Faults…

Javed N. Malik
Department of Earth Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Kanpur. INDIA
from Christopherson,
2001
3. How Rocks Deform

An undeformed sample
Under conditions representative of the shallow
crust, the marble is brittle.

An undeformed sample
Under conditions representative Under conditions
of the shallow crust, the marble representative of the deeper
is brittle. crust, marble is ductile.

An undeformed sample
 min

max

inter

Differential Stress

Uniform Stress
 Development of different textures in
rocks of the same composition
different stresses

Granite, consisting of
quartz, feldspar, and mica
(the dark mineral) will
crystallized under a uniform
stress and mica grains will
be randomly oriented.

Whereas, under a
differential stress. Major as
well as Mica grains will be
oriented parallel to the
maximum stress direction,
giving the rock a distinct
foliation

Granite Granite-Gneiss
Rocks Under Stresses

(σ)

(e)
FAULTS
• A fracture in rock along which blocks of rock slip
past each other is know as fault

• Faults mainly occur as a zone called Fault Zone

• Surface along which the block of rock slip is called

Fault Plane

• Surface expression in form of elevated cliff

exposed at the surface due to faulting is known as
Fault Scarp
Naming faults
• Faults that we see in the field or on surface are named and
classified on the basis of
• The dip of the fault plane
• The direction
• The sense of offset or movement

• We determine these components to establish

• The direction of displacement
• Sense of displacement
• The amount or magnitude of displacement
• These all parameters are related with the
Slip : Is the actual relative displacement

• On the basis of sense of slip the faults are

categorized as

• Strike-slip faults

• Dip slip faults

Parts of Faults
(Dip)
H= Heave: is the horizontal
component of the dip Hade
separation. It gives the
amount of land shifted
sideways

T= Throw: is the vertical

component of the dip
separation. It gives the Fault Plane
amount of vertical
displacement.

Hade: is the angle of a fault plane w.r.t. vertical

Dip: is the angle of a fault plane w.r.t. horizontal

 Strike-slip faults

• That accommodates horizontal

slip between the adjacent blocks
along the strike of the fault line
 Dip slip faults
• DSF are the faults that accommodates translation or slip,
upward or downward along the dip of the fault plane

• Normal slip faults (moderate to steep angle 400

and 700), those dip < 450 are referred as low angle
normal faults

• Thrust slip faults (dip < 450, usually at around 300)

• Reverse slip faults (dip > 450)

Active faults…
• Along which movements occurred
– During last 10,000 years
– Likely to occur in near future
– Manifestation of the crustal deformation by
displaced landforms on the earth's surface

• Considered to be source for large magnitude

EQs in near future
• Vital for seismic hazard assessment
Faults slip in response to stresses - extension, compression, lateral shear

• In almost all geological situations stresses are mutually perpendicular to

each other
 Style of Deformation under Different Stress Fields

from Christopherson,
2001
FAULTS
Strike-slip faults

• That accommodates horizontal slip between the adjacent blocks

 Normal Faults

• Normal faults may dip at a variety of angles, but they most typically dip
between about 400 and 700.
Reverse faults
Blind Thrust
Oblique Slip
 Thank you…
See you all soon…