Fault and Joint Development: In Brittle and Semi-Brittle Rock details the theoretical concepts about fault and joint development in rock when they behave as brittle or semi-brittle material. The title first covers the concepts and criteria of brittle failure, along with the limits of temperature and pressure below which rocks may behave in a brittle or semi-brittle manner. Next, the selection details the application of the concepts of brittle failure and elastic theory to the problems of faulting and jointing. The book will be of great use to undergraduate students of geology and its related degrees. The text will also serve professionals in geological disciplines as a reference.

Fault and Joint Development in Brittle and Semi-brittle Rock deals with theories of fault and joint development in rock when they behave as brittle or semi-brittle material. The book contains three chapters, the first of which deals with some of the concepts and criteria of brittle failure along with an attempt to define limits of temperature and pressure below which rocks may behave in a brittle or semi-brittle manner. The second and third chapters discuss the application of these concepts of brittle failure and elastic theory to the problems of faulting and jointing, respectively. It is emphasized that since this book deals with theoretical aspects of structural geology it is concerned with generalizations and approximations. It must be left to the reader to decide how closely these theories approximate to any particular field data. This book is primarily intended for senior undergraduates and postgraduates in geology interested in the interpretation of geological structures. It may also be of interest to some mining and civil engineers.

This volume is a state of the art look at our understanding of joint development in the crust. Answers are provided for such questions as the mechanisms by which joints are initiated, the factors controlling the path they follow during the propagation process, and the processes responsible for the arrest of joints. Many of the answers to these questions can be inferred from the geometry of joint surface morphology and joint patterns. Joints are a record of the orientation of stress at the time of propagation and as such they are also useful records of ancient stress fields, regional and local. Because outcrop and subsurface views of joints are limited, statistical techniques are required to characterize joints and joint sets. Finally, joints are subject to post-propagation stresses that further localize deformation and are the focus for the development of new structures.

This book focuses on the implementation and application of new concepts and methods to modelling, analysis, building, performance control and repair of structures of and in jointed rock and rock masses. It provides a forum for presentation of new research results and discussion for researchers.