Library Guides: Geology: Structural Geology & Plate Tectonics

Structural Geology & Plate Tectonics

Structural Geology - the description and analysis of internal rock structures, such as folds and faults. The following links provide images and other information on structural geology.

Plate Tectonics - a geological theory (now largely confirmed) that explains Earth's geologic processes and structure.

Internet Resources and Books on Structural Geology & Plate Tectonics

This Dynamic Earth (U.S. Geological Survey)
Kious, W. Jacquelyne and Tilling, Robert I., 1994. This dynamic earth: the story of plate tectonics Washington, D.C.: U.S. Geological Survey. A digitized edition of a book from the USGS that provides a general introduction to the concept of plate tectonics. A print edition is available in Government Information, Malpass Library, 4th Floor (Call Number: GOVPUBS I 19.2:EA7/28)
Plate Tectonics: The Dan McKenzie Archive
This website provides a history of Plate Tectonics through the eyes of Dan McKenzie, one of the people who wrote many of the seminal articles on the topic. The archive was developed by the Geological Society of London.
Plate Tectonics: Continental Drift And Mountain Building
Frisch, Wolfgang, Meschede, Martin and Blakey, Ronald C., 2011. Plate Tectonics: Continental Drift And Mountain Building. Heidelberg: Springer. An e-book on Plate Tectonics from Springer publishing. (WIU Users Only)
The Plates Project
A collection of information on plate tectonics, including paleogeographic reconstructions and data.
This Dynamic Planet: World map of Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Impact Craters, and Plate Tectonics
Simkin, Tom, Tilling, Robert I., Vogt, Peter R., Kirby, Stephen H., Kimberly, Paul and Stewart, David B., 2006. This Dynamic Planet: World Map of Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Impact Craters, and Plate Tectonics. [Reston, Va.] : U.S. Geological Survey.
This interactive map shows the locations of plate boundaries and geological events, such as earthquakes and volcanoes, which result from plate movements. Also shows the locations of impact craters, some of which have caused ecological changes.
PALEOMAP Project
Animations and images that show the motion of the continents and development of ocean basins during the last 1100 million years.
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program
Links to maps and other information about earthquakes, including real time data.
Fundamentals of Structural Geology
Pollard, David D., and Raymond C. Fletcher. 2005. Fundamentals of structural geology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
The web page for the textbook Fundamentals of Structural Geology provides color images of outcrop photographs and figures included in the book; supplemental outcrop photos, maps and cross-sections; student exercises, including data sets and solutions for the exercises and sample MatLab scripts for graphical figures.