CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1

Introduction to geology

Geological Engineering is the application of the earth sciences to human problems that relate
to Earth and earth systems. It is a broad, interdisciplinary field with many specialty areas
such as: Geotechnical site investigation for a variety of projects, rock and soil slope stability,
Environmental site characterization and planning, Hydrogeology, groundwater studies and
engineering. Natural and manmade hazard investigations. Exploration and development of
fossil fuel and mineral deposits.
Engineering geologic studies are performed by a geologist or engineering geologist
educated, professionally trained and skilled at the recognition and analysis of geologic
hazards and adverse geologic conditions. Their overall objective is the protection of life and
property against damage and the solution of geologic problems.
Engineering geologic studies may be performed:
i.

For residential, commercial and industrial developments;

ii.

For governmental and military installations;

iii.

For mine and quarry excavations, mine tailing dam, mine reclamation and mine
tunnelling;

iv.

For wetland and habitat restoration programs;

v.

For coastal engineering, sand replenishment, bluff or sea cliff stability, harbor, pier
and waterfront development;

vi.

For offshore outfall, drilling platform and sub-sea pipeline, sub-sea cable; and

vii.

For other types of facilities.

2.2

Mineral and rock identification

2.2.1

Igneous rock

Igneous rocks have many distinct characteristics. For example, light-colored igneous rocks
are more acidic, and have over 65% silica. Dark-colored rocks are more basic and have a
higher percentage of ferro-magnesian minerals. Igneous rocks are broken up in to three main
groups: acid, intermediate, and basic. Acid rocks have over 65% silica, intermediate rocks
have 55-65% silica, and basic rocks have 45-55% silica.
Igneous rock forms when magma (molten rock) cools and solidifies. Extrusive
igneous rocks are those formed when magma reaches the surface (at which point it is called
lava), cooling and solidifying quickly. Intrusive igneous rocks are formed when magma
slowly cools deep below the surface of the earth. Different sized grains form, depending on
the conditions of the rock formation. Intrusive rocks are generally more coarse-grained than
extrusive. Coarse grains are more than 3/16 of an inch; medium grains, 1/64-3/16; and fine
grains, less than 1/64 of an inch. Granite, Rhyolite, Obsidian, Diorite, Felsite, Basalt, and
Pumice are all examples of igneous rocks. All these characteristics are key in identifying
igneous rocks.

2.2.2

Sedimentary rock

Sedimentary rock forms when layers of sand and pebbles are compressed enough to form
rock. Fossils are mainly found in sedimentary rock, specifically limestone because limestone
is formed in warm, shallow seas and organisms and shells get fossilized at the bottom. There
are three different grain sizes in sedimentary rock. Coarse which you can see with the naked
eye. Medium which you can see with a hand lens, and fine which you can see with a
microscope.
Sedimentary rocks are split into three different categories. Chemical, detrital and
biogenic. Chemical refers to rocks containing minerals produced by chemical precipitation.
Detrital refers to rocks which contain particles from preexisting rocks. While biogenic rocks
contain fossil and shell fragments. Sandstone, Shale, Limestone, and conglomerate are all

examples of sedimentary rocks. Igneous and sedimentary rocks are largely prevalent in the
world

2.2.3

Metamorphic rock

Metamorphic rocks form when rocks are subjected to heat and pressure, but not to the point
of melting. Depending on whether it was formed under just heat or heat and pressure the
orientation of the crystals will be different. Contact metamorphoric rocks are formed in just
heat and crystals are randomly arranged.
Regional metamorphic rocks are formed in both heat and pressure, and have crystals
that are aligned. The greater the pressure and temperature these rocks are exposed to the
larger the grains. Medium to high grade metamorphic rocks occurs at a minimum temperature
of 480 degrees f and a maximum temperature of 1,472 degrees f but can be much lower.
Some examples of metamorphic rocks are Slate, Marble, and Granulite

2.3

WEATHERING

Weathering is a general term describing all changes that result from the exposure of rock
materials to the atmosphere. It is one of the most important geologic process that leads to the
disintegration or decomposition of geologic deposits. Weathering occurs because most rock
are in equilibrium with higher temperature deep within the earth.
Rocks which are deeply buried lies in a different environment physically and chemically than
those exposed on the earths surface and therefore changes will takes places to accommodate
these new condition. If they are exposed to the much lower temperature and pressure at the
surface, to the gases in the atmosphere, and to the elements in water, they become unstable
and undergo various chemical changes and mechanical stresses.

2.3.1

Physical weathering

Physical weathering is a mechanical breakdown of the rocks into smaller fragments without
undergoing a change in chemical composition. No chemical elements are added to or subtract
from the rock. physical forces that contribute to this type of weathering are :

2.3.1.1 Organic activity

Organic weathering, also called bioweathering or biological weathering, is the general name
for biological processes of weathering that break down rocks. These include the physical
penetration and growth of roots and digging activities of animals (bioturbation), as well as the
action of various acids on minerals by lichens. Organic weathering is an intimate mixture
of mechanical weathering and chemical weathering agents

Figure 2.1 : Root wedging widens fractures in rock and aids the process of mechanical
weathering
2.3.1.2 Unloading
Unloading occurs when overlying material, such as soil or another rock startu, is removed
(most commonly through erosion) and confining pressure on the underlying rock is
decreased. In response, the rock generally fracture into sheet which lie perpendicular to the
direction in which pressure is released. Since the most common occurrence is the removal of
a horizontal layer of material above the rock, the results of unloading are often sees as sheets
of rock which lie parallel to the surface topography.

Figure 2.2 : Fracture due to unloading have cause the rock to break into large sheets on the
surface.
2.3.1.3 Abrasion
In physical or mechanical weathering, abrasion occurs when moving particle sediments
abrade the surface of exposed rocks. As these particles rub against exposed rocks, it leads to
wearing away of the rocks through friction. The particle sediments, such as smaller rocks, are
carried through media that includes water, ice and wind

Figure 2.3 : Water flowing through river or beach cobbles causes them to hit each other. This
contact causes abrasion, which makes the rock around.

2.3.2

Chemical weathering

Chemical weathering reactions are exothermic and produced minerals of increased volume.
Decomposition produces a chemical breakdown of rocks, which may destroy the original
minerals and produce new ones while expansion will result in the physical disintegration or
break up of rock. chemical weathering can occur only to those portions of a rock that are
exposed to the elements. Common processed of chemical weathering reaction are oxidation,
hydration, hydrolysis and dissolution.
2.3.2.1 Oxidation
Occurs when oxygen in air assisted by water combined with mineral to form axides.
Oxidation normally occurs to rock or minerals such as olivine pyroxene and amphibole that
contain high iron content and therefore produce rusty, red, yellow and brown rocks and soils.
Mineralogy examples of iron oxidation include the weathering of pyrite tolimonite, or
weathering of siderite to hematite.

2.4

Identifying the geological structure

2.4.1

Fold

Fold occurs when one or a stack of originally flat and planar surfaces, such as sedimentary
strata, are bent or curved as a result of permanent deformation. Synsedimentary folds are
those due to slumping of sedimentary material before it is lithified. Folds in rocks vary in size
from microscopic crinkles to mountain-sized folds. They occur singly as isolated folds and in
extensive fold trains of different sizes, on a variety of scales.
2.4.1.1 Anticline

Anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core. The term is not to be
confused with antiform, which is a purely descriptive term for any fold that is convex up.
Therefore if age relationships between various strata are unknown, the term antiform should
be used.

Figure 2.4 : Anticline folds

2.4.1.2 Syncline
A syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the centre of the structure. Synclines are
typically a downward fold, termed a synformal syncline (i.e. a trough); but synclines that
point upwards, or perched, can be found when strata have been overturned and folded (an
antiformal syncline).

Figure 2.5 : Syncline folds

2.4.1.3 Monocline
10

Local warping in horizontal strata. Rock beds lying at two level separated by steep inclined
limbs. It is form by vertical movement and generally found fault below monocline. a step-like
fold in rock strata consisting of a zone of steeper dip within an otherwise horizontal or gentlydipping sequence.

Figure 2.6 : Monocline folds

2.4.2

Fault

Fault which have had displacement of the rocks along them. The adjacent rock masses
slipped past one another in response to tension, compression or shering stress. Fault plane is
the plane of dislocating along which movements occur during faulting, fault commonly create
zones of broken ground weaker and less stable than the adjacent rock. sudden movements
along faults may cause earthquakes.

2.4.2.1 Normal Fault

Where the crust is being pulled apart, normal faulting occurs, in which the overlying
(hanging-wall) block moves down with respect to the lower (foot wall) block.

11

Figure 2.10 : Normal fault

2.4.2.2 Reverse fault

Where the crust is being compressed, reverse faulting occurs, in which the hanging-wall
block moves up and over the footwall block reverse slip on a gently inclined plane is
referred to as thrust faulting.

Figure 2.11 : Reverse fault

2.4.2.3 Strike Slip

Crustal blocks may also move sideways past each other, usually along nearly-vertical faults.
This strike-slip movement is described as sinistral when the far side moves to the left, and
dextral, when the far side moves to the right.

12

Figure 2.12 : Strike dip

2.4.2.4 Oblique Slip

An oblique slip involves various combinations of these basic movements, as in the 1855
Wairarapa Fault rupture, which included both reverse and dextral movement.

Figure 2.13 : Oblique slip

2.4.3

Joints

Joints are discontinuities on which there has been little or no displacement in shear (in
contrast to faults). Joints are ubiquitous in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.
They are evidence of brittle failure of the rock mass at some stage in the deformation history.
Joints have many important properties as planes of weakness in rock masses:

Orientation - Strike and dip or dip and dip-direction.

Spacing - The frequency or number of discontinuities per unit length.

Aperture - The mean distance between wall rock surfaces.

Persistence - The continuity of joints or trace length.

Surface Roughness - The property controlling friction between surfaces.

Infill - The presence or absence of breccia, gouge or surface coatings of minerals.

13

2.5

Strength

Compressibility

Permeability
Identifying mode of failure

Slope failures are major natural hazards that occur in many areas throughout the world.
Slopes expose two or more free surfaces because of geometry. Plane, wedge, toppling,
rockfall and rotational (circular/non-circular) types of failure are common in slopes (Figure
1). The first four are more predominant in rock slopes and are primarily controlled by the
orientation and the spacing of discontinuities planes with respect to the slope face. The
pattern of the discontinuities may be comprised of a single discontinuity, or a pair of
discontinuities that intersect each other, or a combination of multiple discontinuities that are
linked together to form a failure mode. Circular and non circular failure occurs in soil, mine
dump, heavily jointed or fractured rock mass and very weak rock. The types of slope failure
are primarily controlled by material properties, water content and foundation strength.

14

Figure 2.14 : Common type of slope failure

2.5.1

Wedge Failure

Wedge failure of rock slope results when rock mass slides along two intersecting
discontinuities, both of which dip out of the cut slope at an oblique angle to the cut face, thus
forming a wedge-shaped block (Figure 5 & 6). Wedge failure can occur in rock mass with
two or more sets of discontinuities whose lines of intersection are approximately
perpendicular to the strike of the slope and dip towards the plane of the slope. This mode of
failure requires that the dip angle of at least one joint intersect is greater than the friction
angle of the joint surfaces and that the line of joint intersection intersects the plane of the
slope.

Figure 2.15 : 3D figure of wedge failure with dip and dip direction.

15

Figure 2.16: Occurance of Wedge failure in a slope

2.5.2

Planar failure

A rock slope undergoes this mode of failure when combinations of discontinuities in the rock
mass form blocks or wedges within the rock which are free to move. The pattern of the
discontinuities may be comprised of a single discontinuity or a pair of discontinuities that
intersect each other, or a combination of multiple discontinuities that are linked together to
form a failure mode.
A planar failure of rock slope occurs when a mass of rock in a slope slides down along a
relatively planar failure surface. The failure surfaces are usually structural discontinuities
such as bedding planes, faults, joints or the interface between bedrock and an overlying layer
of weathered rock. Block sliding along a single plane (Figure 2) represents the simplest
sliding mechanism. Figure 3 shows a three dimension representation of such a type of failure.
In case of a plane failure, at least one joint set strike approximately parallel to the slope strike
and dips toward the excavation slope and the joint angle is less than the slope angle.

Figure 2.17 : Typical view of Plane failure (A = Sliding plane, B = Slope face)

16

2.5.3

Toppling failure

Toppling failures occur when columns of rock, formed by steeply dipping discontinuities in
the rock rotates about an essentially fixed point at or near the base of the slope followed by
slippage between the layers (Figure 8 & 9). The center of gravity of the column or slab must
fall outside the dimension of its base in toppling failure. Jointed rock mass closely spaced and
steeply dipping discontinuity sets that dip away from the slope surface are necessary
prerequisites for toppling failure. The removal of overburden and the confining rock, as is the
case in mining excavations, can result in a partial relief of the constraining stresses within the
rock structure, resulting in a toppling failure. This type of slope failure may be further
categorized depend on the mode such as flexural toppling, block toppling, and block flexural
toppling.

Figure 2.18: Typical view of Toppling failure

Figure 2.19: Schematic view of Toppling failure

17

18