As time goes by, crust deformation happens. These are either called folds or faults.

Folds and faults are occurrences that naturally happen in rocks.

When rocks bend, folds form. The process of bending shows that folds are ductile
in nature. In folding, only bending occurs. There is no breakage that happens. It is usually
due to compression (convergence of plates) or shear stress. Limbs, hinge, and axial plane
compose a fold. Limbs are the sloping sides of a fold, while a hinge is the meeting point
of the limbs. An axial plane only exists when the halves of the fold are symmetrical to
each other.

There are different types of folds. Scientists studied the relative ages of rocks to
categorize a fold. Relative ages don’t have numbers involved in it. The first type is
anticline. This type has the oldest layer at the center of the fold. Its shape is commonly
an arch. Another type is syncline. Unlike anticline, this fold has the youngest layer at the
center and is usually bowl shaped. The third type is monocline. Both limbs are either
horizontal or almost horizontal. These folds also vary in size. They may be as small as a
handheld rock or as big as it can be.

On the other hand, faults are breakages in the body of a rock. A fault is a form of
brittle strain. Rocks break because of stress.

Just like folds, faults also have different types. Normal fault is the first one. A
normal fault often forms at divergent boundaries which is why the hanging wall of this fault
moves downward near to the footwall. Contrary to normal faults, reverse faults do the
opposite. Instead of hanging wall moving downward, it moves upwards. A thrust fault is a
special type of fault as it moves at a low angle or horizontally. A strike-slip fault slides
horizontally as a response to shear stress. It normally happens at transform boundaries.
Faults also vary in sizes – both big and small.