LE 1 Flashcards
Deals with application of geology for a safe, stable, and economic design and construction of a civil engineering project.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
Application of geological knowledge in planning, designing and construction of civil engineering projects.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
Deals with the earth sciences. Geology deals with the study of the Earth as a planet.
GENERAL GEOLOGY
Geology in Construction Jobs (Give 3)
Planning
Design
Construction
3 Types of Planning
Topographic Maps
Hydrological Maps
Geological Maps
Give details that are essential to understand relative merits and
demerits of all the possible sites for the proposed structure. The presence of
nature of slopes, size, contours and depths of valleys and gorges and rate of
change of elevation in various directions can be easily computed from such
maps.
Topographic Maps
Give details about the distribution and geometry of the surface water
channels and also the occurrence and depth contours of ground water
below the surface of the earth.
Hydrological Maps
Petrological characters and structural disposition of rock types as
developed in the proposed area are depicted in geological maps. This gives
the engineer useful information regarding the fracturing and displacement
that the site rocks might have undergone in the past.
Geological Maps
This is the application of geological characters and conditions that finally
dictate the broad contours of the engineering design of an engineering
project, be it a high rise building, road, bridge, dam or a tunnel, etc.
Design
Geological knowledge is applied and it is of great value to an engineer to
the selection and proper use of the right type of materials of construction
derived from the natural bedrocks, soils, banks and beaches.
Construction
- Exploration and Development of water resources within areas.
The water resources engineer has to understand the water cycle in all
essential details. Study of water cycle is an essential pre-requisite for effective
planning and execution of major water resources development programs on
national and regional levels.
Geology in Water Resources Development
Land utilization in as best and aesthetic manner as possible for developing
cities and towns for meeting social needs in different areas.
Geology in Town and Regional Planning
The primary aim is to derive maximum benefits from the natural
environment with minimum disturbance.
Geology in Town and Regional Planning
Give the 6 Branches of Geology
Physical Geology
Geomorphology
Minerology
Petrology
Historical Geology
Economic Geology
It deals with the origin, development and ultimate fate of various surface features of the Earth and also with its internal structure.
PHYSICAL GEOLOGY
Is a part of Physical Geology, deals specifically with the study of surface features of the Earth. Primarily on the Land surface.
GEOMORPHOLOGY
The basic building units of which the solid crust of the earth is made up. Deals with formation, occurrence, aggregation, properties and uses of minerals.
MINEROLOGY
Minerals occurring in natural aggregated form are call rocks. These rocks form the building blocks that make up the crust of earth. The rocks are themselves made up of minerals defined as building units.
PETROLOGY
Deals with the past history of earth as deciphered from the study of rocks
and features associated with them. Rocks may be treated as pages of the
Earth’s History.
HISTORICAL GEOLOGY
This branch deals with the study of those minerals and rocks and other
materials (fuels etc) occurring on and in the earth that can be exploited for
the benefit of man. This include a wide variety of ores of all the metals and
non metals, building stones, salt deposits, fuels (coal, petroleum, natural gas and atomic minerals)
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY
It has a mean density of ____.
5.517 gm/cm^3
Volume ng mundo
1.083x10^27 cm^3
Mass ng mundo
5.975x10^27 g
It has an equatorial diameter of ___ and a polar diameter of
____.
Equatorial = 12757.776 km
Polar = 12713.824 km
The Earth is commonly described as a ______.
Spheroid
The outer gaseous part of the Earth starting from the surface and extending as fas as 700km and even beyond.
Atmosphere
It makes only about one-millionth part of the total mass of the Earth.
Atmosphere
Layers of Atmosphere
Trophosphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Thermosphere
It is the lowermost zone of the atmosphere rising from the surface of the earth and extending, on an average to a height of 11km.
Trophosphere
Its (trophospshere) upper boundary called ______ lies at about 9km above the poles and at 18km
above the equator.
Tropopause
It is the second layer of the atmosphere starting from the tropopause and extending up to an average height of 50km.
Stratosphere
The temperature becomes constant for a height of 20km (above tropopause) and then starts
increasing.
Stratosphere
Starts at a height of 9km above the surface and continues up to 35km. The
Maximum concentration of ozone in this layer is estimated at a height of 20-
25km
Ozone Layer
This is the third thermal zone of atmosphere which begins at stratopause at about 50km
above the surface and continues up to a height of about 80km.
Mesosphere
The fourth and last zone of the atmosphere starts at about 80km and extends up to 500km
and beyond.
Thermosphere
Specialized zone that starts from 80km and extends upwards to variable heights.
Ionosphere
The most strongly ionized layer is located at the base of ionosphere and is designated as _____. It is also sometimes referred as Kennelly-Heavisiside layer after the names of its
discoverers.
D-Layer
The region of atmosphere beyond 700km.
Exosphere
It is a low-density and high temperature region with a minimum atomic collusions.
Exosphere
It is the stony part of the Earth and it includes all the solid
materials composing the Earth from the surface downwards.
Lithosphere
It includes only the uppermost shell of the earth, crust and a part of
the second layer, the mantle, up to which the material exists in a definite
solid state
Lithosphere
Layers of Lithosphere
Crust
Mantle
Core
It is the uppermost solid shell of the Earth which has varying thickness in different areas.
Crust
Thickness of crust under the oceans
5-6km
Thickness of crust under the continents
30-35km
Thickness of crust under the mountains
60-70km
Zone within the earth that starts from M-discontinuity and continues up to a depth of
2900km.
Mantle
Mantle is made up of extremely basic material called ________, that is very rich in iron and magnesium but quite poor in silica.
Aptly Ultra Basic
Innermost structural shell of the Earth. It starts from a depth of 2900km below the surface and extends right up to the center, at a depth of 6370km.
The ______ may be made up of iron and nickel, alloyed in some yet unknown manner.
Core
The liquid like core extending from a depth of 2900km to about 4800km is often termed as
______.
Outer Core
A collective name for all the natural water bodies occurring on or below the surface.
Hydrosphere
This term is sometimes used to express the collective life form, as it exists on the surface
and under water.
Biosphere
Starting from 4800km and extending up to 6370km is unknown nature but definitely of solid
character and with properties resembling to a metallic body, it is called _______.
Inner Core
More than 98% of the hydrosphere is made up of huge surface bodies of saline water called
seas and oceans. Give the 5 oceans.
Pacific
Atlantic
Indian
Arctic
Antarctic
The possible movement of the continents relative to one another in geological past was first
outlined at length by _______ in 1912.
Alfred Wegener
Alfred Wegener postulated a super continent to
which he gave the name _______.
Pangaea
Lands in the southern hemisphere including South America,
Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and peninsular India formed a
large continent called _________.
Gondwanaland
The term ________ came to be used to denote the processes involved in the
movements and interactions of the plates (tectonic is derived from Greek “tekton”, a builder)
Plate Tectonics
Give the 3 ways of the movement of the plates with respect to one another.
By one plate sliding past another along its margin.
By two plates moving away from one another.
By two plates moving together and one sliding underneath the edge of the other.
3 Types of Weathering
Chemical Weathering
Mechanical Weathering
Biological Weathering
Variety of natural processes that operate to shape the surface of the Earth.
Weathering
Land areas are continually being reduced and their shape modified by weathering and erosion, and the general term for this is ________.
Denudation
__________ or decomposition, is the break down of minerals into new compounds by the action of chemical agents; acids in the air, rain, and in river water.
Chemical weathering
Chemical weathering or _________, is the break down of minerals into new compounds by the action of chemical agents; acids in the air, rain, and in river water.
Decomposition
Dissociation of minerals into ions, greatly aided by the presence of CO2 in
the soil profile.
Solution
The combination of oxygen with a mineral to form oxides or any other
reaction in which the oxidation number of the oxidized elements is increased.
Oxidation
The release of oxygen from a mineral to its surrounding environment;
ions leave the mineral structure as the oxidation number of the reduced
element is decreased.
Reduction
Absorption of water molecules into the mineral structure.
Hydration
Hydrogen ions in percolating water replace mineral cations; no
oxidation – reduction occurs.
Hydrolysis
The migration of ions produced by the above processes.
Leaching
Absorption onto the surface of negatively charged clay of positively
charged cations in solution.
Cation Exchange
Mechanical weathering or ________, breaks down rocks into small particles by the action of temperature, by impact of raindrops and by abrasion from mineral particles carried in the wind.
Disintegration
________ or disintegration, breaks down rocks into small particles by the
action of temperature, by impact of raindrops and by abrasion from mineral particles carried in the wind.
Mechanical Weathering
Process where large scale development of fracturing in confined rock masses
is attributed to removal of overlaying rock cover due to prolonged erosional
work of others.
Unloading
Processes involved in Mechanical Weathering
Unloading
Frost Action
Thermal Effects (Insolation)
Processes involved in Chemical Weathering
Solution
Oxidation
Reduction
Hydration
Hydrolysis
Leaching
Cation Exchange
The expansion that occurs during the day and the contraction
at night, constantly repeated, weakens the structure of the
rock.
Thermal Effects (Insolation)
A process referred to as the operation of the “ice-wedge”; it leads to the
formation of screes on mountain slopes and produces the serrate
appearance of a high mountain sky-line.
Frost Action
Describes those mechanical and chemical changes of the ground that are directly associated with the activities of animals and plants.
Biological Weathering
Rivers, wind, moving ice and water waves are capable of loosening, dislodging and carrying
particles of soil, sediment and larger pieces of rock.
Erosion and Deposition
Results in the widening and deepening of their valleys. The rate of erosion is greatly enhanced in the times of flood.
The Work of Rivers
A new land surface is formed by uplift of the sea floor. Streams begin to flow over it and execute valleys.
Valleys
The profile taken along the course of a river also changes during
the river’s evolution.
Grade and Rejuvenation
Rapids and waterfalls are formed where a stream flows over rocks
of differing hardness.
Waterfalls and Gorges
A river and its tributaries constitute a network whose pattern can be
influenced by the position and shape of boundaries separating the various rocks within a
catchment.
River Patterns
Examples of River Patterns
Dendritic
Rectangular or Trellis
Disappearing
Radial
Superimposed
The processes where materials being transported by a river is deposited
to different locations.
River Deposits
General term given to deposits laid down by rivers; it may include fine
materials such as silt and mud and coarse sand and gravel.
Alluvium
A river entering a body of water, such as a lake or the sea, drops much of its load
of sediment as its velocity is reduced and forms a delta which is gradually built forward into
the water.
Deltas
The Works of Rivers
Valleys
Grade and Rejuvenation
Waterfalls and Gorges
River Patterns
River Deposits
Deltas
The waves which break on a shore erode the land margin by the force of their impact and by the impact of the debris they carry forward.
The Work of the Sea
The Works of the Sea
Tides and Currents
Tidal Surges
Waves
Coastal Erosion
The periodic rise and fall of the sea, or tide, is due to the pull
exerted by the sun and moon on the globe.
Tides and Currents
Water movement which is quickly generated and soon over.
Tidal Surges
Wave motion is produced when a water surface is swept by wind. It is an
oscillatory motion, and any particle near the surface moves in a vertical circular orbit.
Waves
At the base of coastal cliffs a wave-cut platform is formed, which
slopes gently seawards
Coastal Erosion
6 Coastal Marine Deposits
Littoral Drift
Spits and bars
Cuspate forelands
Mud flats
Barriers
Coral Reefs
The direct effect on land is greatly reduced by vegetation and thus it is bare ground that is most influenced by this agent of erosion.
The Work of the Wind
Works of the Wind
Wind Erosion
Wind formed deposits
Blowing over weathered surfaces it removes small loose particles dry
and decayed rock, both in deserts and in more temperate regions.
Wind Erosion
These include the coastal sand-hills of temperature regions and in
desert barchan dunes, crescentic in shape (in plan) etc.
Wind Formed Deposits
Most readily occurs through open fractures such as joints in exposed rock
and the gaping cracks.
Infiltration
Once the water has penetrated the surface, it may commence on a
downward journey towards the water table.
Percolation
Is the proportion of void space in the material, unfilled by solid material to
the total volume.
Porosity
Formula of Porosity
n = Vv/V
Measure of how readily fluids pass through the material. It is related to the
extent to which pore or cracks are interconnected.
Permeability
______ or phreatic zone is the zone where the voids of the soil is fully occupied by water. It is where the groundwater is found and at most, a few kilometers
into the crust
Saturated Zone
____ or vadose zone is the zone mostly above the saturated zone, where rocks
or soil in which the pore spaces are filled partly with water.
Unsaturated Zone
The top surface of the saturated zone, where the saturated zone is not
confined by overlaying impermeable rocks.
Water Table
A rock or soil that holds enough water and transmits it rapidly enough to
be useful as a source of water.
Aquifer
Bounded above and below by a low-permeability rocks (aquitards)
Confined Aquifer
Directly overlain by permeable rocks and soil.
Unconfined Aquifer
States how readily the groundwater can move through rocks and soil, and
this movement basely is governed by permeability. Groundwater flows from
areas of higher hydraulic head to lower.
Also states that velocity of flow of water through saturated soil is directly
proportional to the hydraulic gradient.
Darcy’s Law and Groundwater Flow
Formula of Darcy’s Law and Groundwater Flow
Q = K(A) (∆ℎ/∆i )
The driving force that causes groundwater to move in the direction of
maximum decreasing total head.
Hydraulic Gradient
Movement of water in soils.
Seepage
Vibration induced in the earth’s crust due to internal or external causes that virtually shake
up a part of the crust and all the structures and living and non-living things existing on it.
Earthquakes
The science dealing with the study of earthquake in all their aspects
Seismology
Or hypocenter, the point on a fault at which the first movement or break occurs during an
earthquake.
Focus
The point on the surface vertically above the focus of a particular earthquake
Epicenter
Elastic waves generated at the focus. They travel in all directions with velocities that
determines how strong the earthquake is.
Seismic Waves
Also called as primary waves, push and pull waves, longitudinal waves and compressional
waves. These are the fastest waves.
P-waves
Secondary waves or shear waves, transverse waves or distortional waves.
S-waves
Long waves or surface waves, confined mainly to the near surface layers of the earth.
L-waves
Give the 2 L-Waves Types.
Love wave
Rayleigh Wave
Planar breaks in the rock along which there is displacement of one side relative to the other.
Fault
2 types of Faults.
Strike-slip Fault
Dip-slip Fault
Scales of earthquakes.
Magnitude
Intensity
Term expressing the rating of an earthquake on the basis of amplitude of seismic waves
recorded as seismograms.
Magnitude
Also a term of expressing the rating of an earthquake in a qualitative manner, on the basis
of its effects on living and non-living things of the region it occurs.
Intensity
3 Classification of Earthquakes
By depth of focus
By magnitude
By cause of origin
