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IN ROCKS
BY:
FAULTS
GEOMETRY OF A FAULT
GEOMETRY OF FAULTS
1. THE FAULT/FAULT ZONE
Fault is the actual fracture or zone of fracture in the
crust, along which displacement of some sort occurs.
Though the fault depicted above appears as a simple
and single planar feature, what we call a fault can, in
fact, be a complex set of fractures with a very chaotic
geometry.
If such a set of fractures is large enough, it is often
referred to as a fault zone.
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5. THE TREND
It is the general direction of a fault trace. It takes across the
Earth's surface.
Trend may be used to average out the small, localized bends of
a long fault and talk about its overall directionality.
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6. HANGING WALL
It is the part of the Earth's crust above the plane of the
fault.
Its name originates from mining activities along large,
ancient faults which had since been "filled in" with
mineral deposits.
Miners could hang their lamps from the wall above them,
coining the term "hanging wall" for this side of a fault.
7. FOOTWALL
It is the part of the Earth's crust below a fault.
As with the hanging wall, the "footwall" was so named by
miners, since they would walk on the lower side of a
mined-out fault.
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9. FAULT GOUGE
It is an incohesive, clay-rich fine to ultrafine-grained
cataclasite, which may possess a planar fabric and containing
<30% visible fragments. Rock clasts may be present.
10. SLIP
It is defined as the relative movement of geological features
present on either side of a fault plane, and is a displacement
vector. A fault's sense of slip is defined as the relative motion
of the rock on each side of the fault with respect to the other
side.
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Throw
= dipping angle
Heave
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TYPES OF FAULTS
A. DIP-SLIP FAULT
Normal Fault
Reverse Fault
B. STRIKE-SLIP FAULT
C. OBLIQUE-SLIP FAULT
D. HINGE FAULT
E. TEAR FAULT
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DIP-SLIP FAULT
Faults in which the movement is primarily parallel to the
dip (or inclination) of the fault surface are called Dip-Slip
Faults.
According to the respective movement of the two
Walls (i.e. Hanging wall and Foot wall) with respect to
each other, the Dip Slip Fault is further classified into:
o Normal Fault
o Reverse Fault
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NORMAL FAULT
A Fault is said to be Normal Fault, When the Hanging
wall block moves down relative to the Footwall block.
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NORMAL FAULT
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REVERSE FAULT
A Fault is said to be a Reverse Fault when the Hanging
wall block moves up relative to the Footwall block
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REVERSE FAULT
STIKE-SLIP FAULT
A Fault that exhibit mainly horizontal displacement, i.e.
parallel to the strike of the fault surface, is known as
Strike-Slip Fault.
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JOINTS
A Joint is simply a break in Rock, which shows no considerable
displacement.
In geology, a joint is a fracture dividing rock into two sections
that have not moved away from each other.
A joint sees little or no displacement. In other kinds of
fracturing, like in a fault, the rock is parted by a visible crack
that forms a gap in the rock.
Joints push out in various directions, usually vertically. They
can have smooth, clean surfaces, or they can be scarred from
sliding against another joint. Joints usually occur as sets, with
each set made up of joints that are parallel to each other.
Joints become more and more obvious when the rock
is weathered (eroded by the elements). When water gets into
the joints, this can lead to the formation of big caves and
underground rivers.
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JOINTS (cont.)
Joints are generally the result of a rock mass adjusting to
compressive or tensional stress or cooling.
A Joint set is composed of a series of roughly parallel joints
that occur in one direction.
Tensional stress usually results in a single joint orientation that
is perpendicular to the direction of stress.
Compressive stress often generates two cross-cutting joint
sets.
The only difference between faults and joints is that joints
dont show evidence of slippage whereas faults do.
Joints are arguably the most common geologic structure and
can form in a variety of ways.
Joints can also form as a result of tectonic stress associated
with regional uplift. (as shown in next image)
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