Applied Geology

Applied or engineering geology can be defined as the application of Geology to

engineering practice. In other words, it is concerned with those geological
factors that influence the location, design, construction and maintenance of
engineering works. Well understanding of the earths external processes as
rock cycle, weathering and deposition, internal processes which are reflected
on the earths surface as earthquakes and as volcanoes in addition to the
various geological structures are considered as vital aspects in civil
engineering.

Different types of soils and rocks are produced through the various processes of
the rock cycle. The physical, mechanical and chemical composition of soils
will depend on the source rock type, mineralogical composition, weathering
(physical or chemical), lithification and cementing matrix.

The crust of the Earth is composed of a great variety of igneous, metamorphic,

and sedimentary rocks. The crust is underlain by the mantle. The upper part of
the mantle is composed mostly of peridotite, a rock denser than rocks common
in the overlying crust. The boundary between the crust and mantle is
conventionally placed at the Mohos discontinuity, a boundary defined by a
contrast in seismic velocity. Earth's crust occupies less than 1% of Earth's
volume.

The oceanic crust of the Earth is different from its continental crust. The oceanic crust
is 5 km to 10 km thick and is composed primarily of basalt, diabase, and gabbro. The
continental crust is typically from 30 km to 50 km thick, and it is mostly composed of
less dense rocks than is the oceanic crust. Some of these less dense rocks, such as
granite, are common in the continental crust but rare to absent in the oceanic crust
The temperature of the crust increases with depth, reaching values typically in
the range from about 500 C to 1,000 C at the boundary with the underlying
mantle. The crust and underlying relatively rigid mantle make up the
lithosphere. Because of convection in the underlying plastic, non-molten, upper
mantle the lithosphere is broken into tectonic plates that move. The temperature
increases by approximately 30 C for every Km deeper.

Matter and Minerals

The Earth's crust is formed of rocks, rocks are defined as aggregate of

minerals. So, minerals are the building blocks of rocks. Mineralogy is the
science dealing with minerals.

Minerals any naturally occurring inorganic solids that have an orderly

internal structure and a definite chemical composition. Thus any mineral
must satisfy the followings criteria:

1. It must occur naturally.

2. It must be inorganic.

3. It must be a solid.

4. It must have an orderly internal structure (i.e. atoms must be arranged

in a definite pattern).

5. It must have a definite chemical composition that may vary within

specified limits.

The composition of minerals

Each of Earth's minerals is defined by its chemical composition and

internal structure. Minerals are made up of chemical elements (such as K,
Na and Ca). There are 112 known elements. Of these 92 only are
naturally occurring. Some minerals like gold or sulfur are made entirely
of one element, but most minerals are a combination of two or more
elements, joined to form a chemically stable compound.

The structure of minerals

A mineral is composed of an ordered array of atoms chemically bonded
together to form a particular crystalline structure. This orderly packing of
atom is reflected in the regularly shaped objects we call crystals.

Physical properties of minerals

Minerals are solids formed by inorganic processes. Each mineral has an

orderly arrangement of atoms (crystalline structure) and a definite
chemical composition, which give it a particular set of physical
properties. Because the internal structure and chemical composition of a
mineral are difficult to determine without the aid of sophisticated tests
and equipment, the more easily recognized physical properties are
frequently used in identification. The following are the main physical
properties of minerals:

Crystal form
Most inorganic solid objects are composed of crystals, however, most
crystals do not exhibit their crystal form.

Crystal form is the external expression of a mineral that reflects the

orderly internal arrangement of atoms.

Whenever a mineral is permitted to form without space restrictions, it will

develop individual crystals with well-formed crystal faces. Some crystals
(such as Quartz) have a very distinctive crystals form that can be helpful
in identification. However, most of the time crystal growth is interrupted
because of the competition for space, resulting in intergrowth mass of
crystals, none of which exhibits its crystal form.

Luster
Luster is the appearance or quality of light reflected from the surface of a
mineral. Luster is divided into two major types:

1. Metallic luster: minerals that have the appearance of metals regardless

of colour.

2. Nonmetallic luster include several characters such as: vitreous (glassy),

pearly, silky, resinous, earth (dull).
Colour
Although colour is an obvious feature of a mineral, it is often an
unreliable diagnostic property. Impurities in the common mineral quartz,
it gives a variety of colors including pink, purple, white and even black.
Some minerals such as sulfur, which is yellow, has a constant colour all
the time.

Streak
Streak is the colour of the mineral powder and it is obtained by robbing
the mineral across a piece of unglazed porcelain termed streak plate. The
streak colour may be different from the colour of the mineral and it is
generally more reliable tool in mineral identification. Metallic minerals
generally have a dense, dark streak.

Hardness
Hardness is one of the most useful diagnostic properties, which is the
measure of the resistance of a mineral to abrasion or scratching. This
property is determined by rubbing a mineral of unknown hardness against
one known hardness or vice versa.

Moh's Scale of Hardness

This is a numerical scale consists of ten minerals arranged in order from 1
(soft) to 10 (hardest) and as follow:
Table 1 : Moh's Scale of Hardness.

Hardness of some
Relative scale Mineral
common objects
Hardest 10 Diamond
9 Corundum
8 Topaz
7 Quartz
Potassium
6
Feldspar
5.5 glass,
5 Apatite
pocketknife
4 Flourite
3 Calcite 3 copper penny
2 Gypsum 2.5 fingernail
Softest 1 Talc

Any mineral of unknown hardness can be compared to these minerals or

to other objects of known hardness such as fingernail or copper coins.

Cleavage

In the crystal structure of a mineral, some bonds are weaker than others.
These bonds are where a mineral will break when it is stressed. Cleavage
is the tendency of a mineral to break along planes of weak bonding. Not
all minerals have definite planes of weak bonding but those that posses
cleavage can be identified by the smooth surfaces that are produced when
the mineral is broken.

Some minerals has cleavage in one direction such as mica breaking into
thin, flat sheets. Some minerals have several cleavage planes, which
produce smooth surfaces when broken, while others exhibit poor cleavage
and others have no cleavage at all.
Fracture

Minerals that do not exhibit cleavage when broken, such as quartz are
said to fracture. These that break into smooth curved surfaces resembling
broken glass have a conchoidal fracture. Others break into fibers or
splinters, but most minerals fracture irregularly.

Specific gravity

Specific gravity is a number representing the ratio of the weight of a

mineral to the weight of an equal volume of water. You can estimate the
specific gravity of minerals by hefting them in your hand.

Other properties of minerals

In addition to the properties mentioned above, some minerals can be

recognized by other distinctive processes such as:

Taste: salt

Magnetism: Magnetite

Ductile: Gold

Feeling: Talc has a soapy feeling, graphite has a greasy feeling.

Mineral Groups

Nearly 4000 minerals have been named and about 40 to 50 new ones are
bound identified each year, but only few dozens are abundant. These few
minerals make up most of the rocks of the Earth's crust and classified as
rock-forming minerals.

The two most abundant elements are silicon and oxygen, which combine
to form the framework of the most common group, the silicates. The next
most common group is the carbonates, of which calcite is the most
prominent member. Other common rock-forming minerals include
gypsum and halite.

Every silicate mineral contains the elements oxygen and silicon.

Moreover, except for few minerals such as quartz, every silicate mineral
includes one or more additional; elements that are needed to produce
electrical neutrality. These additional elements give rise to the great
variety of silicate minerals and their varied properties.
The silicon-oxygen tetrahedron

All silicates have the same fundamental building block, the silicon-
oxygen tetrahedron. This structure consists of four oxygen ions
surrounding a much smaller silicon ion.

The silicon-oxygen tetrahedron is a complex ion (SiO4-4) with a charge

of -4.

In nature, one of the simplest way in which these tetrahedral join

together to become neutral compounds is through the addition of
positively charged ions.

Other silicate structures

In addition to cations providing the opposite electrical charge needed to

bind the tetrahedra, the tetrahedra may link with `themselves in a variety
of configuration. For example the tetahedra may be joined to form single
chains, double chains, or sheet structures (Figure 2.8).

Common silicate minerals

The silicates are the most abundant mineral group and have the silicate
ion (SiO4-4) as their building block. The major silicate groups and
common examples are given in table (2.2). The feldspars are the most
plentiful silicate, comprising over 50% of Earth's crust. Quartz, the
second most abundant mineral in the continental crust, is the only
common mineral made completely of silicon and oxygen.

Most silicate minerals form (crystallize) as molten rock is cooling. This

cooling can occur at or near Earth's surface (low temperature and
pressure) or at great depth (high temperature and pressure). The
environment during crystallization and the chemical composition of the
molten rock determine to a large degree which minerals are produced.

Some silicate minerals form at Earth's surface from the weathered

products of older silicate minerals. Others formed under the extreme
pressure associated with mountain building. Therefore, each silicate
mineral has a structure and a chemical composition that indicate the
conditions under which is formed.

Ferromagnesian (Dark) Silicates

The dark or ferromagnesian silicates are those minerals containing ions of
iron (iron: Ferro) and / or magnesium in their structure. Because of their
iron content, ferromagnesian silicates are dark in colour and have a
greater specific gravity. The most common dark silicate minerals are:

Olivine: olivine is a family of high-temperature silicate minerals that are

black to olive green in colour and have a glassy luster and a conchoidal
fracture. Olivine is composed of small, rounded crystals.

Pyroxenes are a group of complex minerals thought to be important

components of Earth's mantle. The most common member augite is a
black opaque mineral with two directions of cleavage that meet at nearly
90 degree angle.

Hornblende is the most common member of a complex group called

amphiboles. Hornblende is usually dark green to black in colour.

Biotite is the dark iron-rich member of the mica family. Like other micas,
biotite posses a sheet structure that give it excellent cleavage in one
direction. Biotite has also a shiny black appearance.

Garnet is similar to olivine in that its structure is composed of individual

tetahedra linked by metallic ions. It has a glassy luster, lack cleavage and
has a conchoidal fracture. Although the colors of garnet are varied, this
mineral is most often brown to deep red. Garnet is a gemstone.

Nonferromangnesian (light) silicates

As the name implies, the light (or nonferromangnesian) silicates are

generally light in colour and have a specific gravity of about 2.7, which is
lower than the ferromagnesian silicates. These differences are attributed
to the presence or absence of iron and magnesium. The light silicates
contain varying amounts of aluminum, potassium, calcium and sodium
rather than iron and magnesium.

The most common minerals of these groups are:

Muscovite is a common member of the mica family. It is light in colour

and has a pearly luster. Like other micas, muscovite has excellent
cleavage in one direction.

Feldspar the most common mineral group can form under a very wide
range of temperatures and pressures. All of the feldspars have similar
physical properties. They have two planes of cleavage meeting at near 90
degree and are relatively hard (6 on the Moh's scale) and have a luster
that ranges from glassy to pearly.

The group member rich in potassium is called Orthoclase, the group that
contains both sodium and calcium ions are called plagioclase.

Quartz is the only common silicate mineral consisting entirely of silicon

and oxygen. As such, the term silica is applied to quartz, which has the
chemical formula SiO2. In a pure form, quartz is clear and has hexagonal
crystal form. If contains impurities, it may take several colors. The most
common are milky, smoky, rose and pinky.

Clay is a term used to describe a variety of complex minerals that have a

sheet structure. The clay minerals are very fine grained. They are the
products of the chemical weathering of other silicate minerals. Thus, clay
minerals make up a large percentage of soil.

Important nonsilicate minerals

Other mineral groups can be considered rare when compared to the

silicates, although many are important economically.

Carbonate minerals: the carbonate minerals have less complex structure

than silicates. This group is composed of the carbonate ion (CO2-2) and
one or more kinds of positive ions. The two most common carbonate
minerals are calcite (CaCO3) and dolomite CaMg (CO3)2. When calcite
is the dominant mineral, the rock is called limestone, whereas, dolostone
results from a predominance of dolomite.

Halite and Gypsum (Evaporites): Both minerals are commonly found in

thick layers that deposited from ancient seas. Both are important
nonmetallic resources. Halite is the mineral name for the common salt
table (NaCl). Gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O) is the mineral of which plaster and
other similar building materials are composed.