Course overview
How does the Earth respond to applied force? This course looks at how rocks deform and change shape, and how we can recognise and use structures within rocks to determine ancient magnitudes and orientations 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. Details of field trip communicated at start of the course.
Course learning outcomes
- Demonstrate proficiency in common practical skills in Structural Geology, including structural features of a region and from this interpret the geological history of an area
- Describe geological structures in hand specimens and in the field using the appropriate nomenclature
- Understand and describe the features formed in rocks when subject to stress, analyse the strain in these rocks and interpret the palaeostress field that affected the rock and caused the deformation.
- Portray 3D structures in 2D and interpret the 2D representation of a 3D structure
- 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.