Structural Geology is the study of the geometry of geologic structures (such as faults, folds, joints, intrusive bodies, ect.), how these structures form, their significance to the geologic history of an area, and their relationship to plate-tectonic motions. In my opinion, a basic course in structural geology should: 1) enable students to evaluate a suite of geologic structures in order to draw conclusions about their formation and their significance to the geologic history of an area, 2) enable students to apply basic structural analysis techniques to solve problems in a variety of geoscience disciplines, and 3) help students develop the three-dimensional thinking skills needed to evaluate subsurface geology in three dimensions using two-dimensional data sets.

Power Point presentations are the "PPT" files. The notes I make for myself before class are the "DOC" files (MS Word 2003 format).

Lecture 1 (Introduction) PPT DOC

Lecture 2 (Planes and Lines) PPT DOC

Lecture 3 (Planes and topography) PPT DOC

Lecture 4 (Primary Structures and Facing Directions) PPT DOC

Lecture 5 (Foliation and Lineation) PPT DOC

Lecture 6 (Folds, descriptive) PPT DOC

Lecture 7 (Fold-analysis techniques) PPT DOC

Lecture 8 (Fold mechanics) PPT DOC

Lecture 9 (Joints and veins) PPT DOC

Lecture 10 (Faults) PPT DOC

Lecture 11 (Dip-slip Faults) PPT DOC

Lecture 12 (Strike-slip Faults) PPT DOC

Lecture 13 (Mohr-Coulomb Failure) PPT DOC

Lecture 14 (Andersonian Faulting) PPT DOC

Lecture 15 (Strain) PPT DOC

Lecture 16 (Rheology) PPT DOC

Lecture 17 (Rheology and Deformation Mechanisms) PPT* DOC*

* I have updated these files with the correct equations for both volume-diffusion creep and grain-boundary diffusion creep