Salt Glaciers
Where salt flows out of a diapir (salt plug) above sea level it flows gravitationally in the direction of highest dip. In dry regions, such […]
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Columnar Jointing
In many respects, sills closely resemble buried lava flows. Both are tabular and can extend over a wide area, and both may exhibit columnar jointing. […]
Strike and Dip
Sedimentary rock units, because they are usually deposited in horizontal layers, are most useful when studying rock deformation. If the sedimentary rock layers are horizontal, […]
Principle of Cross-Cutting Relationships
Figure 1 shows layers of rock that have been offset by a fault, a fracture in rock along which displacement occurs. It is clear that […]
Anticlines and Synclines
The two most common types of folds are anticlines and synclines (Figure 1). Anticlines occur when compressional stresses squeeze sedimentary layers into arch-like folds. These […]
Hydraulic Fracturing
In some shale deposits, there are significant reserves of natural gas that cannot naturally leave because of the rock’s low permeability. The practice of hydraulic […]
Slope support
Slope support Retaining walls: common practice and successful on small slopes and cut faces, but not on larger slopes. Large unstable slopes are not easily […]
Describing and Classifying Soils
The factors controlling soil formation vary greatly from place to place and from time to time, leading to an amazing variety of soil types. These […]
The Richter and Mercalli Scales
Seismic waves are characterized by their wavelength and amplitude. Shorter-wavelength and higher-amplitude waves are the most destructive (Figure 1). Earthquakes happen all the time everywhere […]
Piezometer
A piezometer is either a device used to measure liquid pressure in a system by measuring the height to which a column of the liquid […]