In studying Structural Geology and Tectonics you will gain an understanding of why rocks deform and skills in the acquisition, representation and interpretation of structural geological data. Geological structures provide a significant insight into regional  tectonic evolution and are important controls on resource and engineering geology. The module is compulsory for students on the geology degree programmes and possible for others who have completed modules CSM1036, CSM1042 and CSM1043. Teaching comprises a mixture of lectures and practical classes plus skills-orientated field classes based upon the Upper Palaeozoic tectonic evolution of Cornwall.

On successful completion of this module, you should be able to:

 

Module-specific Skills and Knowledge

1 Recognise, classify, measure, record and analyse geological structures at a variety of scales and represent them in field notebooks and upon geological maps, sections and stereograms

2 Demonstrate an understanding of stress and its origins within the lithosphere

3 Demonstrate an understanding of strain as it relates to crustal deformation

4 Describe the controls upon the rheology of geological materials and the deformation mechanisms that accommodate strain on a grain and lattice scale 

5 Appreciate the relationship(s) between the geometry and kinematics of small-scale geological structures and larger-scale tectonic regimes

6 Summarise the implications of tectonic processes and geological structures for resource and engineering geology

 

Discipline-specific Skills and Knowledge

7 Synthesise data from different sources and scales into coherent geological models of lithospheric evolution

8 Appreciate how geological processes influence resource and engineering geology

 

Personal and Key Transferable / Employment Skills and Knowledge

9 Select appropriate data from a range of sources and develop research strategies

10 Manage learning using resources for the discipline; develop working relationships of a professional nature within the discipline

11 Identify key areas of problems and choose appropriate tools/methods for their resolution in a considered manner

 

Term 1

- Topic 1: Overview, revision and acquiring / visualising geological orientation data 

- Topic 2: Stress

- Topic 3: Deformation

- Topic 4: Rheology

- Topic 5: Deformation mechanisms

Term 2

- Topic 6: Global tectonics

- Topic 7: Brittle deformation

- Topic 8: Joints

- Topic 9: Faults and brittle shear zones

- Topic 10: Brittle-ductile and ductile shear zones

- Topic 11: Topic 11: Folds, foliations, lineations and polyphase deformation

Fieldclasses

The purpose is to develop your practical skills and confidence in the field-based collection, interpretation and synthesis of structural, igneous and metamorphic rock data into tectonic models. It is set within the context of the Upper Palaeozoic tectonic evolution of Cornwall. Fieldclasses have the following themes:

- Porth to Watergate Bay (Looe Basin): recognition, measurement and recording of bedding (So), cleavage (S1), fold hinges (F1) and intersection lineations (S1/So) in an area dominated by a single episode of thrust-related folding and foliation development; fold vergence and facing

- Roseland (Gramscatho Basin): as above, plus convergent margin sedimentation and structures developed during secondary deformation (S2, F2, S2/S1); evidence for an offshore Variscan suture

- Loe Bar (Gramscatho Basin): as above plus structures developed during third episode of regional deformation related to the extensional reactivation of thrust faults (S3, F3), plus faults.