CE212 LECTURE 2: GEOLOGY FOR CIVIL ENGINEERING

GEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS RELEVANT TO CE AND BUILDING ENVIRONMENT

 INTRODUCTION TO MINERALS
A mineral is:
➔ Non-living
➔ Inorganic
➔ Solid
Major properties of Minerals:
➔ Hardness
◆ “Moh’s Scale” - Ranges from 1-10
◆ To use Moh’s Scale, We scratch minerals against each other, or common
items to see if we can get them to scratch each other.
◆ The minerals break apart in two (2) ways:
● CLEAVAGE - neatly, along flat surfaces
● FRACTURE - crumble or breaks erratically
➔ Color
◆ Easy to observe but not really useful
● Many minerals can be in the same color
● One mineral can be in many colors
- Special Tests to identify minerals:
1. Magnetism - if a mineral is magnetic then it is a magnetite.
➔ Odor
◆ If minerals smell like rotten eggs, it must a a sulfur
◆ If it takes like salt, it must be a halite.
◆ Fluorescence - rare minerals glow in the dark
INTRODUCTION TO ROCKS
ROCKS - An aggregate of one or more minerals; or a body of undifferentiated mineral
matter (e.g. obsidian); or of solid organic matter (e.g., coal)

● More than one crystal

● Volcanic glass
● Solidified organic matter
● Appearance controlled by composition and size and arrangement of aggregate
grains (texture)
TYPES OF ROCKS
Igneous - form by solidification of molten rock (magma)
Sedimentary - form by lithification of sediment (sand, silt, clay, shells)
Metamorphic - form by transformations of preexisting rocks (in the solid state)

Igneous Rocks

Intrusive:
➔ Form within the Earth
➔ Slow cooling
➔ Interlocking large crystals
Example = granite
Extrusive:
➔ Form on the surface of the
Earth as a result of volcanic
eruption
➔ Rapid cooling
➔ Glassy and/or fine-grained texture
Example = basalt

Intrusive rock: (Plutonic)

- also called plutonic rock, igneous rock formed from magma forced into older
rocks at depths within the Earth’s crust, which then slowly solidifies below the
Earth’s surface, though it may later be exposed by erosion. Igneous intrusions
form a variety of rock types.
Extrusive: (Volcanic)
- any rock derived from magma (molten silicate material) that was poured out or
ejected at Earth’s surface. By contrast, intrusive rocks are formed from magma
that was forced into older rocks at depth within Earth’s crust; the molten material
then slowly solidifies below Earth’s surface, where it may later be exposed
through erosion.
- Extrusive rocks are usually distinguished from intrusive rocks on the basis of
their texture and mineral composition.

Sedimentary Rocks
Origin of sediment
- Produced by weathering and erosion or by precipitation from solution;
➔ Weathering = chemical and mechanical breakdown of rocks
➔ Erosion = processes that get the
weathered material moving
Sediment Types

➔ Clastic sediments are derived from the physical deposition of particles

produced by weathering and erosion of preexisting rock.
➔ Chemical and biochemical sediments are precipitated from solution.
Lithification
- The process that converts sediments into solid rock
- Compaction
- Cemented

Metamorphic Rocks