CHAPTER 8: Description and Classification of Faults

 Faults – ruptures along which the opposite walls have moved past each other. Its essential
feature is differential movement parallel to the surface of the fracture
 Stike – trend of a horizontal line in the plane of the fault
 Dip – angle between a horizontal surface and the plane of the fault, and is measured in a
vertical plane that strikes at right angles to the fault
 Hade – complement of the dip; that is, it is equals 90° less than the angle of the dip
(obsolete term)
 Hanging wall – block above the fault
 Footwall – footwall
 Fault zone – may consist of numerous interweaving small faults
 Distributive faulting – occurs if the differential movement takes place by systematic
small displacements along a large number of closely spaced fractures
 The intersection of the fault with the surface of the earth is known as the fault line, fault
trace, or fault outcrop

Nature of Movement along Faults

 In translatory movement, there has been no rotation of the blocks relative to each other;
all straight lines on opposite sides of the fault and outside the dislocated zone that were
parallel before the displacement, are parallel afterwards
 Rotational movements are those in which some straight lines on opposite sides of the fault
and outside the dislocated zone, parallel before the displacement, are no longer parallel
afterwards
 Slip – used to indicate the relative displacement of formerly-adjacent points on opposite
sides of the fault, and it is measured in the fault surface
 Net-slip – total displacement, and is the distance measured on the fault surface between
two formerly-adjacent points situated on opposite walls of the fault
 Strike slip – component of net slip parallel to the strike of the fault plane
 Dip slip – component of net slip measured parallel to the dip of the fault plane
 Pitch – angle that a line in a plane makes with a horizontal line in that plane
 Throw – horizonal component of dip slip
 Heave – vertical component of dip slip
  Separation – indicates the distance between the two parts of the disrupted horizon
measured in any indicated direction
 The vertical separation is the separation measured along a vertical line while the
horizontal separation is the separation measured along a vertical line
 A special term, offset or normal horizontal separation, is used if the horizontal separation
is measured perpendicularly to the strike of the disrupted

Geometrical Classification
Classification based on pitch of net slip
 Strike slip fault – one in which the net slip is parallel to the strike of the fault; that is, the
strike slip equals the net slip and there is no dip slip component. The pitch of the net slip
is therefore zero
 Dip slip – one in which the net slip is down the dip of the fault; that is, the dip slip equals
the net slip and there is no strike slip component. The pitch of the net slip is therefore 90°
 Diagonal slip – one in which the net slip is diagonally down the fault plane. There is both
a strike slip and dip slip component; the pitch of the net slip is greater than zero, but less
than 90°

Classification based on attitude of fault relative to attitude of adjacent beds

 Strike fault – one that strikes essentially parallel to the strike of the adjacent rocks

o Bedding fault – variety of strike fault that is parallel to the bedding

o Dip fault – strikes essentially parallel to the direction of the dip of the adjacent
beds; that is, its strike is perpendicular to the strike of the adjacent beds
 o Oblique or diagonal fault – strikes obliquely or diagonally to the strike of the
adjacent rocks

 Longitudinal fault – striking parallel to the strike of the regional structure

o Transverse fault – striking perpendicularly or diagonally to the strike of the
regional structure

Classification based on fault pattern

 Parallel faults – faults that have essentially the same dip and strike
 En echelon faults – relatively short faults that overlap each other
 Peripheral faults – circular or arcuate faults that bound a circular area or part of a circular
area
 Radial faults – belong to a system of faults that radiate from a point
Classification based on value of dip of fault
 High angle faults – dip greater than 45°
 Low angle faults – dip less than 45°
Classification based upon apparent movement
 Normal fault – hanging wall has apparently gone down relative to the footwall
 Reverse fault – hanging wall has apparently gone up relative to the footwall

Genetic Classification
Classification based on relative movements
 Thrust fault – fault along which the hanging wall has moved up relative to the footwall
 Gravity fault – fault along which the hanging wall has moved down relative to the fault
wall
 Rifts – longitudinal faults along which the displacement has been parallel to the strike of
the fault
 Tear faults and flaws – transverse faults along which the displacement has been parallel
to the strike of the fault
 Thrust faults indicate shortening of the outer shell of the earth, and generally result from
horizontal compression
  Gravity faults indicate lengthening of the outer shell of the earth, and generally result
from tension
 Rifts, tear faults, and flaws indicate horizontal displacement of bodies of rock past one
another

Classification based on absolute movements – based on absolute movements relative to some

datum plane, such as sea level
Four kinds of gravity faults might be recognized:
1. Those in which the footwall stayed in place, but in which the hanging wall moved down
2. Those in which the footwall moved up, while the hanging wall stayed still
3. Those in which both blocks moved down, but in which the hanging wall moved a greater
amount
4. Those in which both blocked moved up, but in which the hanging wall moved less than
the footwall

 Upthrusts – high angle faults along which the relatively uplifted block has been the active
element
  Sometimes the term underthrust is used for those thrust faults in which the footwall has
been the active element, whereas overthrust is used for those thrust faults in which the
hanging wall has been the active element

CHAPTER 9: Criteria for Recognition of Faults
Features Characteristics of Fault Planes
 Slickensides – polished and striated surfaces that result from friction along the fault
plane. The scratches or striations (slickenlines) are parallel to the direction of movement
 accompanied by sharp, low steps that tend at right angles to the striations and can be
used to determine the relative movement along the fault plane
 Mullion structures – consists of large grooves or furrows that may be several feet from
crest to crest and several inches deep; it is parallel to the direction of displacement
 Drag is in some cases an aid in divulging the relative motion along the fault. Because of
friction, the beds in the hanging wall are dragged up in this particular case, whereas the
beds in the footwall are dragged down.

 Some of the rock along a fault, may be pulverized to a fine-grained gouge, which looks
and feels like clay.
 Large blocks may be caught along faults that are separated from the foot and hanging
walls by faults which may or may not be accompanied by breccia. Such large blocks are
called horses or slices. The term horse usually refers to such a block caught along a
gravity fault and slice refers to a block caught along a thrust fault.
  A fault with a large horizontal displacement, such as an overthrust, is suggested if
contiguous strata of exactly the same age show very different sedimentary facies
Physiographic Criteria – topographic features may indicate the presence of a fault
 Resistant sedimentary formations are generally expressed topographically by ridges. A
dip fault or diagonal fault will displace the strata, and consequently, the ridge held up by
some resistant bed will be discontinuous, and an offset ridge will result.

 Scarp – relatively steep, straight slope of any height

o Fault scarp – owes its relief directly to the movement along the fault
o Fault-line scarp – owes its reliefs to differential erosion along a fault line

o Resequent fault-line scarp – fault-line scarp along which erosion preserves the
original facing direction of the fault scarp
o Obsequent fault-line scarp – fault-line scarp that through the erosion of resistant
layers faces opposite the direction of the original fault scarp
 o Composite fault scarp – one that owes its height partly to differential erosion and
partly to actual movement on the fault

 Scarplets aka piedmont scarps – indicative of active faults. They lie at or near the foot of
mountains, and they trend essentially parallel to the base of the range.
 usually confined to unconsolidated deposits such as alluvial fans, glacial moraines,
and lake terraces, but bedrock is exposed on some of them
 Triangular facets – developed on some scarps associated with faulting; have a broad base
and an apex pointing upward

 Offset stream – break in a stream profile; may occur at a fault line

  The truncation of the internal structure of the range of the mountain front is highly
suggestive of a fault.

 Springs in alignment along the foot of a mountain range are highly suggestive of faulting,
especially if the water is hot

Distinction between Fault Scarps, Fault-line Scarps, and Composite Fault Scarps
Features suggesting that the scarp is a true fault scarp are:
1. Piedmont scarps – it is likely that the entire scarp at the foot of which the piedmont scarp
lies, is a fault scarp
 2. Lakes – may form if a fault cuts across a stream and the block on the downstream side is
uplifted

3. Frequent severe earthquakes are presumably due to movement along the fault
4. A poor correlation between rock resistance and surface form suggests a fault scarp
Features suggesting that the scarp is a fault-line scarp are:
1. Scarp on the downthrown side of the fault
2. Close correlation between rock resistance, structure, and topography
3. Evidence of baseleveling subsequent to faulting

The recognition of composite fault scarps must be based upon combinations of the criteria given
above, and the local conditions are so variable that a general discussion here is inadvisable.

CHAPTER 10: Thrust Faults

 Thrust faults, often simply called thrusts, are those faults in which the hanging wall
moves up relative to the footwall
 Break thrust – develops when a fracture forms across one limb of a fold, at a high angle
to the bedding
 Stretch thrust – develops when the inverted limb of an overturned or recumbent fold
becomes so stretched that it finally ruptures
 Shear thrust – independent of folding. In many cases, the fracture cuts across a horizontal
strata, and the other resulting fault may be called an initial shear thrust.
- In other instances, the fracture may cut across strata that have already folded,
producing what may be called a subsequent shear thrust
 Bedding thrust – a thrust that follows a bedding plane
 In areas of flat or gently-dipping strata, a fracture may follow a bedding plane for a long
distance, and the upper formations may slide thousands of feet or even miles over the
lower beds. Although such fractures are bedding thrusts, they may be called strip thrusts
or décollements.

 Thrust faults may emerge at the surface of the earth; in this case the hanging wall moves
over an erosion surface. Such faults are called erosion faults
  Imbricate structure, sometimes called shingle-block structure, consists of several thrust
faults dipping in the same direction.

Overthrusts
 Overthrusts are spectacular geological features along which large masses of rock are
displaced great distances. An overthrust may be defined as a thrust fault with an initial
dip of 10° or less and a net slip that is measured in miles.
 The overthrust sheet or overthrust block is the block above the fault plane
 Klippe is a remnant of the overthrust sheet, now isolated by erosion from the main thrust
sheet
 Erosion has broken through the upper sheet at Fenster (German) or window, exposing the
rocks beneath the fault. It is called a window because it is possible to look through the
upper sheet to the lower.
 The root zone of an overthrust is the exposure of the overthrust nearest its source

 The region in front of the overthrusts is often called the foreland

- The rocks of the foreland are essentially where they were deposited and are said to be
autochthonous – that is, developed where found; these rocks are sometimes called the
autochton.
  The rocks in the overthrust sheets have traveled many miles from their original place of
deposition and are said to be allochthonous – that is, formed somewhere else; these rocks
are sometimes called the allochthon.
 Nappe – large body of rock that has moved forward more than one mile from its original
position, either by overthrusting or by recumbent folding

Mechanics of Thrusting
- The chief factors to consider are the angle of the dip of the fault plane, the coefficient of
friction along the thrust plane, the strength of the rocks, and inertia.
- The problem also involves the formation of the original fracture and the movement along
that fracture. It is axiomatic that at every point along the thrust, the fracture must form
before any movement can take any place.

CHAPTER 11: Gravity or Normal Faults

 Gravity faults are those in which the hanging wall has gone down relative to the footwall;
they involve lengthening of the crust of the earth
 In many instances two or more gravity faults are parallel to one another. Step faulting
occurs wherever the downthrow is systematically on the same side of several parallel
faults
  The most conspicuous structural features that result from gravity faults are belts of en
échelon faulting, tilted fault blocks, horsts, and graben.

En Échelon Gravity Faults

 The individual faults strike at an angle of approximately 45° to the trend of the faulted
belt as whole
Tilted Fault Blocks
 Gravity faulting is accompanied in many instances by rotation of the blocks on one or
both sides of the fault, and tilted fault blocks result.

 When erosion attacks the highest areas, the resulting debris is deposited in valleys. The
mountains that rise above the valleys in such cases are one variety of fault block
mountains. Some fault block mountains are horsts.
 Tilted fault blocks are most readily recognized by the tilting of one or more datum planes,
such as the bedding. In some cases, a late-mature or old-age erosion surface may be
broken and tilted
Graben and Horsts
 A graben is a block that has been lowered relative to the blocks on either side. A horst is
a block that has been raised relative to the blocks on either side.
Intermittent Faulting
 Movement along gravity faults is intermittent, and a period of relatively rapid movements
may be followed by a long interval of quiescence, during which erosion partially or
completely destroys the topographic expression of the fault.

Origin of Gravity Faults

 Many grabens, both large and small, are associated with plateaus and domes, some of
which are continental proportions. Because of the stretching of rocks, tensional forces
develop, the rocks fail by rupture, and movement along the resulting fracture ensues.
 The formation of the larger graben has often been associated with extensive volcanism.

 Fault block mountains—both the tilted fault blocks and horsts—are similar in origin to
graben. Although some may be due to tension that followed excessive compression
during folding, most of them seem to be due to stretching induced by vertical movements.

Secondary Foliation and Lineation (Pages 237-265)

  The ability of rocks to break along approximately parallel surfaces is called foliation or
foliate structure
 Many sedimentary rocks, particularly those that are fine-grained, tend to part parallel to
the stratification, and thus they possess what is often called bedding fissility. Bedding
fissility is due to differences in the grain size or composition of the particles in the
various layers, or to platy and elongate grains more or less parallel to the stratification.
 Cleavage is the ability of rocks to break along parallel surfaces of secondary origin.
 Schistosity is a term applied to the variety of rock cleavage found in rocks that are
sufficiently recrystallized to be called schists or gneiss. Thus, the secondary foliation of a
slate would be called cleavage, but a similar structure in a mica schist would be termed
schistosity.
 A schist is a metamorphic rock that possesses schistosity, but which is not characterized
by layers of differing mineral composition. A gneiss is a metamorphic rock characterized
by alternating bands of differing mineral composition.
o Paraschists and paragneisses are of sedimentary origin while orthoschists and
orthogneisses are of igneous origin.

CHAPTER 13: Unconformities

 An unconformity is a surface of erosion or non-deposition—usually the former—that
separates younger strata from older rocks.
 The development of an unconformity involves several stages. The first stage is the
formation of the older rock. Most commonly this is followed by uplift and subaerial
erosion. Finally, the younger strata are deposited.
Kinds of Unconfirmities – angular unconformity, disconformity, local unconformity, and
nonconformity
 The rocks on opposite sides of an angular unconformity are not parallel.
 In a disconformity, the formations on opposite sides of the unconformity are parallel. A
disconformity covers a large area and represents a considerable interval of time.
o A local unconformity is similar to a disconformity, but as the name implies, it is
distinctly local in extent the time involved is short.
 In unconformities, older rock is of plutonic origin.