Strike and dip

Getting steeped in all those arcane geological terms (are you impressed??). Actually, the first block of S260 is really very interesting. I've always loved geological maps, but never really been sure what I'm actually looking at!! This block focuses on interpreting geological maps, and relating them to topological maps.

Geology certainly has its fair share of terminology, but quite a lot of it 'does what it says on the tin' - if you know what I mean. Strike and dip for example. Strike is all about the direction the 'edge' of a particular bed of rock heads off in, in relation to the beds around it; while dip is about at what angle, and in what direction a particular bed of rock dips away from the horizontal. And strike is always at 90 degree to dip - so if a bed of rock obviously dips down to the north, then the strike will be east to west. Easy, huh? Well, probably not, in reality... but it's a start :O)