Faults

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I.

INTRODUCTION
1. FAULTS
A. What is a Fault?
A fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement
as a result of rock-mass movement. Large faults within the Earth's crust result from the action of plate
tectonic forces, with the largest forming the boundaries between the plates, such as subduction zones or transform
faults. Energy release associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes.

B. Why do faults occur?

Because of friction and the rigidity of the constituent rocks, the planes cannot glide or flow past each other easily,
and so occasionally all movement stops. Thus, stress builds up, and when it reaches a level that exceeds
the strain threshold, the accumulated potential energy is released into the fault.
Strain occurs accumulatively or instantaneously, depending on the liquid state of the rock; the ductile lower crust
and mantle accumulate deformation gradually via shearing, whereas the brittle upper crust reacts by fracture –
instantaneous stress release – resulting in motion along the fault.

II. CLASSIFICATION OF FAULTS


The following are factors used to classify faults characterised with their different basis, namely:
1. The apparent movement of the rock blocks along the fault plane.
2. The direction of the slip.
3. The occurrence of multiple faults in a single landscape.

1. FAULT DESIGNATION BY MOVEMENT


A. Normal faults: faults in which the hanging wall is moved down with respect to the foot wall.
a. Horst: when two normal faults are on the either side of a central wedge shaped block such that it appears high
up with respect to either blocks.

b. Graben: when two normal faults are on the either side of a wedge shaped block such that it appears
downwards with respect to either blocks.

B. Reverse faults: this type of fault in which the hanging wall appears to have moved up with respect to the foot wall
and dips at the angle more than 45 degrees.

a. Thrust fault: these are variety of reverse faults in which the hanging wall has moved up with respect to footwall
and the fault dip at the angle below 45 degrees.

C. Strike faults: it may be defined faults in which the faulted blocks have been moved against each in the horizontal
direction along strikes. There are two types of strike – slip faults:
a. Right lateral strike-slip fault (dextral): Where the side opposite the observer moves to the right.
b. Left lateral strike-slip fault (sinistral): Where the side opposite the observer moves to the left.

2. FAULT DESIGNATION BY SLIP


A. Strike-slip faults: faults that develop parallel to the strike of strata. In other words, the strike of the fault and that of
disrupted layers are essentially parallel.
a. Wrench fault: it is the strike slip faults in origin in which fault plane has developed transverse to the regional
structure and even the net slip is in the same manner. The dip of the fault is very steep, nearly vertical.

b. Transform faults: these are the strike slip faults that occur in the oceanic ridges.

c. Tear faults: these are strike slip faults occurring in groups in continental regions that divide an originally
extensive block into blocks of smaller and convenient dimensions.
B. Dip slip faults: may be defined as the type of fault in which slip has taken place in parallel to the dip of the fault.

C. Oblique slip fault: may be defined as the faults in which the direction of net slip has taken place neither to the dip
nor to the strike of the fault but is inclined to both of these directions.

3. FAULT DESIGNATION BY OCCURENCE


A. Parallel faults: a group of normal faults occurring in the close proximities having same dips and strikes. When this
group gives step like structure in the structure then it is called step faults.

B. En Echelon faults: Faults that are approximately parallel one another but occur in short unconnected segments, and
sometimes overlapping.
C. Peripheral faults: when in any region the majority of faults are concentrated along the border or margin of the
area.

D. Radial faults: the group of fault that appear emerging outward from a common point is called radial faults.

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