Course overview
How does the Earth respond to applied forces? This course looks at how rocks deform and change shape, and how we can recognise and use structure within rocks to determine present-day and ancient magnitudes and orientation of stress fields. Students will be introduced to techniques of recording and analysing structural data and taught how to map rock sequences in the field and interrogate a region to determine how it formed and what has happened to the area since formation.
- Faults And Folds
- Geological Maps
- Strain And Stress
- Geological Field Mapping
Course learning outcomes
- Proficiency in common practical skills including recognition and quantification of structural features in a region to determine the geological history of an area
- Describe the geological structures in hand specimens and in the field using appropriate nomenclature
- Identify and describe the features in rocks subject to stress, analyse the strain and interpret the palaeo stress field that affected the rock that causes the deformation
- Render 3D structures in 2D and interpret the 2D representations of 3D structures using maps, cross-sections and stereonets
- Work in a team efficiently and safely to produce a geological map of a region, which demands an understanding of strata and structures and develops an ability to predict the occurrence of particular rocks