Department of Civil Engineering

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment

Tun Hussein Onn University Of Malaysia

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Syllabus:
1. INTRODUCTION TO GEOLOGY
2. MINERALS
3. THE STUDY OF ROCKS – IGNEOUS, SEDIMENTARY AND
METAMORPHIC

4. WEATHERING
5. GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES
6. GEOLOGICAL SITE INVESTIGATION &
GEOPHYSICS
7. ROCK TESTING
8. ROCK MASS
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CHAPTER 1:

INTRODUCTION
TO GEOLOGY

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 Geology – the study of earth origin, history,
composition, structure and how it changes.

 Concept: the present is the key to the past

 The current geologic processes occurred in

the past and future.

 The rocks recorded the geological process

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 Engineering geology: geological inputs
to solve the engineering problems.

 Engineering geologist versus Geological

engineer

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Engineering works that required geological
input:
a) In the planning stage, where the
geological data are required in order to
model the ground sub-surfaces.

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Engineering works that required geological
input: b) During construction.

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Engineering works that required geological
input: c) Maintenance

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Pengkalan Gawi, Kenyir

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Dam Tunnel

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Tile Aggregate

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Big Bang Theory (Evidence):

Begin:

1.The explanation of the early stage of this universe, where

the heavens and the earth were closed up, but Allah have
opened them, stated in the Quran 21:30 (Have not those who
disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were joined
together as one united piece, then we parted them? And We
have made from water every living thing. Will they not then
believe?)

The End:

1.The end of the world was explaining in the Quran 21:104

(the day when We shall roll up the heaven like a scrolled up
for books, as We began the first creation, We shall repeat it, a
promise binding upon Us, Truly, We shall do it)

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Trivia:
Shape - spherical
Polar radius - 21 km shorter than equatorial
radius
Average radius - 6378 km (3965 miles)
Surface Area - 510 x 106 km2 (29% is land)
Overall Density - 5500 kg/m3
Mount Everest is 8.8 km above sea level
Ocean floor is an average 3.7 km below sea
level
Average height above sea level is 7 km

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 Consist of three:-

1) Atmosphere – Troposphere and

Stratosphere

2) Hydrosphere

3) Lithosphere

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 (1) Atmosphere:

 An envelope of gases surrounds the earth up to 10,000

km.

 99% of these gases located below 30 km. Composition

of gases 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, carbon dioxide,
water vapor and minor amount of other gases. The
atmosphere is divided into two parts which is
Troposphere and Stratosphere.

 Troposphere - the closest to the Earth ~ 13 km. It

contains almost all of the water vapor, clouds and
storms.

 Stratosphere - the overlying layer ~ 55 km above the

surface, contains the ozone layer.

 The atmosphere is an important geologic agent and is

responsible for the processes of weathering which are
continually at work on the Earth's surface.
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 (2) Hydrosphere:

 Hydrosphere is a water layer, which about 98% of

water in the oceans and 2% in lakes, rivers as well
as ground water, which exist in the fractures and
pores of the rocks and soils.

 71% of Earth covered by oceans to an average

depth of 4 km.

 Hydrosphere is in constant motion - evaporating

through the atmosphere, precipitating as rain and
returning to Earth.

 As water moves over the Earth's surface, it erodes,

transports and deposits weathered rock material,
constantly modifying the Earth's landscape.

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Lithosphere

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 (3) Lithosphere:

 Litho means rock. The solid portion of the earth

composed of the crust and upper mantle.

 The outermost layer of rocks about 70 km thick,

that rests on the soft weak material at the
asthenosphere.

 The lithosphere is broken into about 12 major

plates slowly moved by the flow of weak material.

 There are three basic types of rock: Igneous,

Sedimentary and Metamorphic.

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Earth Layers

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 Lithosphere 1. About 100 km thick. The material is solid, strong and rigid,
which contains the continental crust and the uppermost part of
(rock sphere)
the mantle.

Asthenosphere 1. A major zone within the upper mantle where the temperature
and pressure are caused the rock melts.
(weak sphere) 2. The rocks become plastic and easily deformed. The
thickness is about 550 km.
1. The rock is stronger and more rigid than the asthenosphere
because the high pressure at this depth offsets the effect of
Mesosphere high temperature.

1. The core composed mostly of iron and is therefore distinctly

different from the silicate (rocky) material above.
2. Two distinct parts - a solid inner core and liquid outer core.
Core The rotation of the Earth probably causes the liquid outer core
to circulate and generate the Earth's magnetic field.

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 1. There are two kinds of earth crust which is classified according to types of rocks,
thickness and density.
(a) Continent Crust: 35 - 60 km thick
relatively low density
Outer granitic rock
average density: 2.8 g/cm3
Crust (b) Oceanic Crust : thickness rarely exceed 5 km
denser material
basaltic composition
average density: 2.9 g/cm3
1. The depth up to 2900 km from surface and constitute 82% of earth volume and
68% of mass.
Mantle 2. The mantle is composed
c of iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), aluminum (Al),
silicon (Si), and oxygen (O) silicate compounds. TheT upper mantle contained
of melt substance called as a magma.
3. Magma can be forced through the earth’s crust to form volcano and known as a
lava. Average density: 4.5 g/cm3
1. The thickness is about 2200 km, composed of iron and nickel, hot and in the
Outer core liquid state. Average density: 10.7 g/cm3
1. The thickness' is about 1300 km, composed of iron and nickel, 5000ºC
5000 and 300
Inner core GPa. This is 3 million times the air pressure on you at sea level. Average
density: 17.0 g/cm3.

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Geologic forces come form the processes of
gradation, tectonism and volcanism.

(a) Gradation:-
(50:7: the earth, We have spread it out, and set thereon mountains standing firm,
and have produced therein every kind of lovely growth plants)
Degradation: Erosion results from wearing of
rocks by water, air and ice.

Aggradation: Deposition results in accumulation

of sediment and ultimate building up of rock
strata.

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(b) Tectonism
(27:88: You see the mountains and think them solid, but they shall pass away as the
passing away of the clouds. The work of Allah, Who perfected all things, verily! He is
aware of what you do)
 Tectonism - a dynamic process of the
lithosphere plate which moves over the
Asthenosphere.
 These plates interact with one another
along their boundaries.
 Produce faulting (fracture and
displacement), folding, subsidence and
uplift of rock formation (transform,
divergent, convergent).
 Responsible for built the mountain ranges.
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(c) Volcanism

 Volcano - a vent in the earth's crust through

which molten rock materials such as lavas,
ashes, steam and gas are ejected
(volcano experiment: pour hot water inside plastic mug which has lid,
shaking the mug, and make your observation).

 Responsible for the formation of plutonic

rock (solidified at great depth) and volcanic
rock (solidified at earth surface).

 Majority of volcanoes are located along the

tectonic plates boundaries.

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 What is a tectonic plate?

 A tectonic plate (also called lithosphere plate) - a

massive, irregularly shaped slab of solid rock,

 Generally composed of both continental and

oceanic lithosphere.

 Plate size can vary greatly - from a few hundred to

thousands of kilometers across. (e.g. The Pacific
and Antarctic Plates are among the largest)

 Plate thickness also varies greatly, ranging from

less than 15 km for young oceanic lithosphere to
about 200 km or more for ancient continental
lithosphere.
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 This massive slabs of solid rock can float despite
their tremendous weight because Continental crust
is composed of granitic rocks which are made up of
relatively lightweight minerals such as quartz and
feldspar.

 By contrast, oceanic crust is composed of basaltic

rocks, which are much denser and heavier.

 Most of the boundaries between individual plates

cannot be seen because they are hidden beneath
the oceans.

 Yet oceanic plate boundaries can be mapped

accurately from outer space by measurements from
GEOSAT satellites.

 Earthquake and volcanic activity is concentrated

near these boundaries. 40
Pacific plate
Eurasia plate
Antarctic plate
North America plate
South America plate
Indian plate
Africa plate
20 other small plates in between

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 The theory of plate tectonics
states that the lithosphere is
fragmented into a dozen or
more large and small plates
that are moving relative to one
another.

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 The present is the key to the past, the geologic
forces and processes - gradual as well as
catastrophic - acting on the Earth today are the
same as those that have acted in the geologic past.

 Continental Drift - introduced by a German

meteorologist named Alfred Lothar Wegener. He
contended that, around 200 million years ago, the
supercontinent Pangaea began to split apart.

 Alexander Du Toit, Professor of Geology at

Johannesburg University, proposed that Pangaea
first broke into two large continental landmasses,
Laurasia in the northern hemisphere and
Gondwanaland in the southern hemisphere.
 Laurasia and Gondwanaland then continued to break
apart into the various smaller continents that exist
today.
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 PERMIAN TRIASSIC
225 MILLION 200 MILLION
YEARS AGO YEARS AGO

JURASSIC CRETACEOUS
135 MILLION 65 MILLION
YEARS AGO YEARS AGO

PRESENT DAY

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 Wegener's theory - based in part on remarkable fit of
the South American and African continents.

 For example, the matching animal fossils found on

coastlines of South America and Africa, and the
evidence of dramatic climate changes on some
continents.

 For example, the discovery of fossils of tropical

plants (in the form of coal deposits) in Antarctica led
to the conclusion that this frozen land previously
must have been situated closer to the equator, in a
more temperate climate where lush, swampy
vegetation could grow.

 Other mismatches of geology and climate included

distinctive fossil ferns (Glossopteris) discovered in
now-polar regions, and the occurrence of glacial
deposits in present-day arid Africa, such as the Vaal
River valley of South Africa.
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Four major scientific developments spurred the
formulation of the plate tectonics theory:

1. The ruggedness and youth of the ocean floor

2. Repeated reversals of the Earth magnetic field in the

geologic past

3. Developing of the seafloor-spreading and associated

recycling of oceanic crust

4.
The world's earthquake and volcanic activity is concentrate
d
along oceanic trenches and submarine mountain ranges 48
 Ocean floor mapping shows the ruggedness and
youth of the ocean floor.
 The sediment layer on the floor of the Atlantic was
much thinner than originally thought.
 Scientists had previously believed that the oceans
have existed for at least 4 billion years, so
therefore the sediment layer should have been very
thick.
 Why then was there so little accumulation of
sedimentary rock and debris on the ocean floor?
 The answer to this question, which came after
further exploration, would prove to be vital to
advancing the concept of plate tectonics.

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 This finding, though unexpected, was not entirely
surprising because it was known that basalt - the
iron-rich, volcanic rock making up the ocean floor -
contains a strongly magnetic mineral (magnetite) and
can locally distort compass readings.

 Rocks generally belong to two groups according to

their magnetic properties.

 One group has so-called normal polarity,

characterized by the magnetic minerals in the rock
having the same polarity as that of the Earth's
present magnetic field.

 This would result in the north end of the rock's

"compass needle" pointing toward magnetic north.
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 The other group, however, has reversed polarity,
indicated by a polarity alignment opposite to that of
the Earth's present magnetic field.

 In this case, the north end of the rock's compass

needle would point south.

 How could this be? This answer lies in the magnetite

in volcanic rock.

 Grains of magnetite -- behaving like little magnets

-- can align themselves with the orientation of the
Earth's magnetic field.

 When magma (molten rock containing minerals and

gases) cools to form solid volcanic rock, the
alignment of the magnetite grains is "locked in,"
recording the Earth's magnetic orientation or polarity
(normal or reversed) at the time of cooling.
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 Why there is so little sediment accumulation on the
ocean floor, and why oceanic rocks are much younger
than continental rocks?

 At or near the crest of the ridge, the rocks are very

young, and they become progressively older away from
the ridge crest.

 The youngest rocks at the ridge crest always have

present-day (normal) polarity.

 Stripes of rock parallel to the ridge crest alternated in

magnetic polarity normal reversed-normal, etc.,
suggesting that the Earth's magnetic field has flip-
flopped many times.

 When the ages of the samples were determined by

paleontologists and isotopic dating studies, they
provided the clinching evidence that proved the seafloor
spreading hypothesis.
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 During the 20th century, improvements in
seismic instrumentation and greater use of
earthquake-recording instruments
(seismographs) worldwide enabled scientists to
learn that earthquakes tend to be concentrated
in certain areas, most notably along the
oceanic trenches and spreading ridges.
 By the late 1920s, seismologists were
beginning to identify several prominent
earthquake zones parallel to the trenches that
typically were inclined 40-60° from the
horizontal and extended several hundred
kilometers into the Earth. These zones later
became known as Wadati-Benioff zones, or
simply Benioff zones.
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 There are four types of plate boundaries:

(1) Divergent boundaries

(2) Convergent boundaries:-

 Oceanic - continental convergence
 Oceanic - oceanic convergence
 Continental - continental convergence

(3) Transform boundaries

(4) Plate boundary zones 56

(1) Divergent boundaries

 The new crust is generated as the plates pull

away from each other.

(2) Convergent boundaries

 The crust is destroyed as one plate dives under

another.

 Oceanic-continental convergence
 Oceanic-oceanic convergence
 Continental - continental convergence
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(3) Transform boundaries

 The crust is neither produced nor destroyed

as the plates slide horizontally past each
other.

(4) Plate boundary zones

 Broadbelts in which boundaries are not well

defined and the effects of plate interaction
are unclear.

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 Divergent boundaries occur along spreading centers
where plates are moving apart and new crust is
created by magma pushing up from the mantle.

 The rate of spreading along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

averages about 2.5 centimeters per year (cm/yr), or
25 km in a million years (between South America and
Africa continents).

 In East Africa, spreading processes have already torn

Saudi Arabia away from the rest of the African
continent, forming the Red Sea.

 The actively splitting African Plate and the Arabian

Plate meet in what geologists call a triple junction,
where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden.
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Map of East Africa showing some of
the historically active volcanoes (red
triangles) and the A far Triangle
(shaded, center) -- a so-called triple
junction (or triple point), where three
plates are pulling away from one
another: the Arabian Plate, and the
two parts of the African Plate (the
Nubian and the Somalian) splitting
along the East African Rift Zone

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 The Earth's unchanging size implies that the crust
must be destroyed at about the same rate as it is
being created.
 Such destruction (recycling) of crust takes place
along convergent boundaries where plates are
moving toward each other, and sometimes one
plate sinks (is subducted) under another.
 The location where sinking of a plate occurs is
called a subduction zone.
 Convergence can occur between an oceanic and a
largely continental plate, or between two largely
oceanic plates, or between two largely continental
plates.
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 Oceanic-continental convergence also sustains many of the
Earth's active volcanoes, such as those in the Andes and the
Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest.

 The eruptive activity is clearly associated with subduction.

Oceanic – continental
convergence

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 Oceanic – oceanic convergence

 The Marianas Trench (paralleling the Mariana Islands), the best example, marks where
the fast-moving Pacific Plate converges against the slower moving Philippine Plate .

 Subduction processes in oceanic-oceanic plate convergence also result in the formation

of volcanoes.

 Over millions of years, the erupted lava and volcanic debris pile up on the ocean floor
until a submarine volcano rises above sea level to form an island volcano.

 Such volcanoes are typically strung out in chains called island arcs. 66
 Continental – continental
convergence

 The Himalayan mountain range dramatically

demonstrates one of the most visible and
spectacular consequences of plate tectonics.
 When two continents meet head-on, neither is
subducted because the continental rocks are
relatively light.
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 Occur at the zone between two plates sliding
horizontally past one another.
 Was called a transform-fault boundary, or
simply a transform boundary.
 Most transform faults are found on the ocean
floor.
 However, a few occur on land, for example the
San Andreas fault zone in California.
 They commonly offset the active spreading
ridges, producing zig - zag plate margins, and
are generally defined by shallow earthquakes.
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 Not all plate boundaries are as simple as
the main types discussed above.
 In some regions, the boundaries are not
well defined because the plate-movement
deformation occurring there extends over a
broad belt (called a plate-boundary zone).
 Because plate-boundary zones involve at
least two large plates and one or more
micro plates caught up between them they
tend to have complicated geological
structures and earthquake patterns.
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 The Earth's crust is known to be at least 40 million centuries
old.
 The time span of the earth is called eras and subdivided into
periods.
 Rocks have been created and destroy throughout geologic
time.
 Rocks which are created during that particular period for
example Cambrian are said to belong to the Cambrian
system.
 The nature of rocks created or formed during various eras
can actually reveal about its strength and condition.
 For example rocks from the Precambrian era are known to be
very hard, crystalline materials but often with many fractures
and microstructures, whereas sandstone formed from
Pliocene series tends to be porous as soil and easily
excavated without blasting.
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 Era Period Absolute (million years
Cenozoic Holocene 0.012
Pleistocene 2

Tertiary Pilocene 7
Milocene 26
Oligocene 38
Eocene 54
Palaeocene 65

Mesozoic Cretaceous 135

Jurassic 195
Triassic 225

Upper Paleozoic Permian 280

Carboniferous 345
Devonian 395

Lower Paleozoic Silurian 440

Ordovician 500
Cambrian 570

Proterozoic and 4600

Archaeozoic
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