 Joints:

Joints are smooth fracture which develops sets and systems and by which most of rocks are broken down.
-A divisional plane or surface that divides a rock and along which there has been no visible movement parallel
to the plane or surface.
-Length of joints is measured in ft or even in tens of feet.
-Most of joints are planar and some are curved.
-B/c of weathering joins are enlarged into wide fracture called fissures.Joints have different attitude i.e. may
be horizontal, vertical or inclined.
 Symbols:

 Adverse effect of joints:

i. Quarrying operation are greatly influenced by joints. E.g. drilling and blasting. The slurry of
drilling is disseminated in joints. And the energy of explosives in blasting of the drill hole is
wasted due to joints.
ii. They are undesirable in-case of reservoir, tunnel and also causes landslide along hill slope.
iii. Joints dipping in downstream direction in dam are harmful and not harmful in upstream
direction.
iv. Landslide takes place when the surface slope of hill and dip direction of bed or fault or joint
occurs in the same direction.
 Positive effect of joints:
-The jointed rock stores more water and fuel than block rock.
-It is helpful in quarrying, if joints occur at suitable interval through which blocks are cut into suitable
block. Such quarrying require less amount of explosives.
 Formation:
i. Joints form in solid, hard rock that is stretched such that its brittle strength is exceeded (the
point at which it breaks).The rock fractures in a plane parallel to the maximum principal
stress and perpendicular to the minimum principal stress (the direction in which the rock is
being stretched).
ii. This leads to the development of a single sub- parallel joint set. Continued deformation may
lead to development of one or more additional joint sets.
iii. The presence of the first set strongly affects the stress orientation in the rock layer, often
causing subsequent sets to form at a high angle to the first set. Joint sets are commonly
observed to have relatively constant spacing, which is roughly proportional to the thickness of
the layer.
 Essential feature of joints (Joints vs. Fault):
i. Joints have no visible movements along the discontinuity while movement is essential in
faulting.
ii. Joints are small in size while faults are larger.
iii. Joints are restricted to brittle formation while faulting occurs in any type of rock.
iv. Joints sometimes develop in sets and systems. While fault may develop independently.
v. Effect of joints is not felt on surface of the earth while faults produces tremendious vibration
and its effect is felt on the surface of the earth.
vi. Fractures in general can also be described as self-similar, or having a fractal geometry. If
many fractures occur in the same area and have a similar orientation, they are referred to as a
set of fractures. Individual extension fractures are referred to as joints, and a group of them is
called a joint set.
 Classification:
1. Geometric Classification:
Geometrically joints are grouped on the basis of their attitude (geometrical relation) relative to
attitude of the beds or some other structure in rocks they cut.
 a. Strike joint:
Those joints that strike parallel essentially to the strike of bedding. E.g. BDEF and MNO are
the s.joints.
b. Dip joints:
-A joint that strikes approx. perpendicularly to the strike of the bedding
-Those joints which dips parallel to the dip of the bedding. E.g. ABD and GHI
c. Oblique joints:
-A joint whose strike is oblique to the strike of the strata.
-Those joints which lies in the direction b/w strike and dip. E.g. PQR and STU.
d. Bedding joints:
-Those joints which are parallel to the associated beds of the sedimentary rock. E.g. JKL
-A joint parallel to the bedding planes

e.
2. Genetic Classification:
a. Shear fractures (sheeting joints):
Joints which results from stresses that tend to slide one part of the rock fast the adjacent part.
When magma cools fast, cooling is done towards country rocks and size of material become
courser at center due to slow cooling and cause shrinkage of layers.These joints are more or
less parallel to the surfaces of ground
-Appear just like a line.
-Shear fracture may not only develop under shear or comp but also develop from couple and
tension.
-Shear fracture remains inclined at angle of 30 to the surface of earth.

b. Tension fractures (sir):

Joints which results from stresses that tends to pull the specimen apart.
-Perpendicular to the axis of fold.
-Results from slight elongation parallel to the axis of fold. Tension joints are open. Due to
weathering such joints the filled by solution and some other material. Following are the
different types of T.joints:-
i. Tension Gashes:
T. gashes are those T.joints which are tapered at the ends and widened at the middle.
Present in a ductile material. Easily identified in a rock.
ii. Release joints:
Are those tension joints which are parallel to the axial plane of the fold.
iii. Columnar joints:
Special variety of extension joints. Results due to contraction after cooling therefore
called columnar joints. Ex. Joints in Basalt rock
 -Hot basalt cools down and on solidification give rise to columnar joints. i.e at temp
1000. Such joints are a few feet to many feet in dia and many feet long. C.joint are
five sided, 4-sided and even hexagonal.
-Joints formed at surface by cooling of lava are very much irregular.
-Axes of c.joints are perpendicular to the contact of igneous body.

b. Tectonic joints:
Tectonic joints are formed during deformation episodes whenever the differential stress is
high enough to induce tensile failure of the rock.
They will often form at the same time as faults. Measurement of tectonic joint patterns can be
useful in analyzing the tectonic history of an area because they give information on stress
orientations at the time of formation.

c. Unloading or release joints:

Joints are most commonly formed when uplift and erosion removes the overlying rocks
thereby reducing the compressive load and allowing the rock to expand laterally.
-Joints related to uplift and erosional unloading have orientations reflecting the principal
stresses during the uplift. Care needs to be taken when attempting to understand past tectonic
stresses to discriminate, if possible, between tectonic and unloading joints.

d. Exfoliation joints:
Exfoliation joints may be a special case of unloading joints formed at, and parallel to, the
current land surface in rocks of high compressive strength, although there is as yet no general
agreement on a general theory of how they form.

e. Cooling joints:
Joints can also form via cooling of hot rock masses, particularly lava, forming cooling joints,
most commonly expressed as vertical columnar jointing.
The joint formation associated with cooling is typically polygonal because the cooling
 introduces stresses that are isotropic in the plane of the layer.

f. Master joints (major joints):

- A persistent joint plane of greater than average extent, generally constituting the dominant
jointing of an area. Also known as main joint; major joint.
Meters of long joints having splay (turned outward or widened) joints are known as “Master
Joints”. These joints may be open, closed or may be filled with secondary minerals. Behavior
of these joints depends upon mineralogy; if rocks are fine grained, Joints surface morphology
will be smooth and if rocks are course grained, Joints surface morphology will be rough.
These Joints helps us to develop secondary porosity and help in oil accumulation.