Republic of the Philippines

CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE

F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

ENGEO 1: Geology for Engineers

Lesson 1: General Geology

Introduction to Geology for Engineers

Prepared by:

Madi, Noel Christian

Maraña, Jan Herson

Sales, Jaira
 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Introduction

•Geology is a branch of science that deals with the study of the Earth; study of solid Earth.

•In Greek, Geo means Earth, and Logos means Science.

•Geology is also known as Earth Science.

•The study of the Earth compromises the whole Earth, its origin, structure, composition, history, and the nature
of the processes.

Scope of Geology in Civil Engineering

•Geology provides necessary information about the site of construction materials used in the construction of
buildings, dams, tunnels, tanks, reservoirs, highways, and bridges.

•Geological information is most important in planning stage, design phase, and construction phase of an
engineering project.

Relevance of Geology in Civil Engineering

•Most Civil Engineering projects involve some excavation and rocks, or involve loading the Earth by building
on it. In some cases, the excavated rocks may be used as constructional material, and in others, rocks may
form a major part of the finished product.

•Before constructing roads, bridges, tunnels, tanks, reservoirs, and buildings, selection of site is important
from the viewpoint of stability of foundation and availability of construction materials.

•The feasibility, the planning and design, the construction and costing, and the safety of a project may depend
critically on the geological conditions where the construction will take place.

•In modest projects, or in those involving the redevelopment of a limited site, demands on the geological
knowledge of the engineer or the need for geological advice will be less, but are never negligible.

Role of Geology in Civil Engineering

•Geology provides a systematic knowledge of construction materials, their structure, and properties.

•The knowledge of Erosion, Transportation and Deposition (ETD) by surface water helps in soil conservation,
river control, coastal and harbor works.

•The knowledge about the nature of rocks is very necessary in tunneling, constructing roads and in determining
the stability of cuts and slopes. Thus, geology helps in civil engineering.

•The foundation problems of dams, bridges, and buildings are directly related with geology of the area where
they are to be built.
 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

•The knowledge of ground water is necessary in connection with excavation works, water supply, irrigation,
and many other purposes.

•Geological maps and selections help considerably in planning many engineering projects.

•If the geological features like faults, joints, beds, folds, solution channels are found, they have to be suitably
treated. Hence, the stability of the structure is greatly increased.

Failure of some Civil Engineering construction due to Geological drawbacks

•Failure due to earthquake

•Failure due to landslide

•Failure due to chemical weathering of foundation rocks (Effects of Alkali-Silica Reaction, Sulfate and
Chloride on concrete)

•Failure due to physical weathering (temperature variations, or by heavy rain, or by physical breaking)

•Failure due to increase of fractures in geological structures (faults, folds, and unconformities)

Branches of Geology

•Physical Geology-deals with the various processes of physical agents such as wind, water, glaciers and sea
waves. The study of physical geology plays a vital role in civil engineering as it reveals constructive and
destructive processes of physical agents at a particular site. It also helps in selecting a suitable site for different
types of projects to be under taken after studying the effects of physical agents which go on modifying the
surface of the earth physically, chemically and mechanically.

•Crystallography-deals with the study of crystals.

•Stratigraphy-the layering that occurs in most sedimentary rocks and in those igneous rocks formed at the
Earth’s surface, as from lava flows and volcanic fragmental deposits.

•Mining Geology-deals with the geologic structures and particularly the modes of formation and occurrence
of mineral deposits and their discovery.

•Mineralogy-a branch of geology that specializes in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure and
physical (including optical) properties of minerals.

•Paleontology-the scientific study of life in the geologic past, based on examination of fossilized remains of
once living organisms.

•Petrology-deals with the study of rocks. A rock is defined as the aggregation of minerals found in the earth’s
crust. It is relevant in the field of civil engineering lies within the selection of suitable rocks for building
 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

stones, road metals, etc. It gives the details of textures, primary structures and minerals of rocks which
contribute the physical properties of rocks.

•Historical Geology-a branch of geology that deals with the preserved evidence of geological events that
occurred in the past.

•Structural Geology-deals with the study of structures found in rocks. The primary goal of structural geology
is to use measurements of present-day rock geometrics to uncover information about the history of
deformation (strain) in the rocks.

History of Earth

•Earth was said to have existed for 4.567 billion years. In that time, it has undergone amazing transformation
as a variety of geologic processes have changed the planet.

•The geological history of Earth follows the major geological events in Earth’s past based on the geological
time scale, a system of chronological measurement based on the study of the planet’s rock layers.

•The geological history of Earth can be broadly classified into two (2) periods: Precambrian Supereon and
Phanerozoic Eon.

•Precambrian Supereon-includes approximately 90% of geologic time. It extends from 4.6 billion years ago
to the beginning of the Cambrian Period (about 570 Ma). It includes three (3) eons namely: Hadean Eon,
Archean Eon, and Proterozoic Eon.

•Phanerozoic Eon-the span of geologic time extending about 541 million years from the end of the
Proterozoic Eon to the present. The Phanerozoic, the eon of visible life, is divided into three (3) major spans
of time largely based on the basis of characteristic assemblages of life-forms: the Paleozoic (541 million to
252 million years ago), Mesozoic (252 million to 66 million years ago), and Cenozoic (66 million years ago
to the present).

Structure and Composition of Earth

•Based on relative position, density, and composition of Earth summarize, there are three (3) different types
of layers of the Earth, namely: Crust, Mantle, and Core.

Crust

•The outermost later of the Earth. It is also the surface of the Earth.

•Compromises the continents and ocean basins and therefore it has been classified into continental crust and
oceanic crust.

•The oceanic crust expands up to 5-10 km average. Whereas the continental crust would extend up to 20-70
km average.
 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

•The oceanic crust is mainly composed of basaltic igneous rocks, mainly of silica and magnesium and
therefore also called SIMA layer.

•The continental crust is composed of crystalline and granitic rocks mainly of silica and aluminum and
therefore also called SIAL layer.

Mantle

•the biggest layer of the Earth.

•composed of mainly of iron and magnesium silicates. It is referred as FaMa later

•This is where most of the internal heat of the Earth is located. It is about 2900 km thick.

•Mantle can be subdivided into four (4) layers, namely: Lithosphere (70-100 km), Asthenosphere (100-350
km), Upper mantle (350-670 km), and Lower Mantle (670-2900 km).

•Lithosphere is a layer that includes the crust and the upper most portion of the mantle. It has a part of the
tectonic plates that cover surface of Earth.

•Asthenosphere is the top later of the upper mantle 100-200 km below surface. It is a low seismic velocity
zone where rocks are at or near melting point. It also has a part of tectonic plates.

•Lower mantle is probably composed of mostly silicon, magnesium, and oxygen with some iron, and calcium,
and aluminum.

•Upper mantle is made up of mostly olivine and pyroxene (iron/magnesium silicates), calcium and aluminum.

Core

•The outer core is a hot and liquid layer comprising mainly of nickel and (liquid) iron which is referred as
NiFe layer.

•The outer core may also contain lighter element such as Silicon, Sulfur, Carbon, or Oxygen.

•The outer core ranges from 2900 km to 5150 km and is 2300 km thick.

•The Earth’s magnetic field is believed to be controlled by the liquid outer core. It is also believed to be the
responsible force of Earth’s rotation and electric currents.

•The transition space between outer core and mantle is called Gutenberg discontinuity.

•The layer stretches from 5150 km to 6370 km and is nearly 1200 km thick.

•The inner core is mostly made of solid iron and has little amounts of nickel.

•It is unattached to the mantle and is suspended in the molten outer core.

•The inner core is believed to have extreme temperature and pressure conditions.
 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

•The transition region between outer core and inner core is called lehmann discontinuity.

►Ocean: the vast body of salt water that cover almost three fourth of the Earth surface.

►Trenches: from when one tectonic plates slides beneath another plates at a subduction zone.

►Hot spot: a small area with relative high temperature in a comparison to its surroundings.

►Continent: one of the Earth’s seven main division of land.

►Oceanic ridge: is an under-water mountain system for med by tectonic plates.

►Island arc: a type of archipelago often composed of a chain of volcanoes with arc shaped alignment situated
parallel and close to a boundary between two (2) converging tectonic plates.

Reference/s:

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=8Ys5brwYEj8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&
cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://www.academia.edu/4327257/Geology_for_Civil_Engineers_Second_Edition_

https://www.slideshare.net/Tarunkumar689/engineering-geology-228710472

https://www.slideshare.net/GothiPankaj/structure-and-composition-of-
earth?fbclid=IwAR0UgeH2vVXPUq94iFcVMkNyLHTvUjxI3m0fxGoqTXJc3sqRWiVy_kmsylQ