Find the Apparent Dip of a Plane Using a Stereonet

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
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Example

A bed strikes 065 degrees and dips 24 degrees NW. What is its apparent dip in a road cut trending 052 degrees?. This amounts to finding the intersection of two planes except that it's simpler because one is vertical.

1. Plot the bed as a great circle. 2. Draw a radial line with the azimuth of the road cut. The road cut is a vertical plane, hence a vertical great circle. 3. Rotate the road cut until it lies on a great circle (it does not matter which one) and count off the apparent dip. 4. Rotate the overlay to its original orientation.

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Created 5 January 1999, Last Update 16 March 1999
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