Folds, Faults and Joints

Sedimentary strata may lie horizontal as originally deposited or they may be bent into more
or less regular folds, they may be displaced along fractures, or they may be traversed by
planes or parting known as joints.

Geologic structures influence engineering projects in many ways. Folds and faults
obviously have much to do with the selection of dam sites and even such seemingly
unimportant matters as the spacing of joints may have vital bearing on uplifting pressure
and safety of dams. Gushed and chemically altered rocks contiguous to originating along
faults may damage or destroy engineering structures. The design of deep cuts in rocks is
greatly influenced of geologic structures on circulation of the ground water. Some of the
most common terms that are involved in the study of geologic structures are as follows;

 Bedding Planes: The planes or surfaces which divide on bed from the other are
called bedding Plane.
 Dip: The dip of a bed in the angle between the bedding and the horizontal plane.
 Strike: It may be defined as the direction of line formed by the intersection of
bedding and horizontal plane.
 Outcrop: The area of exposure of bed on the earth’s surface is called outcrop.

1. FOLDS

Perhaps the most common type of deformation is folding. As the name implies, folds are
undulation, flexures waves which resembles to ocean waves. They are best displayed in
stratified formation i.e. sedimentary rocks. But any layered or foliated rock such as banded
gabbros or granite gnessis may display folds. Some folds are few miles away, the width of
others to be measured in feet or inches or even in fraction of an inch.

1.1. Parts of Folds

The axial plane or axial surface of a fold is the plane or surface that divides the folds as
symmetrical as possible. In some folds the axial plane is vertical in other it is inclined and
in still other it is horizontal.

The sides of a folder are called the limbs or flanks. A limb extends from the axial plane in
one fold of the axial plane in the next. The highest point of a fold is called the crest and the
lower portion is called trough.

1.2. Nomenclature of Folds

On the basis of dip relationships two major types of folds can be distinguished;

 Anticline: In which the strata on opposite flanks dip towards the axis in other words
the folds that concave upwards.
 Monoclines: Folds in which horizontal or gently dipping beds are modified by
simple step like bends.
 Over turned Fold: The axial plane is inclined and both limbs dip in the same
direction but usually at different angles.

2. FAULTS

Faults are fractures in the earth’s crust along which slippage or displacement has occurred.
As a result, formerly continuous beds have been dislocated in a direction parallel to fault’s
surface. The displacement may vary from a few inches or less, to many miles.

When subjected to great pressure, the earth’s crust may have to withstand shear force in
addition to direct compression. If the shear forces so induced become excessive, failure
will result, movement will take place along the plane of failure until the unbalanced forces
are equalized and a fault will be the result.

2.1. Terminology
The vertical component of the displacement between two originally adjacent points is
called Throw of the faults. The block above the fault is called Hanging Wall and the
underlying block is termed as Foot Wall. The horizontal component of displacement is
called the Heave and the angle of inclination to the vertical is called the Hade of the fault.

2.2. Types of Faults

The two common types of faults are normal faults and reversed fault. In a normal fault the
hanging wall is displaced downward relative to the footwall. In the reversed faults the
hanging wall is displaced upwards relative to footwall. If the faults dip at angles less than
45 degree the term high thrust fault is applied. Strike slip faults are the high angle fractures
in which displacement is horizontal, parallel to the strike of the fault plane. There is little
or no vertical movement.

Normal faults rarely are isolated fractures. Typically, a group of parallel normal faults
develops a step like arrangement, or a series of fault blocks. A narrow block dropped down
between two normal faults is called graben, and an upraised block is called a horst.

2.3. Active and Inactive Faults

Fractures that are known to have experienced dislocation within historic time are known
as active faults. As they present hazard to construction, the differentiation of active and
inactive faults is matter of considerable engineering importance, and it is quite unfortunate
that frequently no very reliable decision can be made. The most direct and best evidence
of activity is that furnished by seismographs and benchmarks. If the seismograph records
show that earthquakes ocean along a fault it should, of course be regarded as active.
Similarly accurately located bench mark exhibit horizontal in vertical displacement, and
fault known to exist in the area should be regarded as active. If a fault is known to be
overlain by younger strata that are not displaced, it is permissible to regard it as inactive.
3. JOINTS

Joints are planes or surface which intersect rocks, but along which there has been no
appreciable displacement parallel to the joint surface. When displacement parallel to the
fracture is measureable, the fracture is known as a fault.

Joints result either from tension or shear stress acting on rock mass. The cause of stresses
may be due to contraction, compression, unequal lift, subsidence, earthquake or other earth
phenomena. Tension joints arise, for instance by drying and resultant shrinkage of
sedimentary deposits, or igneous rocks by contraction and cooling. Shear joints may arise
from compression of sedimentary or igneous rocks.

3.1. Engineering Significance

Because of their almost universal presence, joints are of engineering importance, especially
in excavation operations. It is desire able for joints to be spaced closely enough to reduce
secondary plugging and blasting requirement to a minimum, but not so closely spaced as
to impair stability of excavation slopes or increase breakage in tunnels. Needless to say,
the ideal conditions are seldom encountered. Joints oriented approximately at right angles
to the working face present the most unfavorable conditions, whereas joints oriented
approximately parallel to the working face greatly facilitate blasting operations and ensure
a fairly even and smooth break parallel to the face. Joint offer channels for underground
water circulation and in working below the ground water table may greatly increase water
problems. They also may exert an important influence on weathering.

Fault, in geology, a planar or gently curved fracture in the rocks of the Earth’s crust,
where compressional or tensional forces cause relative displacement of the rocks on the
opposite sides of the fracture. Faults range in length from a few centimetres to many
hundreds of kilometres, and displacement likewise may range from less than a centimetre
to several hundred kilometres along the fracture surface (the fault plane). In some instances,
the movement is distributed over a fault zone composed of many individual faults that
occupy a belt hundreds of metres wide. The geographic distribution of faults varies; some
large areas have almost none, others are cut by innumerable faults.
Faults may be vertical, horizontal, or inclined at any angle. Although the angle of
inclination of a specific fault plane tends to be relatively uniform, it may differ
considerably along its length from place to place. When rocks slip past each other in
faulting, the upper or overlying block along the fault plane is called the hanging wall, or
headwall; the block below is called the footwall. The fault strike is the direction of the line
of intersection between the fault plane and the surface of the Earth. The dip of a fault plane
is its angle of inclination measured from the horizontal.
Faults are classified according to their angle of dip and their relative displacement. Normal
dip-slip faults are produced by vertical compression as the Earth’s crust lengthens. The
hanging wall slides down relative to the footwall. Normal faults are common; they bound
many of the mountain ranges of the world and many of the rift valleys found along
spreading margins of tectonic plates. Rift valleys are formed by the sliding of the hanging
walls downward many thousands of metres, where they then become the valley floors.