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CIVI-231 Geology for Civil Engineers
Pipeline
OR
Biao Li, PhD
Assistant professor in Geotechnical Engineering
Department of Building, Civil, & Environmental Engineering
http://biaoligeo.wixsite.com/concordia
B.Sc. And M.Sc. (Civil engineering, China University of Geosciences Beijing)
Ph.D. (Geotechnical Engineering, University of Calgary) 2
Chapter 1: An Introduction to
With solid background in Geology?
Geology and Plate Tectonics
More opportunities in jobs!
Course outline
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The Science of Geology The Science of Geology
Geology (geo = earth; logos = discourse) Geology, people, and the environment
Physical geology studies Earth materials; Relationships between people and the
seeks to understand processes that operate natural environment include:
on and beneath its surface
Natural hazards
Historical geology seeks to understand Resources
the origin of Earth and its development World population growth
through time Environmental issues
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Some historical notes about geology Scientists such as James Hutton knew Earth
Catastrophism 17th must be very old.
landscapes were formed by sudden Before the discovery of radioactivity, it was
disasters difficult to determine the age of Earth.
Uniformitarianism - present is the Our current age-dating techniques are
key to the Proposed in the 18th constantly being refined.
century by James Hutton, and states that Extinct about 66 million years ago
the processes we observe on our planet
4.6 billion years
today have been shaping our planet
throughout time. 7 8
Geologic Time Geologic Time
Relative dating and the geologic time scale The magnitude of geologic time
Relative dating Events are placed in their Involves vast times millions or billions of
proper sequence or order without knowing their years
age in years
The Earth is 4.6 billion years old!
Law of Superposition Younger rock layers are An appreciation for the magnitude of geologic
deposited over older rock layers. time is important because many processes are
Principle of Fossil Succession Fossil very gradual
organisms success each other in a
determinable order.
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Plate Tectonics:
The lithosphere is broken-up into pieces called
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Plate boundaries
Transform fault boundaries
Plates slide past each other without either
generating new lithosphere or consuming
old lithosphere.
These faults form in the same direction as
plate movement.
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The breathtaking beauty of Earth as seen by the Apollo
astronauts in the 1960s and 1970s.
Earth is a small, fragile and self-contained planet.
Hydrosphere
Atmosphere
Biosphere
Geosphere
These four spheres are constantly interacting
with each other.
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Geosphere
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The Face of Earth Earth as a System
Continents system
Young mountain belts most prominent through their interactions.
Old mountain belts more eroded
Shields very old, large, flat expanses of sun and heat from E
rock Humans are part of this system. Our actions
Ocean basins produce often large-scale changes in all four
Oceanic ridge system the most prominent spheres.
topographic feature on Earth
Trenches can exceed depths of 11,000 m
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The Rock Cycle: Part of the Earth system The Rock Cycle: Part of the Earth System
The process by which one rock changes to Basic Cycle:
another rock: metamorphic, igneous, Molten magma becomes igneous rock
sedimentary. Weathering creates sediments
Each rock type is linked to the other. Sediments lithify into sedimentary rock
Burial and heat produce metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock can be heated to
produce magma, or eroded to form
sediments.
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Earth as a System Example questions for quiz