Rock Joints deals exclusively with the mechanical genesis of joints in rocks. It is aimed at a coherent, critical and comprehensible presentation of the underlying mechanical processes of various types of joints and joint systems. Special care is taken to elucidate and quantify the role of high fluid pressures in the formation of joints. The background is an offshoot of the author's courses on "Genesis of Rock Joints" in the Department of Rock Mechanics and Tunneling at the Technical University of Graz, Austria.

Proceedings of the International Symposium on Rock Joints held at Loen, Norway, June 1990. Subjects include geological aspects of joint origin and morphology, mechanical behaviour such as shear strength, hydraulic behaviour, and dynamic behaviour.

Joints in rocks, as distinct from tectonic faults, are fractures that form without "visible" displacement along the fracture plane. They are usually interpreted as tension fractures and analysed mechanically by employing a continuum mechanical theory of this fracture mode. "Rock Joints" deals exclusively with the mechanical genesis of joints in rocks. It is aimed at a coherent, critical and comprehensible presentation of the underlying mechanical processes of various types of joints and joint systems. In addition to tension fractures, the book extensively treats jointing from a different origin, i.e. hydraulic intrusion fractures, cleavage fractures, and shear joints. Throughout, special care is taken to elucidate and quantify the role of high fluid pressures in joint formation. Field examples illustrate formational aspects of jointing, and Mohr's stress circle used where possible to simplify the mathematics.

This title covers the fundamental properties of rock joints, the method of laboratory testing of rock joints, and shear strength assessment under different loading conditions. This work is intended as a reference text for students and practitioners in mining and rock engineering.

This title covers the fundamental properties of rock joints, the method of laboratory testing of rock joints, and shear strength assessment under different loading conditions. This work is intended as a reference text for students and practitioners in mining and rock engineering.

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.