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EOSC 210-Finals Questions with
Detailed Verified Answers
Question: what's geological engineering way of reasoning?
Ans: inductive: provides a specific statement based on observation and
generalize it to a broader conclusion.
Question: what is geological uncertainty?
Ans: refers to the unpredictability associated with identification,
characterization and interpretation of the site geology and hydrology.
Question: what is parameter uncertainty?
Ans: lack of data for key parameters.
Question: what is behaviour uncertainty?
Ans: gaps in knowledge
Question: What is site investigation?
Ans: acquiring geological, geotechnical, hydrogeological information that
might affect the construction or performance of an engineered structure.
Question: What are the objectives of site investigation?
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Ans: 1. Lateral distribution and thickness of the soil and rock strata
2. groundwater conditions
3. properties of the soil and rock formations
4. geological hazards; unstable slopes, faults, floodplains, seismicity
5.ground response; surface unloading and loading
6. suitability of earth materials
Question: what are the properties of clay and slit?
Ans: clay: low permeability, highly compressible, molded when wet. hard
and compact when dry
slit: moderately permeable and compressible. when dry its powdery and
allows some water movement but less than sandy soils.
Question: what is behaviour response ?
Ans: rock has an elastic limit (yield point) which will not be recovered once
exceeds. either ductile or brittle beyond the yield point.
Question: what is ductile behaviour ?
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Ans: deformation or squeezing of material, they absorb energy before
they break/fracture.
Question: what is brittle behaviour ?
Ans: materials fracture or break when subjected to stress.
Question: what is Mohr- coulomb shear strength ?
Ans: when τ >= c+σ⋅tan(ϕ) failure occurs.
-τ is the shear strength,
-c is the cohesion intercept (representing the cohesive strength of the
material), the ability of the material to resist shear stress even in the
absence of normal stress
-σ is the normal stress (applied perpendicular to the potential failure
plane), and
-ϕ is the angle of internal friction (representing the frictional strength of
the material). Angle which the material will fail under shear stress when
normal stress is applied. Higher friction angles are generally more resistant
to sliding.
Question: what is the rock behaviour for granite, limestone and shale?
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Ans: granite: high stiff, high strength, very brittle
Limestone: med stiff, med strength, med brittle
shale: low stiff, low strength, ductile
Question: what is isotropic vs anisotropic?
Ans: exhibits uniform properties in all directions. Occurs in continuous
homoogenous rocks.
displays different properties in different directions. characteristics vary
based on the orientation of the measurement or the applied load. Occurs
in discontinuous (faults and joints) heterogenous rocks.
Question: what is rock quality designation (RQD)?
Ans: Overall quality of the rock mass cut by different fracture systems.
RQS= length of core pieces that are > 10cm/ (total length of core run)*100
Question: Where are earthquakes found?
EOSC 210-Finals Questions with
Detailed Verified Answers
Question: what's geological engineering way of reasoning?
Ans: inductive: provides a specific statement based on observation and
generalize it to a broader conclusion.
Question: what is geological uncertainty?
Ans: refers to the unpredictability associated with identification,
characterization and interpretation of the site geology and hydrology.
Question: what is parameter uncertainty?
Ans: lack of data for key parameters.
Question: what is behaviour uncertainty?
Ans: gaps in knowledge
Question: What is site investigation?
Ans: acquiring geological, geotechnical, hydrogeological information that
might affect the construction or performance of an engineered structure.
Question: What are the objectives of site investigation?
, Page | 2
Ans: 1. Lateral distribution and thickness of the soil and rock strata
2. groundwater conditions
3. properties of the soil and rock formations
4. geological hazards; unstable slopes, faults, floodplains, seismicity
5.ground response; surface unloading and loading
6. suitability of earth materials
Question: what are the properties of clay and slit?
Ans: clay: low permeability, highly compressible, molded when wet. hard
and compact when dry
slit: moderately permeable and compressible. when dry its powdery and
allows some water movement but less than sandy soils.
Question: what is behaviour response ?
Ans: rock has an elastic limit (yield point) which will not be recovered once
exceeds. either ductile or brittle beyond the yield point.
Question: what is ductile behaviour ?
, Page | 3
Ans: deformation or squeezing of material, they absorb energy before
they break/fracture.
Question: what is brittle behaviour ?
Ans: materials fracture or break when subjected to stress.
Question: what is Mohr- coulomb shear strength ?
Ans: when τ >= c+σ⋅tan(ϕ) failure occurs.
-τ is the shear strength,
-c is the cohesion intercept (representing the cohesive strength of the
material), the ability of the material to resist shear stress even in the
absence of normal stress
-σ is the normal stress (applied perpendicular to the potential failure
plane), and
-ϕ is the angle of internal friction (representing the frictional strength of
the material). Angle which the material will fail under shear stress when
normal stress is applied. Higher friction angles are generally more resistant
to sliding.
Question: what is the rock behaviour for granite, limestone and shale?
, Page | 4
Ans: granite: high stiff, high strength, very brittle
Limestone: med stiff, med strength, med brittle
shale: low stiff, low strength, ductile
Question: what is isotropic vs anisotropic?
Ans: exhibits uniform properties in all directions. Occurs in continuous
homoogenous rocks.
displays different properties in different directions. characteristics vary
based on the orientation of the measurement or the applied load. Occurs
in discontinuous (faults and joints) heterogenous rocks.
Question: what is rock quality designation (RQD)?
Ans: Overall quality of the rock mass cut by different fracture systems.
RQS= length of core pieces that are > 10cm/ (total length of core run)*100
Question: Where are earthquakes found?
