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Reserve: quartzite apparent dips 1:9 and 1:12, 4.6 km2

Short answer

True dip 6.35° (1:9.0) N23.5°E, true thickness 104.4 m. For area 4.6 km², reserve = 4.6×10⁶ m² × 104.4 m = 4.80×10⁸ m³ (0.480 km³).

Apparent dip amounts of quartzite bed rock along N20°E and N65°E are 1:9 and 1:12 respectively. The vertical thickness of bedrock is 105 m. Calculate the reserve of construction material for an engineering project at an area of 4.6 km² rock quarry site.

Step 1: true dip from the two apparent dips

For a direction of bearing β\beta the gradient of the bed satisfies gEsin⁡β+gNcos⁡β=tan⁡δag_E\sin\beta + g_N\cos\beta = \tan\delta_a (gEg_E, gNg_N = east and north components of the true gradient).

gEsin⁡20∘+gNcos⁡20∘=19=0.11111gEsin⁡65∘+gNcos⁡65∘=112=0.08333\begin{aligned} g_E\sin 20^\circ + g_N\cos 20^\circ &= \tfrac{1}{9} = 0.11111 \\ g_E\sin 65^\circ + g_N\cos 65^\circ &= \tfrac{1}{12} = 0.08333 \end{aligned}

Solving: gE=0.04434g_E = 0.04434, gN=0.10211g_N = 0.10211.

tan⁡δ=0.044342+0.102112=0.1113⇒δ=6.35∘ (1:8.98)\tan\delta = \sqrt{0.04434^2 + 0.10211^2} = 0.1113 \Rightarrow \delta = 6.35^\circ\ (1:8.98)

Dip direction =arctan⁡(0.04434/0.10211)=23.5∘= \arctan(0.04434/0.10211) = 23.5^\circ (N23.5°E).

Step 2: true thickness

t=tvcos⁡δ=105cos⁡6.35∘=104.36 mt = t_v\cos\delta = 105\cos 6.35^\circ = 104.36\ \text{m}

Step 3: volume (reserve)

Area =4.6 km2=4.6×106 m2= 4.6\ \text{km}^2 = 4.6\times 10^6\ \text{m}^2

V=A×t=4.6×106×104.36=4.80×108 m3V = A \times t = 4.6\times 10^6 \times 104.36 = 4.80 \times 10^8\ \text{m}^3

Answer: true dip = 6.35° (1:9.0) towards N23.5°E; true thickness = 104.4 m; reserve = 4.80 × 10⁸ m³ (0.480 km³).

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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