Scribd
Upload
62 views

Fault, In: Geology Fracture Earth's

The document discusses different types of faults in geology, including normal faults, reverse faults, strike-slip faults, and oblique-slip faults. It describes how faults form due to compressional or tensional forces, and can range widely in length and displacement. The hanging wall and footwall are described for faults, as well as fault strike, dip, and examples like the San Andreas fault.

Uploaded by

Mandeep Man-e
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
62 views

Fault, In: Geology Fracture Earth's

The document discusses different types of faults in geology, including normal faults, reverse faults, strike-slip faults, and oblique-slip faults. It describes how faults form due to compressional or tensional forces, and can range widely in length and displacement. The hanging wall and footwall are described for faults, as well as fault strike, dip, and examples like the San Andreas fault.

Uploaded by

Mandeep Man-e
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Fault, in 

geology, a planar or gently curved fracture in the rocks of the Earth’s crust,


where compressional or tensional forces cause relative displacement of the rocks on
the opposite sides of the fracture.
Faults range in length from a few centimetres to many hundreds of kilometres, and
displacement likewise may range from less than a centimetre to several hundred
kilometres along the fracture surface (the fault plane).
In some instances, the movement is distributed over a fault zone composed of
many individual faults that occupy a belt hundreds of metres wide. The geographic
distribution of faults varies; some large areas have almost none, others are cut by
innumerable faults.
Faults may be vertical, horizontal, or inclined at any angle.
Although the angle of inclination of a specific fault plane tends to be relatively
uniform, it may differ considerably along its length from place to place.
When rocks slip past each other in faulting, the upper or overlying block along the
fault plane is called the hanging wall, or headwall; the block below is called
the footwall.
The fault strike is the direction of the line of intersection between the fault plane and
the surface of the Earth.
The dip of a fault plane is its angle of inclination measured from the horizontal.
Faults are classified according to their angle of dip and their relative displacement. 
Normal dip-slip faults are produced by vertical compression as the Earth’s crust
lengthens.
The hanging wall slides down relative to the footwall. Normal faults are common;
they bound many of the mountain ranges of the world and many of the rift valleys
found along spreading margins of tectonic plates. 
Rift valleys are formed by the sliding of the hanging walls downward many
thousands of metres, where they then become the valley floors.
Types of faulting in tectonic earthquakesIn normal and reverse faulting, rock masses slip vertically past each other. In
strike-slip faulting, the rocks slip past each other horizontally.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

A block that has dropped relatively downward between two normal faults dipping
toward each other is called a graben. A block that has been relatively uplifted
between two normal faults that dip away from each other is called a horst. A tilted
block that lies between two normal faults dipping in the same direction is a tilted fault
block.
Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your
subscription.Subscribe today
Reverse dip-slip faults result from horizontal compressional forces caused by a
shortening, or contraction, of the Earth’s crust. The hanging wall moves up and over
the footwall. Thrust faults are reverse faults that dip less than 45°. Thrust faults with
a very low angle of dip and a very large total displacement are called overthrusts or
detachments; these are often found in intensely deformed mountain belts. Large
thrust faults are characteristic of compressive tectonic plate boundaries, such as
those that have created the Himalayas and the subduction zones along the
west coast of South America.
Strike-slip (also called transcurrent, wrench, or lateral) faults are similarly caused by
horizontal compression, but they release their energy by rock displacement in a
horizontal direction almost parallel to the compressional force. The fault plane is
essentially vertical, and the relative slip is lateral along the plane. These faults are
widespread. Many are found at the boundary between obliquely converging oceanic
and continental tectonic plates. A well-known terrestrial example is the San Andreas
Fault, which, during the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, had a maximum
movement of 6 metres (20 feet).

Section of the San Andreas Fault in the Carrizo Plain, western California.U.S. Geological Survey

Oblique-slip faults have simultaneous displacement up or down the dip and along
the strike. The displacement of the blocks on the opposite sides of the fault plane
usually is measured in relation to sedimentary strata or other stratigraphic markers,
such as veins and dikes. The movement along a fault may be rotational, with the
offset blocks rotating relative to one another.
Advertisement
Fault slip may polish smooth the walls of the fault plane, marking them with striations
called slickensides, or it may crush them to a fine-grained, claylike substance known
as fault gouge; when the crushed rock is relatively coarse-grained, it is referred to
as fault breccia. Occasionally, the beds adjacent to the fault plane fold or bend as
they resist slippage because of friction. Areas of deep sedimentary rock cover often
show no surface indications of the faulting below.
Movement of rock along a fault may occur as a continuous creep or as a series of
spasmodic jumps of a few metres during a few seconds. Such jumps are separated
by intervals during which stress builds up until it overcomes the frictional forces
along the fault plane and causes another slip. Most, if not all, earthquakes are
caused by rapid slip along faults.

You might also like