FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION

ANTHONY OSINDE
MSC. REN. ENERGY(MAK), MSC. ENERGY POLICY(PAUWES, ALG), BSC. CIVIL (NDU)
Outline
INTRODUCTION
 The interior of the earth
 The surface of the earth
 Continental drift
 Plate tectonic,
 Earth age and origin
 Stratigraphical representation,
 Precambrian,
 Phanerozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic
Geology
Geo from the Ancient Greek i.e “earth”
Logy – logia- logos i.e. “study of”
Geology = study of earth
Geology is an earth science concerned with the solid Earth, the rocks of which It
is composed, and the processes by which they change over time.
Geology is the study of the Earth, the materials of which it is made, the structure
of those materials, and processes acting upon them.
The Scottish naturalist james Hutton (1726 – 1797) is known as the father of
modern Geology.
Branches of Geology
Physical geology – is concerned with the physical processes and physical properties
of the earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative
methods for their analysis.
Petrology – studies the origin, composition, distribution and structure of rocks
Mineralogy: the study of minerals, its composition and properties
Structural geology (Tectonic): the study of the three-dimensional distribution of rock
units with respect to their deformational histories.
Stratigraphy: studies rock layers (strats) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used
in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks.
Paleontology: is simply the study of ancient life; the study of fossils to determine
organisms’ evolution and interactions with each other and their environments (their
paleoecology)
Crystallography: is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of a
toms in the crystalline solids
Mining geology: an applied science which combines the
principles of economic geology and mining engineering to the
development of a defined mineral resource.
Geology engineering: is the application of scientific methods and
engineering principles to the acquisition, interpretation, and use of
knowledge of materials of the earth’s crust and earth materials for
the solution of engineering problems and the design of engineering
works
Hydrology: study of movement, distribution, and quality of water
on earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water
resources and environmental watershed sustainability.
Scope of Geology
Practical importance to mankind; important resources applicable to existence
of man kind
Mining industry; - mineralogy, crystallography, mining and economic geology
etc
Civil engineering; -construction works- such as Roads, foundation, dams ,
bridges, tunnels
Petroleum engineering; identifying areas where fossil resources are found i.e oil
shales, natural gas
Environmental engineering;- ground water, wastes, contaminants, poluution
Oceanography; hydrology, fossils etc
Space exploration; physical geology etc…
Application of Geology (earth science) in
civil engineering practices
1. Geology provides a systematic knowledge of construction materials
occurrence, composition, durability etc. for civil engineering works
2. Geology provides a systematic knowledge of flowing water, blowing wind,
ice, earthquake etc. for planning and carrying major civil engineering works.
3. Quantity and depth of ground water table occurrence.
4. Construction of Dams, Reservoir, Bridges, Roads, etc. are directly concerned
with geology of the area.
5. The knowledge about the nature and structure of rocks is very necessary for
tunnelling construction and canals.
6. The knowledge about the variation in the earth atmosphere studied by
geology.
Internal structure of earth
Our earth is a cosmic body. It is one of the nine members of The
Solar system of which Sun is the central star
The eight planets constituting the Solar system has benn named
as mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune.
In its shape, the Earth is commonly described as a spheroid, it has
an equatorial diameter of 12,757.776 km and a polar diameter of
12,713.824 km and thus has an equatorial bulge.
At present the Earth is the only planet believed to be sustaining
life, other planets have shown no signs of life on them.
The earth
Atmosphere
The outer gaseous part of earth starting from the surface and
extending as far as 700km and beyond is termed atmosphere.
Although extending for such great distances, the atmosphere
makes only one-millionth part of the mass of earth; this is because
of its gaseous composition.
It is now fairly established that the atmosphere possesses a
layered structure.
Their well-defined layers or zones of the atmosphere are surface
upward, troposphere, stratosphere and ionosphere.
Lithosphere
It is the solid part of the earth and in a broader sense includes all
the solid materials composing the earth from surface downwards,
although sometimes-specific terms are used for deeper earth zones
Recent detailed seismic studies of the body of the earth have
shown that it is composed of three well defined Crust, Mantle, Core
The crust
Is the topmost shell of the earth, which has a thickness of 30-40 km in th continents
and 5-6km in the oceans.
There is a striking variation in the materials or rocks, as they are called, composing
the crust over the continents and ocean floors.
The oceanic crust is made up of heavier and darker rocks called basalts compared
to light-coloured and light density, granite rocks of continental crust
When considered as a part of the total structure of the earth, crust makes only an
insignificant part represented by a thin layer, similar to the skin of an apple.
As regards the chemical composition of the crust, analyses made by Clarke and
Gold Schmith, using rocks from different geographic regions of the crust have all
shown that when expressed in terms of oxides, the crust has silica as the most
dominant component, its value lying above 50% by volume in the oceanic crust and
above 62% in the continental crust.
 The crust
 Alumina is the next important
oxide, varying between 13-16%
followed by iron Oxides (8%),
lime (6%), sodium (4%),
magnesium (4%), potassium
(2.5%) & titanium (2%)

 The crust itself shows a

complicated structure both in
make-up and compositional
variations.
Many rocks now making up Earth’s
crust formed less than 100 million
(1x108) years ago; however, the
oldest known mineral grains are
about 4.4 billion (4.4x109 ) years old,
indicating that Earth has had a solid
crust for at least 4.4 billion years.
The Mantle
At the base of the crust materials of the earth become greatly different in many
properties from those overlying them in the crust
These materials appear to form a nearly homogeneous zone till a depth of 2900
km is reached
This zone of materials lying between crust and depth of 2900 km is known a
MANTLE
It is made up of extremely basic materials, called ultra basic rocks, which are
believed to be very rich in iron and magnesium but quite poor in silica
Such rock are named as Periodotites, Dunite
These are characterised with a high density, increasing steadily with
depth further; the mantle material is believed to be highly plastic in
nature.
Many of the most important ecological process such as earthquakes
and formation of mountains are believed to have their origin in this zone
The mantle is divide into upper and lower mantle.
The upper and lower mantle are separated by the transition zone.
The lowest part of the mantle next to the core-mantle boundary is
known as D” (pronounced dee-double-prime) layer
The pressure at the bottom of the mantle is aprox.140 GPa
The core
It is the third and the innermost structure shell of the earth, which is clearly marked by the seismic
evidence.
It starts at a depth of 2900 km below the surface and extends right up to the centre of the earth at
6370 km.
The material making the core is found to be from seismic studies only strikingly different from that
making the other two shells in one major aspect, in elastic properties.
The material has no shear resistance, which makes it nearer to liquid than to a solid body.
It has a very high density, above 5-6 gms/cubic centimetre, at the mantle core boundary
Nothing can be said about the composition of the core.
Metallic portion to occupy some 65% of the diameter of the earth.
According to one widely favoured view, the inner core is made up of iron and Nickle alloy material.
The core can be divided on the bases of rock formation:
The upper layer is called sialic or granitic
The lower layer is sima or borattic
CONTINENTAL DRIFT
The Earth’s crust is broken into many sections. These
sections are called Lithospheric plates. The Lithosphere is
the lower portion of the crust.
The lithosphere sits on top of the asthenosphere. The
asthenosphere is the upper portion of the mantle. The
asthenosphere has a plastic-like consistency.
The movement of these lithospheric plates is what we
call Plate Tectonics. What was once called the theory of
continental drift, (where it was thought that only the
continents moved) is now the theory of plate tectonics
where it includes the sea floor moving, too.
The theory of continental drift (or plate tectonics) was first
proposed by a German scientist named Alfred Wegener.
Wegener’s thoughts about how the plates moved did not
make sense and because of this, many people(scientists)
didn’t believe his theory
Wegener’s theory was supported by Harry Hess. Hess was
the scientist that discovered the sea floor was spreading.
Because the sea floor was spreading, it couldn’t be called
continental drift anymore, so it is now called Plate
Tectonics.
Other evidence for continental drift or plate
tectonics was
Matching rock and ice patterns in mountain
ranges
Similar plant and animal fossils on the shores
of distant continents
All land on earth fits together like a jigsaw
puzzle.
Glacier deposits
Mountain ranges from different continents
align and are composed of the same
materials.
Continental drift became widely accepted when Dr. Harry Hess
discovered seafloor spreading in 1960.
Seafloor Spreading occurs at divergent plate boundaries which
subsequently create mid-ocean ridges.
New oceanic crust is formed through magma rising through the
gap and cooling. As plates move, the new crust gradually moves
away from the ridge.
Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of
plate tectonics.
 How does continental drift work?

 Plates collide = convergent

boundary
 Plates separate = divergent
boundary
 Plates slide past one another
horizontally = transform boundary
 Subduction zone = one plate slides
under another

video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbtAXW-2nz0
Plate tectonics
PLATE TECTONIC
Eras of the Phanerozoic
The great Precambrian expanse of time is divided into the Proterozoic,
Archean, and Hadean eons in order of increasing age.
The names of the eras in the Phanerozoic eon (the eon of visible life) are the
Cenozoic ("recent life"),
Mesozoic ("middle life") and
Paleozoic ("ancient life").
The Phanerozoic is divided into three eras: the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and
Cenozoic, which are further subdivided into 12 periods. The Paleozoic features
the evolution of fish, amphibians and reptiles. The Mesozoic features the
evolution of lizards, crocodiles, snakes, turtles, mammals, and dinosaurs
(including birds). The Cenozoic begins with the extinction of the non-avian
dinosaurs, and feature evolution of great diversity in birds and mammals.
Humans evolved at the end of the Cenozoic.
Review questions
1. What was the original source of the material from which the solar-system is derived?
2. Why are the four inner planets ―rocky‖ while the four outer ones are ―gaseous‖?
3. What was the main factor responsible for the heating up of the earth's interior?
4. From what source were the water and the gases of our atmosphere derived?
5. What gas was the main component of the earth's early atmosphere?
6. What gas would have inhibited the initial evolution of life on earth?
7. When and why did the oxygen content of the atmosphere begin to increase?
8. According to Gaia theory, how would our atmosphere be different if there was no life on
earth, and how has the presence of life on earth contributed to regulation of the surface
temperature?
9. Prior to the development of isotope dating why did fossils only indicate the relative ages of
geological formations?