ABSTRACT
The development of a community may be influenced by many geological phenomena, for example, earthquakes, weathering and erosion, volcanoes, landslides and avalanches of rock and soil. This chapter describes the geological factors that affect the provision of an adequate supply of water from underground sources and the suitability of minerals, sediments and rocks as materials for the construction of engineering structures. The factors also affect the design of foundations that will safely transfer to the ground the load of the structure they must carry, and the safe and controlled disposal of waste, on land. Most ground-water supplies tap local flows of circulating meteoric water that exist within the catchment over which rain has fallen. Physical geology provides the most immediate information of relevance to the location of sources. River patterns indicate the relative permeability of the ground and the controls exerted by structural geology and rock type upon infiltration and the movement of ground-water.
