Structural geology. An introduction / Структурная геология. Введение

This book introduces the principles of structural geology for undergraduate students of geology. It also provides the basic knowledge of structural geology needed for professionals in related disciplines of science and engineering, and is designed to be equally suitable as a text for classroom instruction and for self study. Prior knowledge of elementary geology, physics, and algebra is assumed. This book succeeds my earlier Structural Geology (Ronald Press 1972, later John Wiley & Sons), incorporating many of its proven features. The organization and treatment reflect many years of experience in the classroom and in the field, with feedback from both students and colleagues that it would be impossible to acknowledge here appropriately. The book approaches concepts from first principles. Descriptive matter has been separated from interpretation and theory to the greatest possible extent, and the student is led from observation to inference. I have taken particular care to identify as clearly as possible areas of doubt and uncertainty, where better understanding can be expected in the years to come. I have tried to make the subject accessible to students who traditionally approach it with apprehension, and to show that structural geology is not a difficult subject, even though there is much meat in it. It is, above all, a fascinating subject.

The book is divided into four parts. In Part I, Fundamentals, the first chapter provides an overview of plate tectonics as a setting for examples of structures illustrated throughout the book; the remaining chapters of this part cover such fundamentals as geometrical principles, stress, strain, and flow of rocks. Part II, Continuous Structures, includes folds and fabrics. Part III, Discontinuous Structures, deals with fractures and faults. Part IV, Structures of Igneous Rocks, consists of a single chapter on the subject. <...>