Table of Contents

1. Geological Map............................................................................................................ 3
2. Features of Geological Maps............................................................................................ 3
2.1 Scale.................................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Colored Areas......................................................................................................... 4
2.3 Letter Symbols........................................................................................................ 5
2.4 Contact Lines.......................................................................................................... 6
3. Map Location............................................................................................................ 12
4. Map Scale................................................................................................................. 12
5. Rock Type................................................................................................................ 13
6. Rock Age................................................................................................................. 14
7. Rock Structure........................................................................................................... 14
8. Regional Geology of North-Eastern Thailand & Khon Kaen Province.......................................15
9. Cross-Section............................................................................................................ 16
10. References.............................................................................................................. 18
List of Figures
Figure 1 - Colored Area...............................................................................................................................4
Figure 2 - Absolute Age Scale.....................................................................................................................5
Figure 3.......................................................................................................................................................6
Figure 4 - Faults..........................................................................................................................................7
Figure 5 - Folds...........................................................................................................................................8
Figure 6 - Solid, Dashed or Dotted Lines....................................................................................................9
Figure 7 - Strike & Dip..............................................................................................................................10
Figure 8 - Map Key...................................................................................................................................11
Figure 9 - Changwat Khon Kaen Location................................................................................................12
Figure 10 Picture showing map scale.....................................................................................................13
Figure 11 Different symbols for different rock structures14
Figure 12 Geological Map marked with cross section A-B-C-D16
Figure 13 Geological cross section along A-B-C-D17

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1. Geological Map

A geologic map or geological map is a special-purpose map made to show geological features.
Rock units or geologic strata are shown by color or symbols to indicate where they are exposed
at the surface. Bedding planes and structural features such as faults, folds, foliations are shown
with strike and dip or trend and plunge symbols which give these features three dimensional
orientation.

Whenever we are dealing with construction in rocks, we need to identify and understand the sub-
surface geology because geology of an area has a profound effect on many things, from the
likelihood of landslides, to the availability of groundwater in wells, from the amount of shaking
suffered in an earthquake, to the presence of desirable minerals, decision about type of
excavation method should we use in order to avoid any collapse during excavation for tunneling,
type of support system required depending upon stand-by time of particular rock encountered,
how much should be depth of foundations for dam structures, what is the direction in which
strata is dipping, what type of geological structure is present underneath i.e. faults, folds,
fractures at particular location etc.

All the required information can be obtained by sub-surface exploration and investigations. But
we cannot carry out extensive investigations every time because of time constraints like during
reconnaissance survey, when we are required to have a rough idea about sub-surface geological
features. Under such circumstances, geological maps play crucial role as these can provide
sufficient information about sub-surface geological features in no time.

So, from description of geological maps, it is clear that it is important to draw and understand
who to read a geological map as it shows the distribution of geologic features, including different
kinds of rocks and faults. A geologic map is usually printed on top of a regular map (called abase
map) to help us locate ourselves on the map. The base map is printed with light colors, so it
doesn't interfere with seeing the geologic features on the map. The geology is represented by
colors, lines, and special symbols unique to geologic maps. Understanding these features will
allow us to understand much of the geology shown in almost any standard geologic map. In
order to show the subsurface geological features of earth structure which otherwise are not
exposed and hence, cannot be studied.

2. Features of Geological Maps

Important features of geological maps are as follows:

2.1 Scale
Scale is of great importance for geological maps in order to scale down the actual large sized
structure and represent on piece of paper which otherwise is not possible to draw on actual scale

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as we will be needing very large sized sheets of paper. So, we scale down the actual sizes,
locations and distances in order to accommodate those features on piece of paper. Different scale
sizes are used to plot geological maps. By size of scale, we mean the single unit of length on
geological map is equal to how much units of length actually on ground surface. For example, if
scale of geological map is 1 in 250,000, it means that one unit on geological map is equal to
250,000 units actually on ground surface.

Smaller the size of scale, more accurate will be the map but it will be very expensive to plot. So,
we need to select the moderate scale for plotting geological maps so that it is economical as well
as accurate.

2.2 Colored Areas

The most striking features of geologic maps are its colors. Each color represents a
different geologic unit. A geologic unit is a volume of a certain kind of rock of a given age range.
So, sandstone of one age might be colored bright orange, while sandstone of a different age
might be colored pale brown. Many geologic units are given names that relate to where their
characteristics are best displayed, or where they were first studied. For example, the Briones
sandstone was first described in Briones Valley, California.

Some geologic units have not yet been named, so those are identified with terms related to the
kind of rock in the unit like 'Sandstone and shale,' 'Unnamed sandstone', or 'Undivided shale'.
But all units, named and unnamed, have a color on the geologic map, and the area of a given
color is the area where that geologic unit is the one at the surface (usually the soil on top of the
rocks is
disregarded).

Figure 1: Colored Areas

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2.3 Letter Symbols
In addition to color, each geologic unit is assigned a set of letters to symbolize it on the map.
Usually the symbol is the combination of an initial capital letter followed by one or more small
letters. The capital letter represents the age of the geologic unit. Geologists have divided the
history of the Earth into Eons (the largest division), Eras, Periods and Epochs, mostly based on
the fossils found in rocks. The most common division of time used in letter symbols on geologic
maps is the Period.

Figure 2- Absolute Age Scale

Occasionally the age of a rock unit will span over more than one period, if the period of many
years required to create a body of rock happens to fall on both sides of a time boundary. In that
case both capital letters are used. For example, QT would indicate that the rock unit began to
form in Tertiary time and was completed in Quaternary time. The few geologic units formed an
unknown amount of time ago have letter symbols with no capital letters.

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The small letters indicate either the name of the unit, if it has one, or the type of rock, if the unit
has no name. So Kjm (map below) would be the symbol for the Joaquin Miller Sandstone
(formed in the Cretaceous Period).

Figure 3

2.4 Contact Lines

The place where two different geologic units are found next to each other is called as a contact
and that is represented by different kinds of lines on the geologic map called as contact lines.
The two main types of contacts shown on most geologic maps are:

Depositional Contacts
Faults

All geologic units are formed over, under, or beside other geologic units. For example, lava from
a volcano flows over the landscape and when the lava hardens into rock, the place where the
lava-rock rests on the rocks underneath is a depositional contact. Where the original depositional
contact between geologic units is preserved, it is shown on the geologic map as a thin line

2.5 Faults

In geologically active areas, like seismic areas, geologic units tend to be broken up and move
along faults (it is the movements of crustal blocks along faults that cause earthquakes). When
different geologic units have been moved next to one another after they were formed, the contact
is a fault contact, which is shown on the map by a thick line (location 5 on figure given below).
Faults can cut through a single geologic unit. These faults are shown with the same thick line on
the map, but have the same geologic unit on both sides.

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Remember, just because the map shows a fault doesn't mean that fault is still active and is likely
to cause an earthquake. Rocks can preserve records of faults that have been inactive for many
millions of years. But knowing where the faults are located is the first step towards finding the
ones that can move.

Figure 4 - Faults

2.6 Folds

Another kind of line shown on most of the geologic maps is a fold axis. In addition to being
moved by faults, geologic units can also be bent and warped by the same forces into rounded
wavelike shapes called folds. A line that follows the crest or trough of the fold is called the fold
axis. This is marked on a geologic map with a line a little thicker than a depositional contact but
thinner than a fault (location 6 on figure given below).

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 Figure 5 - Folds

2.7 Solid, Dashed or Dotted Lines

All thicknesses of lines are also modified by being solid, dashed, or dotted. Often contacts are
obscured by soil, vegetation, or human construction. Those places where the line is precisely
located it is shown as solid, but where it is uncertain it is dashed (location 7 on figure given
below). The shorter the size of dash, more is uncertainty in the location. A dotted line is the most
uncertain of all, because it is covered by a geologic unit, so no amount of searching at the surface
could ever locate it (location 8 on figure below). The lines on the map may also be modified by
other symbols on the line like triangles, small tic marks, and arrow marks. These symbols give
more information about the line. For example, fault lines with triangles on them (as in location 9)
show that the side with the triangles has been thrust up and over the side without the triangles
(that kind of fault is called as reverse fault or thrust fault).

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 Figure 6 - Solid, Dashed or Dotted Lines

2.8 Strike and Dip

Many kinds of rocks are formed by deposition of sediments in broad, flat layers called as beds.
These beds stack up over each other like the layers of a cake. If undisturbed, thick stacks of rock
beds that have built up over millions of years will remain in their original flat orientation. But in
geologically active areas, like seismic areas where plate boundaries are active, the forces that
make earthquakes don't leave the beds flat for long, but bend and tilt them.

Tilted beds are shown on a geological map with the help of strike and dip symbol (as shown at
location 10 in figures below).

Strike is defined as direction of line formed by intersection of tilted geological bed with
horizontal and dip is measure of angle by which any geological bed is tilted upward or
downward with respect to horizontal.

The symbol for dip and strike consists of three parts:

A long line
A short line
A number

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The long line is called as strike line and shows the direction in which bed that is still
horizontal. Any tilted surface has a direction that is horizontal (think about walking on the side of
a hill, there is always a way to go that is neither up nor down, but is level). The strike line shows
that horizontal direction in the beds. The short line is called as dip line and shows which way
the bed is tilted. The numerical number is amount by which bed is tilted from flat horizontal
surface, in degrees, and is called as dip. The higher the number, the steeper the tilting of the
bed, all the way up to 90 degrees if the bed is tilted all the way onto its side. Strike and dip
symbols can be modified to give more information about the tilted beds just like the contact lines
can be. This will be explained in map key.

Figure 7 - Strike & Dip

2.9 Map Key

All geologic maps come with a table called as Map Key. In map key, all the colors and
symbols are shown and explained. The map key usually starts with a list showing the color and
letter symbol of every geologic unit, starting with the youngest or most recently formed units
along with the name of the unit (if it has one) and a short description of the kinds of rocks in that
unit and their age. After the list of geologic units, all the different types of lines on the map are
explained and then, all the different strike and dip symbols. The map key also includes
explanations of any other kinds of geologic symbols used on a map like locations where fossils
are located, locations of deposits of precious metals, location of faults known to be active, and
any other geologic feature that might be important in the area shown by the geologic map.
Because the geology in every area is different, the map key is vital for understanding the
geologic map. An example of such map key for any random map is given below.

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 Figure 8 - Map Key

2.10 Summary

Although the geology of every area is different but all geologic maps have several features in
common like colored areas, letter symbols to represent the kind of rock unit at the surface in any
given area, lines to show the type and location of contacts and faults, strike and dip symbols to
show which way layers are tilted. The geology of an area has a profound effect on many things,
from the likelihood of landslides, to the availability of groundwater in wells, from the amount of
shaking suffered in an earthquake, to the presence of desirable minerals, from the way the
landscape is shaped to the kinds of plants that grow best there.

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This report is also prepared for practicing map reading, drawing cross-sections to show
subsurface features and understanding geological features from map. Outcomes of this detailed
study are as follows:

3. Map Location

Geological map given in laboratory for study was of Changwat (province) Khon Kaen.
Khon Kaen is the fifth-largest of the northeastern provinces of Thailand. Its geographical
coordinates are:
16 26' 41" North
102 50' 1" East

Figure 9 - Changwat Khon Khaen Location Map

4. Map Scale
This map has been plotted on a scale of 1:250,000.

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 Figure 10: Picture Showing Map Scale

5. Rock Type
Following rock types are present in the geological map of Changwat Khon Khaen along with
their symbols used in map:

Qa: Alluvial deposits, consisting of gravels, sand, silt, clay

Qt: Terrace deposits, consisting of gravels, sand, silt and clay
KTms: Mudstone,Shale, Siltstone and fine grained sandstone, reddish brown, red and
brick red, with rock salt and other evaporates at the lower part
Kkk: Sandstone, Siltstone, Shale and Lime-noduled conglomerate, reddish brown grey,
grayish white and brown with gypsum at upper part
Kpp: Sandstone, white, pale-orange, commonly pebbly with pebbles of quartz, chert and
red siltstone and igneous rocks of upto 5cm in diameter cross bedded with shale and
conglomerate interbedded.
Jsk: Sandstone, reddish brown, micaceous, siltstone, grayish brown and reddish brown,
shale purplish brown and brick red, micaceous and lime nodule conglomerate.
Jpw: Sandstone, white and pink, orthoquartzite, pebble layering on the upper bed, massive
cross bedded, with some reddish brown and gray shale and conglomerate.
Jpk: Shale brown, reddish brown, and purplish red micaceous siltstone and sandstone,
brown and gray micaceous, small scale cross bedded and some lime nodule conglomerate
Rnp: Sandstone, reddish brown and brown cross bedded conglomerate with pebbles of
quartz, quartzite, chert, igneous rocks red siltstone and red sandstone of upto 10 cm in
diameter, shale and siltstone, brown and reddish brown.

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 Rhl: Conglomerate, gray and reddish brown sandstone and siltstone, grey, greyish yellow
and reddish brown shale, gray calcareous, mudstone, limestone, gray, argillaceous
Ppn: Limestone, gray, thick bedded to massive, shale gray thin bedded.
C3: Shale, gray, sandstone and conglomerate, grey, white and reddish brown, limestone,
grey lenses and bedded, with black chert and nodule of chert bed.
C1-2: Chert, black, red, milky white and pink, banded to massive, conglomerate, shale
sandstone gray.

6. Rock Age
Ages of different rocks in the map given are as follows:

Quaternary
Cretaceous Tertiary
Upper Cretaceous
Lower-Middle Cretaceous
Middle-Upper Jurassic
Lower-Middle Jurassic
Upper Triassic
Lower-Middle Permian
Upper Carboniferous
Lower-Middle Carboniferous

7. Rock Structure
Several rock structures like Faults, syncline with plunge, anticline with plunge, overturn are
observed in the map given of Khon Kaen province.

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 Figure 11: Different Symbols for different rock structures are used in the Map

8. Regional Geology of North-Eastern Thailand & Khon Kaen Province

The geologic setting of Thailand reflects a long and complex evolution, with regional
differences in geological history. The main part of Central Thailand is covered by Quaternary
sediments which conceal a number of basins formed in response to dextral shear on the Mae Ping
and Three Pagodas Fault Zone systems during the Tertiary. The northern, western, and peninsular
regions of Thailand are dominated by Paleozoic rocks (Bunopas, 1983) with small, deformed
outliers of Mesozoic strata, and occasional small Tertiary basins. In Northeastern Thailand, an
extensive outcrop of Mesozoic rocks occurs on the Khorat Plateau. The Khorat Plateau is
rimmed by an escarpment of mostly steeply dipping sediments which form cuestas rising from
600 -

Khon Kaen is partly located on Khorat Plateu. 1000 m above sea level on its western and
southern margins. The Khorat Plateau has a sauce-pan morphology (Piyasin, 1995), covering
an area of about 170 000 km2. It is a gently undulating plateau elevated 150 to 500 above mean
sea level and slopes gently towards the Mekong River. The Plateau extends northward and
eastward across the Mekong River into Laos. It is divided by the Phu Phan Range into two
depositional basins, the Khorat in the south and the smaller Sakhon Nakhon in the north. The
dominant landforms are low hills and ridges with board crests and gentle straight slopes of 20 to
30 m relief separated by broad valleys (Lffler et al, 1984).

In the Khorat area the sedimentary sequence consists of an initial rift sequence of Carboniferous
to Triassic age sediments, and a sag sequence of Late Triassic to Cretaceous age sediments
(herein termed post-Indosinian). The two sequences are separated by a regional erosive
unconformity, known as the Indosinian Unconformity, which represents the main collision of

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Indochina with its neighbors. The Khorat Plateau Basin is the term in use for the area of outcrop
of the post-Indosinian sequence.

Seismic data and petroleum exploration wells from the Khorat Plateau demonstrate the existence
of a number of Paleozoic and Triassic basins at depth with outcrop analogues in the extensive
Loei-Phetchabun Foldbelt to the west. Cooper et al. (1989) drew the simplified geological map
of Thailand and they also showed the broad relationships between the mega sequences by a
cross-section through Northeastern Thailand. It illustrates the links between Mesozoic
sedimentations and regional tectonics. It records the following: transitions from an active margin
in the Permian to subsequent continent-continent collision in the Early to Middle Triassic (the
Indosinian Orogeny); a Late Triassic extensional event; thermal subsidence for the remainder of
the Mesozoic allowing the deposition of the Khorat Megasequences; Early Tertiary inversion.
This section also illustrates that the compressional structures formed during the Early Tertiary
inversion are thick-skinned (because the amplitude and wave-length of individual structures
indicate a deep level of detachment) and a Mid Crustal Detachment depth of 15 km.

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9. Cross-Section
The cross-section has been drawn along line A-B-C-D-E marked on the map and is shown in next page.

E
B D
A

Figure 12: Geological Map marked with cross section line A'-B'-C'-D'

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Figure 13: Geological Cross Section along A-B-C-D

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 10. References

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/earth-atmospheric-and-planetary-sciences/12-001
introduction-to-geology-fall-2013/lecture-notes-and-slides/
http://www.diss.fuberlin.de/diss/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/FUDISS_derivate_00000
0001672/02_wannakomolch2.pdf?hosts=

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