Stereographic Projection of

Discontinuities

By
Dr. Abdul Ghani Pathan

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Stereographic Projection of
Great Circle and a pole

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Stereographic Projection of Great
Circle and a pole

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Stereographic Net

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 Determine the line of intersection
of two planes
Determine the line of intersection of two
planes having the orientation of 130/50 and
250/30

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Solution

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Solution

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Determination of angle between
two lines
 Example: Determine the angle between
two lines with orientations of 240/50 and
140/40

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Solution

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Solution
Locate the dip direction of both the lines
on stereonet.
Join the dip direction with the centre of the
net with straight lines as shown in figure.
Locate the dipping angles on these straight
lines and mark them with ‘A’ & ‘B’ as
shown in figure.

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Solution
Rotate the tracing paper about the centre
point until points ‘A’ and ‘B’ lie on the
same great circle.
Dip and dip direction of the plane which
contains the two lines are measured from
the stereonet as 60o and 200o, respectively.
The angle between the lines is found to be
64o by counting the small circle between
‘A’ and ‘B’ along the great circle.
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Solution

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Stability analysis of rock wedge
in the roof of the excavation
Example: A rock wedge is formed in the
roof of the excavation by three joint sets
with orientation of 100/70, 240/40 and
320/50. Assess the stability of the rock
wedge with the help of stereonet.

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Stability analysis of rock wedge
in the roof of the excavation
Example: A rock wedge is formed in the
roof of the excavation by three joint sets
with orientation of 220/50, 270/70 and
330/60. Assess the stability of the rock
wedge with the help of stereonet.

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 Determination of dip direction and true dip
 Example: A square tunnel has vertical side
walls which trend in the direction 140o to
320o. The apparent dip of a discontinuity
where it interacts the side wall is 40o SE.
The same discontinuity intersects the
horizontal roof of the tunnel in a line
trending 020-200. Determine the dip
direction and true dip of the discontinuity.

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 Determination of dip direction and true dip
 Solution
1) Place a tracing paper over stereonet and
draw the circle. Mark the trends of the
tunnel side wall (140-320) and the
intersection of the discontinuity with the
horizontal roof (020-200) as shown in
Figure ‘a’. By definition, the latter line
represents the strike of the discontinuity.

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Step # 1

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 Solution
2) Rotate the tracing paper so that the 140-
320 line lies on the east-west diameter of
the net. Count off the apparent dip (40o)
from the perimeter of the net along the
east-west diameter and mark the point ‘T’
as shown in Figure ‘b’.

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Step # 2

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 Solution
3) Rotate the tracing so that the 020-200 line,
defining the strike of the discontinuity, lies on
the north-south diameter of the net. With the
tracing in this position, draw in the great circle
on which the line of apparent dip, T, lies as
shown in Figure ‘c’.
True dip of the discontinuity which, by
definition, is at right angles to the strike of the
plane, is measured as 44o from the periphery of
the net along the east-west diameter. Mark in
the line of true dip

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Step # 3

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 Solution
4) Rotate the tracing so that the north point
is in the home position. Read the dip
direction, clockwise from the north point,
as 110o as shown in Figure ‘d’.

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Step # 4

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Thanks for your kind attention

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