FAULTS FAULTS

JaimeMarso 11/15/04

Faults Faults
Faultsarefracturesinrocksalongwhich appreciabledisplacementhastakenplace Suddenmovementsalongfaultsarethe causeofmostearthquakes Classifiedbytheirrelativemovementwhich canbe
Horizontal,vertical,oroblique

Faults Faults
Typesoffaults
Dipslipfaults
Movementismainlyparalleltothe dipofthefaultsurface Mayproducelong,lowcliffscalled faultscarps Partsofadipslipfaultincludethe hangingwall(rocksurfaceabovethe fault)andthe footwall(rocksurface belowthefault)

RedCanyon faultscarp nearRed RedCanyon faultscarp CanyonCreek,Montana (CourtesyUSGS) CanyonCreek,Montana

Conceptofhangingwalland footwallalongafault footwallalongafault

Faults Faults
Typesofdipslipfaults
Normalfault Hangingwallblockmovesdown relativetothefootwallblock Accommodatelengtheningor extensionofthecrust Mostaresmallwithdisplacements ofameterorso Largerscalenormalfaultsare associatedwithstructurescalled faultblockmountains

NormalFault NormalFault

Footwall Hangingwall

Hangingwalldownrelativetofootwall. Formshorstandgrabentopography.

ConjugateNormalfaults,CanyonlandsNationalPark,Utah Normalfaultsareconjugateiftheyconsistoftwosetsoffaults whichdiptowardseachothertointersectatanangleof approximately60degrees,andslippedconcurrently.Inthese cases,themaximumprinciplecompressivestressbisectsthe acuteanglebetweenthefaults.Inthisexample,themax. compressivestressisnearlyvertical.

NormalFaults NormalFaults

Normalfaultsinfelsicvolcanic rock,DeathValley,California. Notethebacktiltedlayering

ConjugateNormalfaults,DeathValley,CA

TetonMountainsproducedby normalfaulting. CourtesyofNRCS normalfaulting.

HorstandGraben Graben
Agrabenformswhena blockofrockfallsbetween twofaults.Huge,relatively flatbottomedvalleys,like DeathValleyinCalifornia

DeathValley CourtesyJ.L.Muir,NationalParkService

Faults Faults
Typesofdipslipfaults
Reverseandthrustfaults Hangingwallblock movesuprelativeto thefootwallblock Reversefaultshave o dipsgreaterthan45 andthrustfaultshave o dipslessthen45 Accommodate shorteningofthecrust Strongcompressional forces

ReverseFault(orThrustFault) ReverseFault(orThrustFault)

Hangingwall

Footwall

Hangingwalluprelativetofootwall. Lowanglefaultplane=thrustfault, (fenster,klippen).

ReverseFaultinmarble, JazidadoUrubu ,Brazil Urubu ,Brazil

CourtesyUSGSDigitalDataSeriesDDS21

Onareversefault,thehanging wallmovesuprelativetothe footwall footwall

ThefaultscarpfromtheearthquakeofOctober10,1980,atElAsnam, Algeria,showa3mverticaloffsetonablindthrustfault.Themovement alongthisfaultresultsfromcompression.Whenthethrustlayersencounter oppositionatdepth,theyareforcedupvertically,producingaverticalscarp. ThescarpextendsforkilometersalongthelandscapeofElAsnam.This7.3 magnitudeearthquakekilled5,000peopleandcausedseveredamage.

ThrustFaults ThrustFaults

Thrustfaultsandassociatedfold. NearKlamathFalls,OR.

KeystoneThrust.RedRocksStatePark,Nevada.

Thisfault,attheleadingedgeofthe SevierFoldThrustBeltinsouthern Nevada,placesCambrianBonanza KingFormation(gray)overJurassic AztecSandstone(pink).

Faults Faults
Strikeslipfault
Dominantdisplacementishorizontaland paralleltothestrikeofthefault Typesofstrikeslipfaults
Rightlateralasyoufacethefault,theblockon theoppositesideofthefaultmovestotheright Leftlateralasyoufacethefault,theblockon theoppositesideofthefaultmovestotheleft

Strike slipFault Strike slipFault

Faultinwhichmovementisparalleltothe strikeofthefaultplane. Leftlateral:

Rightlateral:

Ablockdiagramshowingthe featuresalongastrike slipfault featuresalongastrike slipfault

Faults Faults
Strikeslipfault
Transformfault
Largestrikeslipfault thatcutsthroughthe lithosphere Accommodatesmotion betweentwolargecrustal plates

TransformFaults TransformFaults

Strike slipFaults Strike slipFaults

Aerialviewofrightlateralfault.NearLasVegas, Nevada. Leftlateralfaultsinsiltstone.NearLillooet,

Drainoffsetproduced byseismiccreepalong theSanAndreasfault attheAlmaden Winery incentralCalifornia. Thewineryisalso experiencingoffset walls,bentandbroken pipes,etc.,dueto seismiccreep.Motion alongthefaultismostly strikeslip.

BritishColumbia.

Strike slipFaults Strike slipFaults

Thisphotographshows3 metersofrightlateral displacementalongafence linenearPt.Reyes,CA aftertheSanFrancisco earthquakein1908.The dashedwhitelineindicates thepositionoftheslippage alongtheSanAndreasfault.

TheSanAndreasfaultsystem isamajortransformfault isamajortransformfault

SanAndreasFaultSanLuisOpisboCounty,CA. CourtesyUSGSDigitalDataSeriesDDS21

 Striationsonfaultsurface,NeverSummerRange,Colorado. Striationsarenearlyvertical(paralleltotheredline.) Faultmotionwasparalleltothestriationsbut,fromthestriations,we don'tknowwhichsidewentup.Therefore,striationsareespecially usefulinconjunctionwithoffsetplanarmarkers.

Oblique SlipFault Oblique SlipFault

Obliqueslipfaultproducedduringthe7.7 magnitudeearthquakeof1915,Pleasant Valley,Nevada.Thestrikeslipcomponentis shownbytheoffsetofthefence. Photocredit:U.S.GeologicalSurvey

LeftLateralReverse

Oblique SlipFault Oblique SlipFault

LeftLateralNormal RightLateralNormal

BlockDiagrams BlockDiagrams

BlockDiagrams BlockDiagrams

Normaldipslipfault Normaldipslipfault

Reversedipslipfault Reversedipslipfault

Apparentdisplacement Apparentdisplacement

Apparentdipslipdisplacement dipslip producedbystrikeslipfaulting

Apparentstrikeslipdisplacementon strikeslip adipslipfault

Faultingofverticaland horizontaldikes horizontaldikes

Strikeslipfaultingofverticaland horizontaldikes Dipslipfaultingofvertical andhorizontaldikes

Slickensides Slickensides
Asthebrokenrocklayersmovepastoneanother,
theirfacesscrape/scratch/polisheachother.These facescomprisethe'faultplane.'Thelinearscratches fromthefrictionduringmovementoftheearthquake arecalledslickenlines.Theselinesallpointinthe directionofrockmovement.Anyrockfacethathas featuresofthisshiftingmovementarecalled slickensides

Thisanimationshows thefaultingprocess.The differentfillpatterns representhorizontalrock units.Canyouseehow onerockmassmoves pastanotherastheyare faulted?Itisalongthis faultlinethatthe slickensidesoccur.

Theimageontheleftistheslickensidewith thehorizontalslickenlinesontherightisan enhancedimagewherethebluehelpsto definetheslickenlines

Damage Damage