Tensile Fracturing in Rocks

Understanding tensile fracture in rocks provides an important key for the interpretation of many problems in structural geology. This book presents a multidisciplinary approach to tensile fracture in rocks (faulting is briefly addressed), starting with an introduction to fracture physics and progressing through tectonofractographic features, characterized both in experimental settings and in geological outcrops. Four examples of sedimentary rocks and two of granites have been chosen to demonstrate the principles and problems in fracture geology. Principles of fracture mechanics and rock mechanics are applied throughout the book, which also explores current understanding about electromagnetic radiation induced by fractures and how such radiation can be used to monitor and predict earthquakes and hazardous collapses in mines. The monograph serves not only as a manual on how to handle specific problems and their solutions in fractual geology but also as a starting point for researchers and graduate students interested in the field of rock fracturing.