GENERAL GEOLOGY

Geology

The study of solid Earth, including its structure, composition, and processes.

Continental Drift

The theory that suggests that the continents were once a single supercontinent called Pangaea and have since moved to their current positions.

Plate Tectonics

The scientific theory that explains how major landforms are created as a result of Earth's subterranean movements.

Weathering

The disintegration and decomposition of rocks, minerals, and artificial materials due to prolonged exposure to the environment.

Rivers

Powerful agents of erosion that can modify the topography of a region through processes of erosion, transport, and deposition.

Wind

An agent of erosion, transportation, and deposition that can shape the Earth's surface through processes such as deflation and abrasion.

Sea

Marine water that covers more than two-thirds of the Earth's surface and is a powerful geological agent that shapes the Earth's landforms.

Marine Erosion

The process by which marine water erodes rocks at the shore and elsewhere through hydraulic action, abrasion, and corrosion.

Earthquake

The shaking of the ground caused by sudden motions along faults or fractures in the earth.

Focus

The point inside the earth where an earthquake starts, also known as the hypocenter.

Epicenter

The point on the surface of the earth directly above the focus of an earthquake.

Magnitude

A measure of the energy released by an earthquake at the focus, calculated from earthquakes recorded by a seismograph.

Intensity

The strength of an earthquake as perceived and felt by people in a certain locality, based on the relative effects to people, objects, environment, and structures.

Tectonic earthquakes

Earthquakes produced by sudden movement along faults and plate boundaries.

Volcanic earthquakes

Earthquakes induced by rising lava or magma beneath active volcanoes.

Modes of Occurrence

The different ways in which elements occur in coal and minerals.

Prospecting

The exploration for minerals to a depth of fewer than 2 meters below the surface of the earth using various methods.

Groundwater

Water found underground in the cracks and spaces in soil, sand, and rock.

Aquifer

A water-bearing porous soil or rock strata that yields significant water to wells or through which water can move easily.

Aquiclude

Water-bearing soil or rock that is effectively impermeable and does not allow easy or quick flow of water.

Aquifuge

An impermeable formation through which there is no possibility of storage or movement of water.

Unconfined aquifer

A partially filled aquifer exposed to the land surface with a rising and falling water table.

Confined Aquifer

An aquifer filled with pressurized water and separated from the land surface by a relatively impermeable bed.

Hot Springs

Naturally occurring springs of water that emerge due to heated groundwater.

Importance of Geology in Civil Engineering

The role of geology in providing knowledge about construction materials, site selection, geological hazards, stability of cuts and slopes, foundation problems, groundwater, and planning civil engineering projects.