Structural Geology 
Geological Sciences 351 - 2000
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 11 am - 12 noon, Room 2520 CCL (Lectures)
Monday, Wednesday, 2 pm - 5 pm, Room 3526 CCL (Laboratory)
Instructors
and contacts
Course
Description
Syllabus
Text
Book
Homework
Links
Instructors and contacts
Josep M. Pares, 
jmpares@umich.edu,
4506 C.C. Little Building, 734-615-0472.
Graduate Student Instructor: Arlo Weil, C.C. 4534
C.C. Little Building, 734-763-2149.
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Course Description
GS351. Structural Geology.
G.S. 117 or 119 or the equivalent; or permission of instructor. (4). (Excl).
(BS). The description and analysis of geological structures in the Earth's
crust and an introduction to global tectonics. Three lectures and one laboratory
session weekly. The following topics are covered: the description of geological
structures; the kinematics and dynamics of folding and faulting; stress,
strain, deformation and rheology; introduction to dislocation theory; micro-structural
analysis; principles of plate tectonics; selected orogenic systems of the
world. This is a core course for concentrators, but is open to all who
want to have a basic knowledge of geology. Evaluation is based on graded
lab assignments, a lab test, and three exams.
Textbooks: Earth
Structure - An Introduction to Structural Geology and Tectonics, 1997,
by B.A. van der Pluijm and S. Marshak (lectures) and Basic Methods of Structural
Geology by S. Marshak and G. Mitra (labs).
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Syllabus
Part I: Stress and Strain (January
5 - January 21):
Introduction
and primary
structures
Force
and stress
Deformation
and strain
Rheology
Part II: Brittle Structures and
Deformation Processes (January 24 - February 7):
Brittle
behavior
Joints
and Veins
Faults
and Faulting
Exam I (20%): February 11
Part III: Ductile Structures and
Deformation processes (February 14 - March 15):
Ductile
behavior
Dislocation
theory
Deformation
regimes
Folds
Foliations
and Lineations
Shear
Zones
Part IV: Tectonics and Regional
Deformation (March 17 - March 29):
Thrust
mechanics
Plate
Tectonics
Extensional
Tectonics
Convergence
and collision
Strike-slip
tectonics
Exam II (20%): March 31
Part V: Regional Geology
(April 3 - April 12):
Cordillera
of North America
Appalachians
of North America
Precambrian Belts of North America
Optional laboratory text: Basic Methods of Structural
Geology, by StephenMarshak and Gautam Mitra. Prentice Hall, 446 p.,
1988.
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Homework
The computer program
“stressmohr”
illustrates the use of stress calculations for two-dimensional systems.
The program consists of five displays. In each display you can vary the
physical situation and immediately see the effects in the graphical displays.
The first display illustrates the relation between forces and stresses
acting on a rectangular solid. In the second display, you explore the stress
on a plane as you vary the orientation of the plane and the state of stress
in the system. We illustrate the calculation of the stress on the plane
in terms of a simple matrix multiplication in the third display. You can
also observe the simple geometry of the envelope of the stresses that are
produced as the angle of the plane is varied. The fourth display shows
the behavior of the normal and shear components of the stress on the plane.
When the normal component is plotted along x and the shear component along
y, the envelope will be a circle: called a Mohr circle. This beautiful
result lets you visualize the range of possible stresses on the plane.
Finally in the last display, you can explore the conditions which lead
to the fracture of a sample: you can vary the stresses until the stresses
are just strong enough to cause fracture by watching the changes in size
and location of the Mohr circle.
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Links
Instructional
Supplements (links to EarthStructure)
Geological
Sciences at the University of Michigan
Tectonophysics
at the University of Michigan
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Last Revised: January 2000
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M. Pares Home Page
