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Strike-View Cross Section Exercise

1. The document provides instructions for constructing a strike-view cross section of bedded rocks and a fault based on accompanying geologic maps and data. 2. Key information to be determined from the cross section includes the geometry of geologic structures like folds, the thickness of rock units, the type of fault, and evidence of faulting or folding. 3. The cross section will reveal the essential geometry of these features in two dimensions, helping with further structural geology analysis of the deformation history and forces involved.

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Ismail Ahmed
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70 views1 page

Strike-View Cross Section Exercise

1. The document provides instructions for constructing a strike-view cross section of bedded rocks and a fault based on accompanying geologic maps and data. 2. Key information to be determined from the cross section includes the geometry of geologic structures like folds, the thickness of rock units, the type of fault, and evidence of faulting or folding. 3. The cross section will reveal the essential geometry of these features in two dimensions, helping with further structural geology analysis of the deformation history and forces involved.

Uploaded by

Ismail Ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Strike-view Cross Section of the Persnickety Pass Region

Geologic maps and cross sections provide raw field data for structural geologists. Accordingly,
it is very important for maps to be prepared carefully. Some of the key reasons structural
geologists prepare geologic maps and cross sections are:
1. To document the geometry of geologic structures. This can be an end goal or just part of an
investigation. For example, if recoverable petroleum is known to be associated with structures
of a certain geometry, one might wish to know if structures of such a geometry are present in an
area.
2. To determine the sequence of geologic events and the history of geologic deformation. This
establishes the kinematics of deformation (i.e., how points in a body moved through time
without regard to the forces that caused the deformation).
3. To evaluate, at least in a general sense, the boundary conditions that are reasonable to use in
investigating how the observed geologic structures formed. This is done to help define the
mechanics of deformation (i.e., the nature of the forces that produced the deformation and the
reaction of the body to those forces). This step could be viewed as the end goal of complete
evaluation of geologic structures.
One cannot proceed validly to step 3 without executing steps 1 & 2 first.

A critical part of doing good structural geology work is determining the essential form of the
features you are studying (this indeed is a fundamental part of most scientific research). Doing this
requires some mental flexibility. For example, in many cases the geometry of a geologic structure
does not appear in its simplest, most essential form, in map view, but rather in a geologic cross
section.

In this exercise you are dealing with bedded rocks and a fault; these are tabular and planar
features, respectively. You are to prepare a geologic cross section by projecting structural
information along the strike of the beds and the fault onto a vertical cross section plane. The
vertical cross section is drawn perpendicular to the direction of strike of the units. The strike of a
unit is the orientation of a horizontal line contained in the unit. This will reveal the geometry of
these features in their simplest form. This exercise should take about an hour.

Based on the accompanying map, answer the following questions:


• What is the strike of the sandstone? ______________
• What is the strike of the fault? ______________
• What should the strike of your cross section be? ______________

Now prepare the strike view cross section (see the attached page from McAlester & Hay,
1975). After the cross section is completed, answer the following based on the cross section:
Geometry
• Is the sandstone folded or not? ________ If so, what kind of fold exists? ______________
• How thick is the sandstone unit? _________
Kinematics
• What kind of fault is this? Circle one of the following: Strike-slip. Normal. Reverse.
• Does the fold look faulted, or does that fault look folded?
• What is the relative displacement, as measured parallel to the fault, of the sandstone bed?_____
Mechanics
• If the faulting occurred in response to particularly strong compressive stresses, do you think
these strong compressive stresses were oriented roughly north-south, east-west, or vertically?

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