JEO 256E - Structural Geology

Course Objectives

1) Concepts of stress, strain, and deformation types;
2) Distinctions between brittle and ductile deformations and their products;
3) Recording observations and techniques of presentation/analysis of linear and planar structural data;
4) Determining deformation histories derived from rock structures.

Course Description

Structural geology is the branch of geology that deals with the identification, recording, and analysis of geological structures, chiefly on a moderate to small scale. It is concerned with deformation of rocks because of faulting and folding, as viewed from the atomic scale, through the grain scale, the hand sample scale, the mountain range scale, and the tectonic plate scale. It also deals with the behavior of rocks at different pressure and temperature conditions in accord with the time interval when deformation of rocks occur.