Introduction to Geology
By
S. Vinodhkumar,
Assistant professor,
Dept. of Civil Engineering,
Kongu Engineering College,
Perundurai, Erode-638 060,
Tamilnadu.
Why Engineering Geology
• Geology of the area gives information about the occurrence, availability, composition,
durability and weathering properties of the rock which provides constructional
method for engineering projects.
• The knowledge of geological work of natural agencies such as wind, water, ice and
earthquakes helps in planning and carrying out major civil engineering works.
• Foundation problems are directly geological. These structures like dams, bridges,
knowledge of geologic foundation and geologic structure of foundation.
• Excavation whether open or underground can be more intelligently planned, directed
and more safely carried out.
• In tunneling and construction of canals geological knowledge is necessary about the
rocks and succession of strike and structural features.
Why Engineering Geology
• For water supply works and landslides excavation work the knowledge of ground
water is important.
• Knowledge of surface water, their methods of erosion, transportation and deposition
are of essential for river control, coastal and harbor works, soil conservation and
other projects.
• Reading and interpretation of geological maps and reports are great assistance plan in
engineering projects. Costly of engineering works considerably reduced by
undertaking preliminary geological investigation.
• It may briefly be said that adequate geological investigation of natural condition in
engineering works not only saved the human life but also prevent unnecessary
expenses.
• New fields like environmental science, remote sensing from aerial photographs and
satellite imagery are all on knowledge of geology.
THE PLANET
EARTH
EART
H
The word ‘Earth’ is Old
English word for “land“
Earth belongs to the
Milky Way Galaxy
Earth is the only planet
to sustain life
SHAPE OF THE
EARTH
The study of size and shape
of earth is called
geodesy.
Before 500 BC, people thought that earth
was flat. But thanks to scientists like
Aristotle and Pythagoras, people know that
the shape of the earth is spherical. However
Sir Isaac Newton showed that the earth was
not a perfect sphere, but a compressed
spheroid.
SHAPE OF THE
EARTH
The true shape of the Earth is
called an Oblate Spheroid.
– The term "Oblate" refers to
its slightly oblong
appearance. – The term
"Spheroid" means that it is
almost a sphere, but not
quite. – The Earths shape is
only very slightly oblate.
EARTH'S FORMATION AND
EVOLUTION
Scientists think Earth was formed at
roughly the same time as the sun and
other planets some 4.6 billion years ago,
when the solar system came from a giant,
rotating cloud of gas and dust known as
the solar nebula. As the nebula collapsed
because of its gravity, it spun faster and
flattened into a disk. Most of the material
was pulled toward the center to form
the sun. Other particles within the disk
collided and stuck together
to form ever-larger bodies, including
EARTH'S FORMATION AND
EVOLUTION
Scientists think Earth started off as
a waterless mass of rock.
Radioactive materials in the rock
and increasing pressure deep
within the Earth generated enough
heat to melt Earth's interior,
causing some chemicals to rise to
the surface and form water, while
others became the gases of the
atmosphere. Recent evidence
suggests that Earth's crust and
oceans may have formed within
EARTH'S FORMATION AND
EVOLUTION
The history of Earth is divided
into four eons — starting
earliest,
with these
the are Hadea
the Archean, n,
Phanerozoic.Proterozoic
The first threeand
eons, which together lasted
nearly 4 billion years, are
together known as the
Precambrian. Evidence for life
has been found in the Archaean
about 3.8 billion years ago, but
life did not become abundant
until the Phanerozoic.
EARTH'S FORMATION AND
EVOLUTION
The Phanerozoic is divided into three
eras — starting with the earliest, these
are the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and
Cenozoic.
The Paleozoic Era saw the development
of many kinds of animals and plants in
the seas and on land.
The Mesozoic Era was the age of
dinosaurs
The Cenozoic Era we are in currently is
the age of mammals.
ORBITAL
CHARACTERISTI
CS
Earthspins on an
imaginary line called
an
Nort axis
Polethat
to the runs
South
from
h the Pole, also
orbitin the
whil Earthg sun.
e 23.439
complete It
a rotation on its axis,
take
and roughly 365.26 hours
days to
s
complete an orbit around to the
sun.
ORBITAL
CHARACTERISTI
CS
Earth's orbit is not a perfect circle,
but is rather an oval-shaped
ellipse, like that of the orbits of all
the other planets.
ORBIT &
ROTATION
Some statistics about Earth, according to NASA:
Average distance from the sun: 92,956,050 miles
(149,598,262 km)
Perihelion (closest approach to the sun): 91,402,640 miles
(147,098,291 km)
Aphelion (farthest distance from the sun): 94,509,460 miles
(152,098,233
km)
Length of solar day (single rotation on its axis): 23.934 hours
Length of year (single revolution around the sun): 365.26
days
Equatorial inclination to orbit: 23.4393 degrees
MOTIONS OF THE
EARTH
axis
Rotation- rotation of the planet Earth around its own
The earth rotates on its axis from west to east or
counter clockwise.
The rotation of the earth results in the alternation of day
and night.
Areas facing toward the sun experience daytime. Areas
facing away from the sun experience nighttime.
MOTIONS OF THE
EARTH
Revolution- earth’s movement
around the sun
The earth revolves or goes around
the sun in elliptical or oval orbit,
from west to east.
It takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48
mins., and 46 seconds (365 and ¼
days).
A year with 366 days is called a
leap year.
LOCATING PLACES ON
EARTH
The vertical lines originating
from the north pole and end
with the south pole are called
meridians of longitude.
Parallels of latitude are
marked horizontally on maps
or globes, starting at the
equator. These imaginary
lines run east to west.
AMAZINF FACTS
ABOUT THE
PLANET EARTH
Earth was originally born as a twin to the
planet Theia, which was about half as
wide as Earth and roughly the size of
Mars. The two planets shared an orbit for
several million years until they collided.
Earth absorbed Theia, and the remaining
debris eventuallyinto Earth’s
coagulated mas
moon.
donated Theby Theia s
necessary
gave to sustain a substantial
Earththe gravit
atmosphere. y
The world's largest desert is the
Sahara, it covers about one third of
Africa!
Stretching out to an impressive length
of
6696 kilometres (4160 miles) long, th
e
Nile River
is the longest river on earth.
Mt.Everest is the highest mountain on
earth, its peak reaches 8,848 metres
(29029 feet) above sea level.
Hot
Spot
The fiery award for Earth's hottest spot
goes to El Azizia, Libya, where
temperature records from weather
stations reveal it hit 136 degrees
Fahrenheit (57.8 degrees Celsius) on
Setp. 13, 1922, according to NASA Earth
Observatory.
Coldest
Spot
It may come as no surprise that the coldest place on Earth can
be found in Antarctica, but the chill factor is somewhat
unbelievable. Winter temperatures there can drop below
minus 100 degrees F (minus 73 degrees C). The lowest
temperature ever recorded on Earth came from Russia's
Vostok Station, where records show the air plunged to a bone-
chilling minus 128.6 degrees F (minus 89.2 degrees C) on July
21,1983, according to the USGS.
