ENGINEERING IN MINING

AND MINERAL PROCESSING

ENGP215
FUNDAMENTALS OF GEOLOGY
WHAT IS GEOLOGY?
• Study of the Earth
• It is the primary Earth science and looks at how the earth formed, its
structure and composition, and the types of processes acting on it.
• It investigates the processes that have shaped the Earth through its
4500 million (approximately) year history and uses the rock record to
unravel that history. It is concerned with the real world beyond the
laboratory and has direct relevance to the needs of society.
 USES OF GEOLOGY
• Geology helps us identify and mitigate natural hazards such as
earthquakes, coastal erosion, flooding, and landslides.
• Geology studies both modern and ancient environments, deciphering
the processes at work on our planet.
• Geology is important for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration and
exploitation, evaluating water resources ie discovering the natural
resources.
BRANCHES OF GEOLOGY
INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH
• The structure of the earth is divided into three major components: the
crust, the mantle, and core.
• Core, mantle, and crust are divisions based on composition.
• The crust makes up less than 1 percent of Earth by mass, consisting of
oceanic crust and continental crust is often more felsic rock.
• The mantle is hot and represents about 68 percent of Earth’s mass. Finally,
the core is mostly iron metal.
• The core makes up about 31% of the Earth. Lithosphere and asthenosphere
are divisions based on mechanical properties. The lithosphere is composed
of both the crust and the portion of the upper mantle that behaves as a
brittle, rigid solid. The asthenosphere is partially molten upper mantle
material that behaves plastically and can flow.
CONTINENTAL MARGINS
• Region of transition from the land to the deep seafloor, i.e. between
continental and oceanic crust.
• The continental margin consists of three different features: the
continental rise, the continental slope, and the continental shelf.
• All continents (and large islands) are surrounded by a continental
margin, a continuous band of mostly sedimentary rock. This makes up
some 20% of the ocean floor; the rest is the deep ocean basins
(abyssal plains).
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
CONTINENTAL SHELF
• The continental shelf is relatively flat, dipping down very gently (less
than 0.1°) as it extends out from the shoreline to the shelf break or
shelf edge, which is where the continental slope begins. Its width
varies considerably from several kilometres to more than 400 km;the
average is 80 km.
CONTINENTAL SLOPE
• At the edge of the continental shelf, at a consistent average depth of
about 130 m ,the slope of the seafloor suddenly increases from nearly
flat to about 4°, all the way down to depths of 1,500 to 3,500 m .
CONTINENTAL RISE
• The continental rises are the most distal parts of the continental
margins and represent the transition from the slope to the deeper,
flat physiographic regions of the open ocean basins known as abyssal
plains. Wedges of sediment that can be several kilometers thick and
several hundred kilometers wide developed because of the seaward
transport of sediment from the more shallow water continental
shelves and slopes. Overall, the gradients of the continental rises are
typically less than 1 degree.
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