
injuries and death to people in an eruption
zone.
Ribbon bombs
 Pillow lava
Pillow lavas are lavas that contain characteristic
pillow-shaped structures that are attributed to the
extrusion of the lava under water, or subaqueous
extrusion. Pillow lavas in volcanic rock are
characterized by thick sequences of discontinuous
pillow-shaped masses, commonly up to one metre in
diameter. They form the upper part of 'Layer 2' of
normal oceanic crust.

Composition: Pillow lavas are commonly of basaltic

composition, although pillows formed of komatiite,
picrite, boninite, basaltic andesite, andesite or even
dacite are known. In general the more intermediate
the composition, the larger the pillows, due to the
increase in viscosity of the erupting lava.
Pillow lava
Use as a 'Way-up' criterion:

Pillow lavas are used as way-up criterion . There are

three key ideas that can be used as part of this, and
that a pillow lava will show if it is the correct way-up:

- Vesicles will be found towards the top of a pillow as

the gas will be less dense than the surrounding rock.

- The pillow structures will show a convex upper

surface.

- The pillows will have a tapered base downwards as

they have moulded to the underlying pillows during
their formation.
Lecture 7
Last lecture main topic

* Primary Igneous Structures

Impact Structures
An impact event is the collision of
a large meteorite, asteroid, comet
, or other celestial object with the
Earth or another planet.

Throughout recorded history, hundreds

of minor impact events (and exploding
bolides ) have been
reported, with some occurrences
causing deaths, injuries, property
damage or other significant localised
consequences
A picture of
the
Jupiter 2009
impact event
blemish
captured by
the Keck II
telescope
and its
near-infrared
camera
at
Mauna Kea Ob
servatory
, on July 20
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's scar on Jupiter
(dark area near Jupiter's limb
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (formally designated D/1993 F2,
nicknamed String of Pearls[1] for its appearance) was a comet that
broke apart and collided with Jupiter in July 1994, providing the first
direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of solar system
objects.[2] This generated a large amount of coverage in the popular
media, and the comet was closely observed by astronomers
worldwide. The collision provided new information about Jupiter and
highlighted its role in reducing space debris in the
inner solar system

The comet was discovered by astronomers Carolyn and

Eugene M. Shoemaker and David Levy. Shoemaker-Levy 9, at the
time captured by and orbiting Jupiter, was located on the night of
March 24, 1993, in a photograph taken with the 40 centimetres
(1 ft 4 in) Schmidt telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California
. It was the first comet observed to be orbiting a planet, and had
probably been captured by the planet around 20 30 years earlier.
Image of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragments
(total: 21), taken on 1994-05-17
An impact event in an ocean or
sea may create a tsunami (a
giant wave), which can cause
destruction both at sea and
on land near a seashore.
The collision between Earth and an asteroid or a meteorite a
few kilometers in diameter may release as much energy as
several million nuclear weapons detonating simultaneously
Examples of Modern impact events

Kamil Craterin Egypt, 45 meters in diameter, 10 meters

deep is thought to have been formed less than 3,500
years ago in a then-unpopulated region of Western
Egypt. It was found February 19, 2009 by Prof. Farouk
El-Baz on a Google Earth image of the East Uweinat
Desert, Egypt.
Chinese record states that 10,000 people were killed in
Shanxi Province in 1490 by a hail of "falling stones";
some astronomers surmise that this may describe
the breakup of a large asteroid.

Shanxi Province
Evidence supporting impact structures

1- Presence of a crater or a circular depression

2- Presence of meteoric pieces
3- Shock metamorphism (Impact metamorphism)
Shock metamorphism or impact metamorphism
describes the effects of shock-wave related
deformation and heating during impact events.
The formation of similar features during
explosive volcanism is generally discounted due
to the lack of metamorphic effects unequivocally
associated with explosions and the difficulty in
reaching sufficient pressures during such an event
4- Absence of volcanic rocks

5- Remarkable deformation in quartz

 6- High iridium anomalies

A very hard, brittle, silvery-

white transition metal of the
platinum family. It is the
second densest element
(after osmium) and is the
most corrosion-resistant
metal, even at temperatures
as high as 2000 C.

The Willamette Meteorite, the sixth

largest meteorite found in the
world, has 4.7 ppm iridium.
7- Presence of impact diamond
Kimberlite pipes
Kimberely Diamond Mines
Biggest open diamond mine,
East Siberia
Lecture 8
Last lecture main topic

* Impact Structures
 Diapiric Structures
(Piercement structures)
A diapir (from Greek diapeirein, to pierce through
) is a type of intrusionin which a more mobile and
ductily-deformable material is forced into brittle
overlying rocks. The process is known as diapirism.
The resulting structures are also referred to as
piercement structures.

Diapirs commonly intrude vertically upward along

fractures or zones of structural weakness through
denser overlying rocks because of density contrast
between a less dense, lower rock mass and overlying
denser rocks.The density contrast manifests as a force
of buoyancy.

The term "diapir" may be applied to igneous structures,

but it is more commonly applied to non-igneous,
relatively cold materials, such as salt domes and mud
diapirs.
Economic importance of diapirs

- Diapirs or piercement structures are structures

resulting from the penetration of overlaying material.
By pushing upward and piercing overlying rock layers,
diapirs can form antiforms, domes and other structures
capable of trapping oil and natural gas.

- Source of Sulfur.

- Source of salt.
1- Salt Domes

A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when a

thick bed of evaporites (mainly salt, or halite) found at
depth intrudes vertically into surrounding rock strata,
forming a diapir.
Seismic grap
of salt dome
1- Evolution of a Salt Dome
Salt domes in the Zagros Mountains (the white area in the middle and
the hill on the left
Salt domes in Bushehr, Iran
Salt domes in Bushehr, Iran
Salt domes in Bushehr, Iran
Salt domes in Bushehr, Iran
Salt domes in Bushehr, Iran
Salt domes in Bushehr, Iran
Salt domes in Bushehr, Iran
Salt domes in Bushehr, Iran
Avery Island, a salt dome
Salt Domes on Melville Island
Salief Salt domes, Yemen
Commercial uses

- Source of Salt and sulfur.

- The rock salt that is found in salt domes is mostly impermeable.

As the salt moves up towards the surface, it can penetrate
and/or bend strata of existing rock with it. As these strata are
penetrated, they are generally bent slightly upwards at the point
of contact with the dome, and can form pockets where
petroleum and natural gas can collect between impermeable
strata of rock and the salt. The strata immediately above the
dome that are not penetrated are pushed upward, creating a
dome-like reservoir above the salt where petroleum can also
gather. These oil pools can eventually be extracted, and indeed
form a major source of the petroleum produced along the coast
of the Gulf of Mexico
Oil Traps Around Salt Dome
2- Mud Volcanoes (Mud Diapirs)
- The term "mud-volcano" generally is applied to a more or less
violent eruption or surfaces extrusion of watery mud or clay which
almost invariably is accompanied by methane gas, and which
commonly tends to build up a solid mud or clay deposit around its
orifice which may have a conical or volcano-like shape.

- The source of a mud volcano commonly may be traced to a

substantial subsurface layer or diapir of highly plastic, and
probably undercompacted (overpressured), mud or shale bodies.

- Mud volcanoes also commonly appear to be related to lines of

fracture, faulting, or sharp folding.

- The mud of the volcanoes is a mixture of clay and salt water

which is kept in the state of a slurry by the boiling or churning
activity of escaping methane gas.
Mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan
Mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan
Mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan
October 12, 1992 Earthquake, Egypt
Mud Volcano Floods In East Java
For 3 months a sea of hot mud has been gushing from the ground
in Sidoarjo, East Java, 35 kilometres south of Indonesia's second
largest city, Surabaya. The steaming mud pool is growing at an
estimated 50,000 cubic metres a day, accompanied by hydrogen
sulphide gas, and now reportedly covers more than 25 square
kilometres.

What creates the conditions for a mud volcano?

Achim Kopf, a geologist from the University of Bremen, Germany,
who has studied mud volcanoes extensively, explains that marine
sediment can be scraped off an oceanic tectonic plate as it slides
underneath a continental plate. If the sediment accumulates
rapidly and water is trapped in its pores, this can stop the
sediment being cemented by pressure. The resulting reservoir of
mud can be trapped underground. In the case of the East Java
mud flow, the mud is thought to have come from a reservoir some
2.7 kilometres below the Earth's surface
Out-off-control mud
flows in East Java
Houses flooded with mud in East Java
Gravity-Controlled Structures
Sinai
Sinai
Lecture 9
Last lecture main topics

* Diapiric Structures (Piercement Structures)

* Gravity-controlled Structures
 Intrusive and Extrusive
Igneous Rock Structures

Basalt dikes hosted

in a granitoid pluton,
with metasediment
roof pendant;
Wallowa Mts,
Oregon
 Igneous Rocks

Intrusive (Plutonic) Extrusive (Volcanic)

Magma cools slowly at Magma cools quickly at
depth surface
Characteristic rock texture Characteristic rock textures
Characteristic structures Characteristic structures
 Igneous Structures
Intrusive
Batholith
Stock
Laccolith
Sill
Dike (Dyke)
Extrusive
Lava flow
or plateau
Volcano
(many
types)
Crater and
Caldera
 Intrusive Igneous Structures
Contacts (boundary
between two rock
bodies) can be:
Concordant
Does not cross cut country
rock (surrounding rock)
structure, bedding, or
metamorphic fabric
Ex: laccolith, sill
Discordant
Cross cuts country rock
structure
Ex: dike, batholith, stock
 Intrusive Igneous Structures
Categorized by depth of emplacement

Epizonal Mesozonal Catazonal

Depth Shallow Intermediate Deep

<6-10 km ~8-14 km >~12 km
Contacts Discordant Variable Concordant

Size Small to Small to large Small to large

moderate
Contact Very common Uncommon Absent
metamorphism
Age Cenozoic Mesozoic- Paleozoic or
Paleozoic older
 Intrusive Igneous Structures:
Large Scale
Major scale intrusive bodies: Plutons
Batholith: >100 km2 in map area (usually discordant)
Stock: <100 km2 in map area
Lapolith: dish-shaped layered intrusive
rocks (concordant)
Intrusive Igneous Structures:
Intermediate Scale
Concordant intrusives
Sill: tabular shape
Laccolith: mushroom-shaped
Roof pendant (remaining country
rock)
Discordant intrusives
Dike: tabular shape
Volcanic neck: cylindrical
 Intrusive Igneous Structures:
Small Scale
Apophyses:
Irregular dikes extending
from pluton
Veins:
Tabular body filling a fracture
(filled with 1-2 minerals)
Xenoliths:
Unrelated material in an
igneous body
Autoliths:
Genetically related inclusions
(related igneous material)
 Extrusive Igneous Structures
Volcanism
Directly observable petrologic process
Redistributes heat and matter (rocks) from the interior to the exterior of
the earths surface
Occurs in oceanic & continental settings
Volcano:
Anywhere material reaches earths surface
Extrusive Igneous Structures: Scale
Large scale structures
Lava plateau (flood basalt)
Ignimbrite (ash flow tuff;
pyroclastic sheet)
Intermediate scale
structures
Shield volcano
Composite volcano
(stratovolcano)
Caldera, crater
Lava flow or dome
Small scale structures
Tephra (pyroclastic material)
Lava flow features
Cinder cone
 Extrusive Igneous Structures:
Eruption Styles
Effusive Eruptions
Lava flows and domes
Erupted from localized fissures or vents
Generally low silica content (basalt,
primitive magma)
Explosive Eruptions
Tephra (fragmental material)
Pyroclastic falls or flows
Erupted from vents
Generally high silica content (felsic,
recycled magma)
Photo glossary of volcano terms
 Extrusive Igneous Structures:
Eruption Controls
Two main controls on eruption style:
VISCOSITY
A fluids resistance to flow
Determined largely by fluid composition
DISSOLVED GAS CONTENT
Main magmatic gasses: H2O, CO2, SO2 (or H2S)
At high pressure, gasses are dissolved in the magma
At low pressure (near surface), gasses form a vapor, expand,
and rise = boiling
Interaction controls eruption style:
Gas bubbles rise and escape from low viscosity magma
= EFFUSIVE ERUPTION
Gas bubbles are trapped in high viscosity magma;
increase of pressure = EXPLOSIVE ERUPTION
 Extrusive Igneous Structures:
Eruption Controls
Two main controls on eruption style:
VISCOSITY and DISSOLVED GAS CONTENT

In general, both viscosity and gas content are related to

magma composition
High silica content > higher viscosity, more dissolved gas
Low silica content > lower viscosity, less dissolved gas
 Types of Volcanic Products: Effusive
Lava Flow
Dominantly basalt (low viscosity and gas)
Thin and laterally extensive sheets
Pahoehoe flows: smooth, ropey flows
Aa or block flows: rough and irregular flows
Baked zones: oxidized zones due to contact
with high temperature lava flow
Lava Dome
Dacite or rhyolite (high viscosity, low gas
content)
Thick,
steep-
sided
flows
Types of Volcanic Products: Explosive
Pyroclastic particles
Fragmental volcanic
material (TEPHRA)
Vitric (glass shards)
Crystals
Bombs Tephra
Lithic (volcanic rock
fragments)
Broken during
eruption of magma
Typically higher silica,
high gas content
Categorized by size:
Ash (< 2.0 mm)
Lapilli (2-64 mm)
Blocks and bombs
(>64 mm)
Ash
Types of Volcanic Products: Explosive
Pyroclastic fall (mainly Ash fall)
Material ejected directly from volcano
(fallout, air fall)
Ash, lapilli (pumice, scoria), blocks, and
bombs
Sorted (small particles carried further)
Laterally extensive, mantles topography
Pyroclastic flow (nue ardante or
ignimbrite)
Fast moving, high density flow of hot
ash, crystals, blocks, and/or pumice
Follow topographic lows
Can be hot enough after deposition to
weld, fuse vitric fragments
Types of Volcanic Products: Explosive
Hydroclastic Products
Water-magma interaction (phreatomagmatic) causes
explosive fragmentation
Typically basaltic lavas
Any water-magma interaction (sea floor, caldera lake,
groundwater)
Great volumes of
hydroclastics on the sea
floor and in the edifice of
submarine volcanoes
Highly subject to
alteration > clay
minerals, microcrystalline
silica, and zeolite
 Styles of Volcanic Eruption: Effusive
Lava Plateaus and
Flood Basalts (LIPs)
Generally low viscosity,
low gas content effusive
lava flows (basalt)
Hot spot and continental
rift settings
Great areal extent and
enormous individual
flows
Erupted from fissures
Examples (no modern):
Columbia River Basalt
Group
Deccan Traps
 Styles of Volcanic Eruption: Effusive
Shield volcanoes
Generally low viscosity, low gas content effusive lava
flows (basalt)
Hot spot and continental rift settings
Central vent and surrounding broad, gentle sloping
volcanic edifice
Repeated eruption of
mainly thin, laterally
extensive lava flows
Modern examples:
Mauna Loa, Kiluaea
(Hawaii)
Krafla (Iceland)
Erta Ale (Ethiopia)
Mauna Loa, Hawaii
 Styles of Volcanic Eruption: Effusive
Submarine eruptions and
pillow lava
Generally low viscosity, low gas
content effusive lava flows
(basalt)
Divergent margin (mid-ocean
ridge) settings
Produces rounded pillows of lava
with glassy outer rind
Can produce
abundant hydroclastic
material (shallow)
Modern examples:
Loihi, Hawaii
Styles of Volcanic Eruption: Explosive
Cinder cone
Generally low viscosity, high gas content (basalt)
Subduction zone settings (also continental rifts and
continental hot spots)
SP Crater, Arizona Small, steep sided pile of loose
tephra (mainly lapilli, blocks, and
bombs)
Scoria or cinder
Often form on larger volcanoes
(shield or stratovolcano)
Modern example:
Parcutin, Mexico
Styles of Volcanic Eruption: Explosive
Composite cones and Mayon Volcano
Stratovolcanoes Philippines
Generally higher
viscosity, high gas
content (andesites)
Dominantly subduction
zone settings
Composed of layers of loose pyroclastic material (fallout
and flows) and minor lava flows, some shallow intrusions
Form from multiple eruptions over hundreds to thousands
of years
Examples:
Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier (USA)
Pinatubo (Indonesia)
Styles of Volcanic Eruption: Explosive
Calderas and
pyroclastic sheet
(ignimbrite) deposits
Generally high viscosity,
high gas content
(rhyolite)
Crater Lake,
Subduction zone and Oregon
continental hot spots
Form by collapse of volcano following
evacuation of the magma chamber
Often produce widespread ash,
ignimbrite (pyroclastic flow)
Examples:
Krakatoa, Indonesia (modern example)
Crater Lake, Yellowstone (USA)
Volcanic Hazards
~500 million people live in
high hazard regions
Eruptions and hazards are
largely predictable
Main hazards:
Tephra (mainly ash)
Lava flows
Pyroclastic flows
Lahar
Avalanche/landslide
Volcanic gas
Tsunami
Climate change
 Lecture 10
First Periodical Exam