HYDROLOGY- Study of water and its distribution GROUNDWATER - IS THE WATER THAT EXISTS IN

and movement of water both on and below the THE PORE SPACES AND FRACTURES IN ROCKS
earth’s surface. AND SEDIMENTS BENEATH THE EARTH'S
SURFACE.
HYDROGEOLOGY – Deals with the distribution
and movement of groundwater in the soil and THREE (3) SOURCES OF GROUNDWATER
rocks of the earth’s crust. Also known as
1. METEORIC WATER - WHICH IS THE MAIN
Groundwater Hydrology.
SOURCE OF GROUNDWATER AND IS
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE (WATER CYCLE) - IT IS THE RECEIVED IN THE FORM OF RAIN AND
NATURAL WATER RECYCLING SYSTEM ON SNOW.
EARTH. 2. CONNATE WATER - IT IS TRAPPED IN
PORES AND CAVITIES OF SEDIMENTARY
THE STAGES OF WATER CYCLE
ROCKS OF OCEANIC AND FRESHWATER
EVAPORATION - IS A PROCESS WHERE WATER SOURCES. IT IS ALSO CALLED
AT THE SURFACE TURNS INTO WATER VAPORS. SEDIMENTARY WATER.
3. JUVENILE WATER - IS AN AQUEOUS
TRANSPIRATION - IS THE PROCESS OF WATER PHASE OF MINERALS THAT HAVE BEEN
VAPOR BEING RELEASED FROM PLANTS AND DISSOLVED BY MAGMA DEEP WITHIN
SOIL. THE EARTH'S CRUST AND IS RELEASED
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION - IS THE COMBINED TO THE ATMOSPHERE DURING A
PROCESS OF WATER SURFACE EVAPORATION, VOLCANIC ERUPTION. ALSO KNOWN AS
SOIL MOISTURE EVAPORATION, AND PLANT MAGMATIC WATER.
TRANSPIRATION. ZONE OF AERATION - CONSISTS OF THE
SUBLIMATION - IS A PROCESS WHERE ICE UPPER LAYERS OF SOIL IN WHICH PORES OR
DIRECTLY CONVERTS INTO WATER VAPORS POCKETS ARE FILLED WITH AIR RATHER
WITHOUT CONVERTING INTO LIQUID WATER. THAN WATER.

CONDENSATION - IS THE PROCESS OF WATER THE ZONE OF AERATION IS SUBDIVIDED

VAPOR TURNING BACK INTO LIQUID WATER. INTO THREE (3) PARTS:

PERCIPITATION - IS ANY PRODUCT OF THE 1. SOIL WATER ZONE - IT IS ADJACENT TO

CONDENSATION OF ATMOSPHERIC WATER THE GROUND SURFACE CONSISTING OF
VAPOR THAT FALLS UNDER GRAVITATIONAL THE TOPSOIL AND THE SUBSOIL. IN THIS
PULL FROM CLOUDS. ZONE WATER IS LOST TO THE
ATMOSPHERE MAINLY DUE TO
SURFACE RUN OFF - F OCCURS WHEN THERE IS EVAPOTRANSPIRATION. THE WATER
MORE WATER THAN THE LAND CAN ABSORB. ABSORBED BY THE SOIL ARE USED BY
INFILTRATION - IS THE DOWNWARD THE PLANTS.
MOVEMENT OF WATER THROUGH THE SUB- 2. PELLICULAR ZONE - THIS ZONE LIES
SURFACE OF THE SOIL BETWEEN THE SOIL WATER ZONE AND
CAPILLARY WATER ZONE. THE WATER IN
PERCOLATION - INTO THE DEEPER LAYERS OF THIS ZONE IS ALSO KNOWN AS VADOSE
THE SOIL, IT REACHES GROUND WATER, WHICH WATER.
IS WATER BELOW THE SURFACE 3. CAPILLARY FRINGE - THE CAPILLARY
FRINGE IS USUALLY THE FIRST
 INDICATION THAT THE WATER TABLE IS AQUITARD - GEOLOGICAL MATERIAL THROUGH
NEARBY. WHICH SIGNIFICANT QUANTITIES OF WATER
CAN NOT MOVE. ALSO KNOWN AS CAP ROCKS.
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN GROUNDWATER
SYSTEM AND STREAMS AQUICLUDE - A UNIT OF ROCK OR LAYER OF
ROCKS, WHICH IS IMPERMEABLE AND ACTS AS
• GAINING STREAMS – RECEIVE WATER
BARRIER TO FLUIDS TO FLOW. CLAY IS AN
FROM THE GROUNDWATER SYSTEM.
EXAMPLE OF AQUICLUDE.
• LOSING STREAMS (CONNECTED) –
PROVIDE WATER TO THE AQUIFUGE IS AN IMPERMEABLE GEOLOGICAL
GROUNDWATER SYSTEM. FORMATION WHICH IS NEITHER POROUS NOR
• LOSING STREAMS (DISCONNECTED) – PERMEABLE.
WHEN LOSING STREAMS ARE
TYPES OF WELL
SEPARATED FROM THE GROUNDWATER
SYSTEM BY THE UNSATURATED ZONE, A • DUG WELL
BULGE MAY FORM IN THE WATER • GRAVEL – PACKED WELL
TABLE. • OPEN HOLE WELL
• DRY WELL
ZONE OF SATURATION IS THE AREA OF EARTH
THAT IS UNDERNEATH THE WATER TABLE AND ARTESIAN WELL - IS A SYSTEM WERE
IS COMPLETELY SATURATED WITH WATER. GROUNDWATER UNDER PRESSURE RISES ABOVE
THE LEVEL OF THE AQUIFER
POROSITY OF A ROCK IS MEASURED OF ITS
ABILITY TO HOLD A FLUID. TYPES OF ARTESIAN WELL
PERMEABILITY IS A MEASURE OF THE EASE OF NONFLOWING ARTESIAN WELL — PRESSURE
FLOW OF A FLUID THROUGH A POROUS SOLID. SURFACE IS BELOW GROUND LEVEL.
ZONE OF SATURATION ARE CLASSIFIED INTO FLOWING ARTESIAN WELL — PRESSURE
FOUR (4) CATEGORIES: SURFACE IS ABOVE THE GROUND.
AQUIFER IS A GROUNDWATER RESERVOIR CONE OF DEPRESSION OCCURS IN AN AQUIFER
COMPOSED OF GEOLOGIC UNITS THAT ARE WHEN GROUNDWATER IS PUMPED FROM A
SATURATED WITH WATER AND SUFFICIENTLY WELL. IN AN UNCONFINED AQUIFER (WATER
PERMEABLE TO YIELD WATER IN A USABLE TABLE), THIS IS AN ACTUAL DEPRESSION OF THE
QUANTITY TO WELLS AND SPRINGS. WATER LEVELS.
TWO TYPES OF AQUIFER; PETROLOGY Petra = rock, and logos = study, is a
branch of geology which deals with the study of
A. UNCONFINED (OPEN) - DIRECTLY
rocks.
CONNECTED TO THE SURFACE AND
BELOW THE WATER TABLE. THIS IS ALSO Rock is an aggregate of minerals; it is formed by
CALLED AS WATER TABLE AQUIFER OR various minerals or rock fragments come
FREE AQUIFER. together or consists of many accumulations of a
B. CONFINED (CLOSED) - AN AQUIFER single mineral.
BOUNDED ABOVE AND BELOW BY
AQUITARD. Magma is applied when the melt is
underground. When it reaches the earth’s
surface and flows over it, is called lava.
IGNEOUS ROCKS - are formed at a very high Lopoliths - These are basin or saucer-shaped
temperature directly because of solidification or concordant bodies with top nearly flat and
assimilation. convex bottom.

TYPES OF IGNEOUS ROCKS METAMORPHIC ROCKS - rocks that form when a

pre-existing rock changes due to temperature or
Intrusive rocks - consist relatively large grains of
pressure, and/or as a result of squashing or
crystals that develop due to slow cooling and less
shearing.
pressure in spaces and cracks at depths near the
earth. Texture - refers to the size, shape, and
arrangement of grains within a rock.
Extrusive rocks - rocks formed by cooling magma
lavas near a surface with a chimney or by moving Foliated Rock - bands of minerals in parallel
to the surface. layers. Foliation refers to any planar
arrangement of mineral grains or structural
Semi-deep rocks - as the magmatic rocks which
features within a rock.
eventually solidify on the earth during upward
movement following the discontinuities such as Non-foliated Rock - Without bands.
cracks. Metamorphic rocks that lack foliation are
referred to as nonfoliated.
INTRUSIVES
Sedimentary rocks - are formed by the
Dikes - Cut across the bedding of the rocks in
consolidation of loose sediments or chemical
which they intrude, vertical to steeply inclined
precipitation from the solution at or near the
and sheet like body.
earth's surface. Also called layered rocks
Sills - Relatively thin tabular bodies of magma because weathered sediments are transported
which essentially penetrate parallel to the and deposited on the oceanic floor in the form of
bedding pianos of foliations of the country rocks. layers.

Laccoliths - is an intrusion with a flat floor and Sediments are loose, solid particles originating
domed roof, the roof having been arched by the from weathering and erosion of preexisting
pressure from magma. rocks. Chemical precipitation from solution,
including secretion by organisms in water.
Batholiths - the largest kind of plutons, irregular
in shape and occupies large area. Their side Four phases in the generation of Sedimentary
sloping away from each other which makes them Rocks
larger and large downwards extending to greater
1. Weathering and erosion - Erosion and
depth.
weathering transform boulders and even
Stocks - are smaller irregular bodies with 10 km mountains into sediments, such as sand/mud.
in maximum dimension, and are associated with
2. Transportation - Movement of the material
batholiths.
coming from the decay of the rocks in various
Phacoliths - These are concordant bodies that ways
occurs along the crests and troughs of the folded
3. Deposition - Storage or sedimentation of
sedimentary strata.
transported material in certain places,
4. Lithification - Compaction and consolidation THREE (3) MAJOR PRINCIPLES OF
of stored or deposited sediments after STRATIGRAPHY
diagenesis
LAW OF SUPERPOSITION - In a series of
Diagenesis is the term used for all the changes undisturbed beds, a bed that overlies another
that a sediment undergoes after deposition and bed is always the younger. The youngest bed will
before the transition to metamorphism. be at the top of the sequence.

TYPES OF SEDIMENTARY ROCKS FOSSIL CONTENT - Each of the sedimentary beds

contain a particular set of fossils by which it can
Clastic Sedimentary Rocks - formed from broken
be identified.
rock fragments weathered and eroded by river,
glacier, wind and sea waves. LITHOLOGICAL CHARACTER A sedimentary bed
may be identified by its distinct lithological
Chemical Sedimentary Rocks - these rocks form
character. But as similar rock beds are known to
as a result of chemical weathering dissolving
occur in formations of widely different geological
chemicals and transporting it in solution.
ages.
Organic Sedimentary Rocks - These rocks form
PRINCIPLES OF CORRELATION
as a result of once living material accumulating
to form solid rock. Correlation is the technique of piecing together
information from widely separated rock
WEATHERING - process that cause the
outcrops in order to create an accurate
breakdown of rocks, either to form new
chronological profile of an entire geologic time
minerals that are stable on the surface of the
period.
Earth, or to break the rocks down into smaller
particles. LITHOLOGY - Correlation by means of lithology is
not reliable because a rock bed when traced
TYPES OF WEATHERING
laterally may change its character.
Mechanical Weathering - It is the process by
FOSSIL CONTENT - Fossiliferous rocks are
which rocks are broken down into smaller pieces
characterized by the presence of distinct and
by external conditions.
definite set of fossils in them.
Chemical Weathering - It is a process where
UNCONFORMITIES - The unconformities are of
chemical alteration or decomposition of rocks
great significance in classifying and correlating
and minerals takes due to rain, water, and other
rock formations. The unconformities represent
atmospheric agents.
breaks in depositional sequence hence they are
Biological Weathering - Occurs when plants significant in the interpretation of the geological
break up rocks with roots or root exudates. The history.
process is slow but may strongly influence
IGNEOUS INTRUSION - The igneous history of a
landscape formation.
particular region may be identical to another
STRATIGRAPHY Strata- a set of sedimentary region.
beds, graphy - description) The climatic and
RADIOMETRIC DATING - The age of intrusive
geological changes including tectonic events in
igneous bodies may be determined by the
the geological past can also be known from these
radiometric methods and the correlation may be
investigations.
done.
FOSSILS - remains or impressions of ancient MINING GEOLOGY -The study of application of
animals and plants which have been preserved geology to mining engineering in such way that
Within the sedimentary rocks. the selection of suitable sites for quarrying and
mines can be determined.
FORMS OF FOSSILS
Ore minerals from which metals can be
- ENTIRE ORGANISM PRESERVE
extracted. Also known as economic minerals.
- PETRIFICATION OF HARD
Ore often contains a high concentration of
- MOLDS
minerals that can be extracted.
- CAST
- CARBONIZATION MAGMATIC DEPOSITS - When magma intrusion
- IMPRINTS cools and starts to solidify, sulfide ore minerals
may crystallize preferentially in distinct lenses or
Group the major divisions of rock formations are
bands.
called "Group." Each Group includes a thick
succession of rocks which extends over a large HYDROTHERMAL DEPOSITS - The heat from an
area. intrusion can cause groundwater to start
convecting through the pluton and the wall rocks
FORMATION - It is the basic unit used for naming
surrounding the intrusion.
the rocks in stratigraphy.
SECONDARY-ENRICHMENT DEPOSITS -
BED - A bed is the smallest lithological unit.
Groundwater passes through ore-bearing rock
PENINSULAR INDIA - is primarily made up of long after the rock first formed. The
rocks of the Archaean and Precambrian age. The groundwater dissolves some of the metal and
Archaean rocks have been metamorphosed to carries the ions away. Eventually they are
varying degrees. deposited, and a new metal is formed.

Indo-Gangetic Plain is chiefly made up of sands SEDIMENTARY DEPOSITS OF METALS - Some ore
and clays of Pleistocene and Recent age. The minerals accumulate in sedimentary
basement of the Punjab shelf is made up of the environments under special conditions.
Precambrian rocks.
RESIDUAL MINERAL DEPOSITS - Rainwater sinks
EXTRA PENINSULAR INDIA The rock formations into the earth and can leave behind elements in
of the Extra Peninsular India have been disturbed the soil. Locally these metals can become so
greatly by the complex folding, faulting and over concentrated that the soil itself becomes an ore
thrusting. The Extra-Peninsular India has been deposit.
subdivided into four longitudinal geomorphic
PLACER DEPOSITS - Ore deposits may develop
zones:
when rocks containing native metals erode,
(i) Himalayan zone, (ii) Central crystalline zone of producing a mixture of sand grains and metal
the Higher Himalaya (iii) Lesser Himalayan zone flakes or nuggets that can be concentrated by
(iv) Foredeep folded belt. streams because the moving water carries away
lighter mineral grains but can’t move the heavy
metal grains.
Mining in the engineering discipline is the
extraction of minerals from underneath, open
pit, above or on the ground.
 MINING TECHNIQUES

Surface mining is done by removing (stripping)

surface vegetation, dirt, and, if necessary, layers
of bedrock in order to reach buried ore deposits.

TECHNIQUES OF SURFACE MINING

- Open-Pit Mining [typically used to mine

gravel and sand and even rock (when
open-pit mining is used to extract rock
from the earth, the pit is often called a
"quarry ").]
- Strip Mining (used for coal, phosphates,
clays, and tar mining.)
- Mountaintop Removal (commonly
associated with coal mining.)

Sub-surface/Underground mining consists of

digging tunnels or shafts into the earth to reach
buried ore deposits. Ore, for processing, and
waste rock, for disposal, are brought to the
surface through the tunnels and shafts.

TECHNIQUES IN SUB-SURFACE MINING

- Drift Mining (utilizes horizontal access

tunnels)
- Slope Mining (uses diagonally sloping
access shafts)
- Shaft Mining (utilizes vertical access
tunnels)