Structural geology is a branch of geotectonics that studies the forms of occurrence of rocks in the Earth''s crust, the reasons for their occurrence and the history of development. The study of geologic structures has been of prime importance in economic geology, both petroleum geology and mining geology. Folded and faulted rock strata commonly form traps that accumulate and concentrate fluids such as petroleum and natural gas. Similarly, faulted and structurally complex areas are notable as permeable zones for hydrothermal fluids, resulting in concentrated areas of base and precious metal ore deposits. Structural geology is a critical part of engineering geology, which is concerned with the physical and mechanical properties of natural rocks. Structural fabrics and defects such as faults, folds, foliations and joints are internal weaknesses of rocks which may affect the stability of human engineered structures such as dams, road cuts, open pit mines and underground mines or road tunnels.Geotechnical risk, including earthquake risk can only be investigated by inspecting a combination of structural geology and geomorphology. In addition, areas of karst landscapes which reside atop caverns, potential sinkholes, or other collapse features are of particular importance for these scientists. Furthermore, areas of steep slopes are potential collapse or landslide hazards. Environmental geologists and hydrogeologists need to apply the tenets of structural geology to understand how geologic sites impact (or are impacted by) groundwater flow and penetration.Plate tectonics is a theory developed during the 1960s which describes the movement of continents by way of the separation and collision of crustal plates. It is in a sense structural geology on a planet scale and is used throughout structural geology as a framework to analyze and understand global, regional, and local scale features. This book is devoted to different aspects of structural geology at different scales–global, regional, local. Some chapters are linked with applied subjects in connection with structural geology, geological structures formation, geotectonics, geodynamics, tectonophysics, engineering geology, geothermics, hydrogeology, seismology, geoenvironment, and geoecology. This book is for geologists, engineers, architects, planners, teachers, students, general scientific public and others.
