Measure strike and dip on an outcrop

Practice the sequence you already learned for “Measure strike and dip on an outcrop” until the order feels automatic. Drill the structural-geology field order. The reading is not plotted until the surface is identified, the compass is declinated, and strike is read before dip.

1. Identify the planar surface you intend to measure.
2. Set the compass declination for this map.
3. Read strike along the horizontal line of the plane.
4. Read dip direction perpendicular to strike.
5. Read dip amount.
6. Record location, lithology, and the right-hand rule if required.
7. Do not plot a magnetic reading as grid without the declination.