GL 281: STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY
Structural geology is the study of the deformation of rocks. Structural
geologists study both the results of deformation (features like folds,
faults, cleavage, and joints) and the processes by which deformation occurs.
They may map large scale features, analyze microscopic textures, experimentally
deform natural and synthetic solids, or numerically model the formation
of structures. Descriptions of the three-dimensional geometry of structures
are used to find oil and metal deposits and can be incorporated into models
of groundwater flow.
The structural geology course at Middlebury is field-based, taking advantage
of the many folds, faults, and other structures formed in western Vermont
during the Taconian orogeny. During the months of September and October,
we spend one afternoon a week outside, making maps and measuring orientations
of structures. For the remainder of the term, we work indoors on maps and
cross-sections of structures too large to study outside in an afternoon.