UNIT – 6

GEOLOGIC REPORT WRITING AND PRESENTATION

Geological Reports
 Production of a sensible and scientific geological report comes after completion of geological field

works.

 Since geological field work is a scientific investigation, its finding should be laid out in the manner

of scientific publication.

 This involves, first explaining what was done, then stating what observations were made and finally

what conclusions were reached.

 The objective of writing a report or a paper or a thesis is to communicate ideas with others.

 As a geologist should strive to improve their mapping techniques, they should also work hard to

improve their ability to produce a readable report.

Geological Reports
To accomplish a well written geological report we need:-
1. Preparation: plan the layout, section by section, then draft each section using all field notes, maps, lab
results and reference gathered…
 Include all your thoughts without too much grammar and literacy regard
 Sections can be rearranged and edited later
2. Revising and Editing: it’s done to develop earlier ideas, the first step is to revise the draft ideas
 Earlier ideas may need to be changed, and new ideas may emerge
3. After revision and including new ideas, then the next step is editing the draft
 Here grammar, spelling and ordering will be edited
 Revision and edition of the draft can be done many times in order to get a good result (Ernest
Hemingway rewrote the last page of one book 39 times before he was satisfied)
4. Make final check of the whole report for punctuation, annex anything that doesn’t contribute a
meaning, avoid and substitute repetitions (geologists soft spot…repetition!!! e.g. ‘...the Falmouth area was
part of the area mapped and covered 10 km2 in area’).
Geological Report Layout
1. Title page
2. Abstract
3. Acknowledgment page
4. (contents – Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures)
5. Introduction
 Background, location, Objective, Methodology, Previous work
6. Main body
 Regional Geology, and
 Local Geology –Geology of the Study area
1. Lithologies
2. structures
 Discussion (Analysis and Interpretation)
7. Conclusions
8. References
9. Appendices
Title Page (Cover page)

 This includes:

1. Name of host organization,

2. The title,

3. The main purpose of the paper,

4. Researcher (s) or investigator (s) name (s), and

5. Date and place.

Title

 It should be reasonably short, precise, explanatory and not misleading;

 It should be on a separate page at the beginning of the paper.

Acknowledgment

• It should be on a separate page;

• Acknowledge all institutions and persons that helped you during the fieldwork and during the

course of preparation of your report.

• Order of acknowledgement:

1. Institution that funded the work,

2. Institutions that helped the work in any ways,

3. Persons who reviewed the work or advised you, and

4. persons who helped you in any way, etc.

Table of Contents

 It should contain all headings in the body of the paper including the abstract, acknowledgment,

table of contents, list of figures and plates, list of tables with their corresponding pages in

which they occur.

List of Figures, Tables and Appendices

 List all of the figures and plates that you used in the paper, in the order in which they appeared
on the page (Plates refer to photographs and maps while figure refers to any sketch or line
drawing).
 List all tables you included in the paper in the same way as that of the figures and plates.
List of Acronyms or glossary of technical words
 The researcher (s) or students may include list of abbreviations or glossary of technical words
used in the report that include the list of abbreviations and technical terms on the left and
their respective meaning on the right in a table format.
Abstract
 An abstract is a short summary of your completed research. If it is done well, it makes the reader want to

learn more about your research.

 These are the basic components of an abstract in any discipline:

1. Motivation/problem statement: Why do we care about the problem?

2. What practical, scientific, theoretical or artistic gap is your research filling?

3. Methods/procedure/approach: What did you actually do to get your results? (e.g. analyzed

3 novels, completed a series of 5 oil paintings, interviewed 17 students)

4. Results/findings/product: As a result of completing the above procedure, what did you

learn/invent/create?

5. Conclusion/implications: What are the larger implications of your findings, especially for

the problem/gap identified in step1?

 ……………….Continued

 To put it simple:

 What the author did;

 How the author did it;

 What the author found; and

 What the author concluded.

What makes a good abstract? ……………….Continued

 A good abstract:
1. Uses one well-developed paragraph that is coherent and concise, and is able to stand alone
as a unit of information
2. Covers all the essential academic elements of the full-length paper, namely the
background, purpose, focus, methods, results and conclusions
3. Contains no information not included in the paper
4. Is written in plain English and is understandable to a wider audience, as well as to your
discipline-specific audience
5. Often uses passive structures in order to report on findings, focusing on the issues rather
than people
6. Uses the language of the original paper, often in a more simplified form for the more
general reader
7. Usually does not include any referencing
8. In publications such as journals, it is found at the beginning of the text, while in academic
assignments, it is placed on a separate preliminary page.
 ……………….Continued
 The abstract should be a stand- alone, informative summary of observations and interpretations.

 The abstract must be short but must include:

1. Introduction in which you describe location, objectives of the investigation and general

features of the study shortly

2. Which type of work has been carried out (e.g. field mapping, sampling, geophysical survey,

drilling etc.),

3. The content in which you describe the methods you applied, and important features of the

area;

4. What are the results obtained (e.g. completion of a geological map and Stratigraphic

columns) & conclusion.

5. It should be on a separate page;

6. It should have a proportional length with the size of the report (200 – 300 words);
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION

 The Introduction gives the extended information on why ?, where ?, how ? and what ?

 Why is the work done?

 Where exactly is the area located? (both the geological and geographic location)

 How has the work been done? (field mapping, what measurements were taken)

 What has been achieved? (creation of a geological map, mention the number of plates

accompanying the report)

 Explain the general plan of the report? (contains the description of the stratigraphy,

structures and they are both used to reconstruct the geological evolution of the area

during a certain time interval)

GENERAL INFORMATION

 Purpose of the work, location and any other geometric feature of the studied area, accessibility,

physiography, drainage, climate (temperature and rain fall conditions), vegetation, land use and population of

the area should be presented in a short and precise manner, better using a paragraph for each item rather

than using sub headings.

PREVIOUS WORKS AND PRESENT STUDY

 Summarize the work of the researchers who previously investigated the area under consideration and give

the name of the Authors along with the year of publication of the work;

 Present (in few words) what your work in the same area is aimed at and describe how you approached the

problem along with the materials and methods, like interpretation of aerial photos that you have used both

in the field and in the course of preparation of your paper.

CHAPTER 2 - REGIONAL GEOLOGY AND TECTONICS

 Describe the general geologic features of the terrain to which your specific area belongs possibly based on

the works of previous researchers but duly refer to the works you have referred (Name of the Author and

the Year of publication), immediately after the word, sentence or paragraph that you have sited.

 If you present the idea of previous researchers in your own words, site the name of the author (s) either at

the beginning of the sentence using such terms as "According to...." or at the end of the sentence; if you do

not directly referred to a given work, you should indicate that it was cited in another work.

 Present the general stratigraphy (tectonostratigraphy) of the terrain with a very concise description of

each stratigraphic unit. (This part should be short as it is not your own work);

 It is advisable to cite and include a regional geological map, sections and columns.
CHAPTER 3 - GEOLOGY OF THE STUDY AREA
1. Stratigraphy and Lithology

 This is where you demonstrate the quality and accuracy of your field work and observations.

 The stratigraphy and lithology section combines all your field observations and interpretations.

 Remember: this section is not a diary of visited outcrops, a list of what you have done, or a written

description of the map.

 The description of lithology must proceed from the oldest to the youngest.

 It should be accompanied by a stratigraphic column and appropriate field sketches and photos of specimens

and outcrops.

 Refer to your map whenever possible to locate outcrops and samples.

 When describing rock units, always state where they located in outcrops and the best locality for exposure
and sampling (include relevant figures). You may refer to your geological map and a table (appendix) with the
list of visited outcrops.
 Try to link/state the table offered beneath the subtopics to the body of your content.

Example
 As a general rule remember to give the following information:
1. Basement Units
– Type of terrane (metamorphic / sedimentary / igneous)
– Lithology (rock type) and name of rock unit (for metamorphic rocks also mention the parent rock
(sedimentary or igneous) and the metamorphic grade)
– Rock petrography (coarse/fine grained, mineralogy etc.)
– Thickness of the unit (if known)
– Age of the parent rock and age of the metamorphic imprint
2. Sedimentary Units
– Basal boundary of the unit (is it visible, is it an unconformity, is it a fault).
– Lithology (including grain size, type of clasts, mineralogy of grains etc).
– Classify the rock (claystone, mudstone, limestone, sandstone etc.) and give the name of the rock unit.
– Type of bedding (massive, well bedded, alternating beds etc) and thickness of individual beds
– Facies and depositional environment - terrestrial (fluvial, lacustrine) or marine (shallow, deep)
– Fossil content and age of unit
– Thickness of entire unit (you may also calculate this from your cross sections)
3. Igneous Units

– Lithology, mineral content, texture, rock type

– Igneous facies (flow, dyke, sill) and contact with the surrounding rock units

– Thickness

– Age
General……………………………… About this chapter

 Introduce the study area (within the framework of the whole terrain) in general terms;
 Describe the nature of exposures (i.e., quarries, road cuts, river cuts etc).
 Present the geographic distribution of the lithologic units with reference to the Geological Map you
produced;
 Present a stratigraphic outline of the present study area (lithostratigraphy) with the help of sketches,
figures, sections, etc.;
 Describe each lithologic unit based on the data you have collected in the field and the petrographic data you
have obtained from thin section (laboratory) analyses of the respective samples you have collected (better
if you include some representative pictures or sketches of the thin sections as you see them under the
microscope along with the modal proportion of the different minerals in the rock and the possible
petrographic names of the respective rocks using the appropriate diagrams);
 Present representative stratigraphic sections from each sub area and draw a composite stratigraphy of the
study area and correlate it with the stratigraphy of the whole terrain.
Reminder……………………………… About this chapter

 Treat each unit as equally as possible;

 Your description should follow a certain order for all the units (E.g. description at exposure scale like
thickness, extent and general feature of the unit; at hand specimen scale like primary structures, textures,
color, observable minerals, etc; at microscopic scale, i.e., petrographic and mineralogical properties of the
rock);
 Describe the nature of contact relationships among the various units and among the various sub units within
the same unit, better using freehand sketches with proportional scales;
 You should present as much data as possible and you should only present your observations as they are
without any further interpretation, except for some straight forward interpretations;
 You should avoid repetition of facts and observations;
 Include illustrations, sketches, photos, and drawings which better explain your observations;
 Avoid reference to station names and numbers, traverse directions, unless there is peculiar feature and it is
worth mentioning or locating it specifically.
2. Structure
 First define if the area is strongly or mildly deformed (is the bedding horizontal, dipping or vertical?) and if

the structures have been formed in a compressional or extensional regime, or if there is a transition from

one to the other through time.

 Clearly separate ductile structures (foliation, Schistosity and folds in the metamorphic units) from brittle

structures in the sedimentary and volcanic units (joints, faults and folds).

 Start with the oldest structures and work through to the youngest structures.

 Always include relevant sketches, stereonets and photos as well as referring to maps and cross sections.

1. Description of folds must include:

 Geometry of the folded layer and fold morphology (syncline, anticline)
 Fold dimensions (wavelength, amplitude)
 Orientation and dip of axial plane and trend and plunge of the fold hinge line
 Evidence for superposed folding (typically in metamorphic rocks) and Age
2. Description of faults must include:

 Fault dimensions (at least length as mapped at the surface)

 Strike, dip direction and angle of dip of fault surface

 Rake of striations (if present)

 Sense of movement (normal, reverse, dextral, sinistral or oblique)

 Are there systems of faults? (parallel sets, conjugate sets)

 Displacement of geological markers and amount of offset

 Age (define crosscutting relationships between structures of different

age)
CHAPTER 4 - DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY
 Discuss and summarize your data that are presented in the local geology section by relating them to the

data you have gathered from other works in the Regional Geology section;

 Make a logical and reasonable interpretation of your observations and the petrologic, structural and

petrographic data;

 Reconstruct the geologic, history of your area by relating it to the whole terrain.

 In doing so, integrate the results of the previous works and the results of your interpretation in your

particular area of investigation.

Geological History

 The geological history is a brief history of the evolution of your investigated area through time, as inferred

from your field evidence.

 Always describe the evolution from the oldest event to the youngest event.
 ……………….Continued
 Start with the basement rocks, defining the time of deposition, metamorphic conditions and time of

metamorphism.

 Use presence, age and duration of unconformities to separate distinct cycles within the main stratigraphy

sequence.

 Is the sequence terrestrial or marine? Is there a transition from terrestrial to marine conditions? Is the

marine sequence shallowing or deepening upwards?

 Are there unconformities within the sequence?

 Are there igneous events that interrupt the sedimentary sequence? What is their age?

 What is the age of the youngest sediments preserved in outcrop?

 When was the area uplifted?

 When were the units deformed?

CHAPTER 5 - ECONOMIC ASPECTS
 Describe the existing economic minerals and rocks and their applications;

 Describe if there are any hazardous natural activities (geo-hazards)

CHAPTER 6 - CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

 A brief summary of everything that the work has achieved (production of a geological map, cross sections

and stratigraphic columns, discovery of new outcrops or fossil localities, construction of the geological

history).

 Summarize your investigation and the results you obtained and anything you learned about the area;

 Present the constraints you have encountered during investigation of the area or during preparation of the

report and any suggestion on how they could be overcome;

 Recommend any thing you feel is good to better understand the geology of the area and the measures to be

taken to further exploit the earth resources economically.

Next class is
about

REFERENCING
REFERENCING

 Referencing is a standardized way of acknowledging the sources of information and ideas that you have used

in your document (Snooks et al., 2002).

 Referencing, or citing, means acknowledging the sources of information and ideas you have used in a

research.

 Whenever you write a research report or paper that requires you to find and use information, you are

expected to reference the source of the information in your writing.

Why we need Referencing?

 The referencing in your research;

 Shows the range of ideas and approaches that you have found and thought

about,

 Gives your acknowledgement of where these ideas came from,

  Shows where your reader can locate the sources you have used, and

 Avoids plagiarism.

 Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s ideas and/or the way they express their ideas, as if they are your

own.

 Plagiarism can be unintentional, and appropriate referencing helps writers to avoid this.
Referencing System

 Referencing style varies from system to system and these systems are defined or pre specified by the

academic institutions, technical journals or publishers.

 The two most common types of referencing systems used are;

1. Author-date systems, such as;

I. The Harvard system,

II. American Psychological Association (APA) and

III.Modern Language Association (MLA)

2. Numeric systems, such as;

I. Chicago or Turabian,

II. Vancouver and Footnote.

How do you reference?
I. In-text reference

 Every time you use someone else’s ideas or information an in text reference must be included (this is

sometimes called a citation).

 For example when you:

• Paraphrase (express someone else’s idea in your own words)

• Summaries (express someone else’s idea concisely in your own words)

• Quote (express someone else’s idea in their exact words)

• Copy (reproduce a diagram, table or any other graphic).

 The in-text reference is shown each time you refer to an idea or information and should include:

• The author’s or editor’s family name (or organization responsible).

• Do not include given names or initials
• The year of publication, and page numbers if appropriate and where available.
 There are two main ways to present an in-text reference.

1. In brackets, outside your sentence structure:

 A single author

e.g., There is considerable increase in stability of slope when it is cut in convex section (Hoek, 1989).

 Two authors

e.g., There is considerable increase in stability of slope when it is cut in convex section (Hoek and Bray, 1989).

 More than two authors

e.g., There is considerable increase in stability of slope when it is cut in convex section (Hoek et al., 1989).

Note: in-text reference Ethiopia names will be written as author name followed by fathers name whereas for

other nationals family name should only be written.

e.g., There is considerable increase in stability of slope when it is cut in convex section (Tenalem Ayenew and

Bray, 1989)
 2. Using the author’s name as part of your sentence structure, with the date in brackets:

 A single author
e.g., According to Hoek (1989) there is considerable increase in stability of slope when it is cut in convex section.

 Two authors

e.g., According to Hoek and Bray (1989) there is considerable increase in stability of slope when it is cut in

convex section.

 More than two authors

e.g., According to Hoek et al. (1989) there is considerable increase in stability of slope when it is cut in convex

section.

Please note that in-text reference Ethiopia names will be written as author name followed by fathers name

whereas for other nationals family name should only be written.

e.g., According to Tenalem Ayenew and Bray (1989) there is considerable increase in stability of slope when it is
cut in convex section.
 Page numbers are included when you:

 Use a direct quote from an original source

 Summaries an idea from a particular page

 Copy tables or figures, or provide particular details like a date.

E.g., Hoek and Bray (1989, p. 16) stated that a design factor of safety of 1.5 should be considered for roads to

be constructed on slopes.

Multiple works by the same Author – Reference to be cited in the text;

E.g., … geology of Queensland’s national parks (Willmott 2004, 2006)

Multiple works by the same author, published in the same year – Reference to be cited in the text;

E.g., … geographically speaking (Dawkins 1996a, 1996b)

Two or more works by different authors – Reference to be cited in the text;

E.g., … rock formations (Dawkins 1996; Willmott 2004)

 In-text referencing from the internet

 Polygon features are those features which are bounded by closed (http://www.esri.com/library/brochures/p

dfs/gis-for-africa.pdf).
II. In-reference List Reference

 Each citation must have a matching entry in the reference list.

 It must have the full bibliographic details so that readers can find the source.

 The reference list is:

a) Titled ‘References’

b) Arranged alphabetically by author’s family name, or title if a source has no author

c) A single list—books, journal articles and electronic sources are listed together

and not arranged in separate lists.

Please Note that in reference list Ethiopia names will be written as author name followed by fathers name

whereas for other nationals family name will come first followed by initial for author name.
 A single author

e.g., Sharma, S. (1995). Plane failure analysis in rock slopes. Geot. and Geol. Eng. 13:105–113.

 Two authors

e.g., Sharma, S. and Raghuvanshi, T.K. (1995). Plane failure analysis in rock slopes. Geot. and Geol. Eng. 13:105–

113.

 More than two authors

e.g., Sharma, S., Raghuvanshi, T.K. and Anbalagan, R. (1995). Plane failure analysis in rock slopes. Geot. and Geol.

Eng. 13:105–113.

OR

e.g., Tenalem Ayenew and Barbieri, G. (2004). Inventory of landslides and susceptibility mapping in the Dessie

area, Northern Ethiopia. Eng. Geol. 77:1–15.

 Journal Name, Vol. No.
Year, page Number
Examples

Title

Authors

Srisharan Shreedharan, and Pinnaduwa H. S. W. Kulatilake. (2016). Discontinuum–

Equivalent Continuum Analysis of the Stability of Tunnels in a Deep Coal Mine Using the
Distinct Element Method. Rock Mech Rock Eng., 49:1903–1922.
In-reference list referencing from the internet

E.g., http://www.esri.com/library/brochures/p dfs/gis-for-africa.pdf accessed

on 14.03.2006.
Multiple works by the same author, published in the same year

- Dawkins, R. (1996a). Climbing Mount Improbable, Viking, London.

- Dawkins, R. (1996b),.River out of Eden, Phoenix, London.

Note: Order alphabetically by title in the reference list.

Multiple works by the same author, published in the different year

- Dawkins, R. (1996). Climbing Mount Improbable, Viking, London.

- Dawkins, R. (1997),.River out of Eden, Phoenix, London.

Note: Order depends on year of publication.

"Everyday is a new day to begin, learn from mistakes and try

to do work without mistakes"

Thought of the day

 Quiz (5%)

1. In the provided abstract, write down

the issues/ problems you found, and

give your reasons?

2. Rewrite sentences that have an

issue/problem in the correct form?

Ans: 1. issues: A) more than one paragraph

B) some sentences are written using active voice
2. A) The stability analysis for the existing and anticipated worst condition has been carried out.
B) Based on the field manifestations of instabilities around eight potentially unstable slopes
were identified.