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    TM Chap4 Faults PDF

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    CHAPTER Introduction to Faults A fault is a surface or narrow zone along whieh one side has moved relative co the other in a direction par- allel to the surface ac zone. Most faults are brittle shear Fractures Pigure 4.14) ot zones of closely spaced shear fractures Figure 4.1B), bursomeare narrow sheat Zones of ductile deformation where movement took place without 088 of cohesion at the outerop scale (Figure 4.10). We generally use the term fault for shear froctuzes cor vanes that extend over distances of meters or largee. Features at the scale of centimecers or less ace called shear fractures, and shear fractures at the scale of nillimeret of less are microfaults thar may be visible only under a microscope. Faults ate often structural features of first-order importance on the Earth’s sueface and in is interior. They afect blocks of the Earth’s crust thossands or millions of square kilometers in afea, and they include major plase boundaries hundreds or even thousands of kilometers long. ‘The word fault is derived from an eighteenth and rineteenth-century mining term for & surface across which coal layers were offset. Many such mining terms ‘were transferred to geology in its early days, despite the fact that the mining lexicon was often complex and ambiguous. This cemry bas seen a number of attempts to rationalize and systematize this verminology, al- though there is still no ageeement on precise definitions for some words. We try to crmploy only those cerms that ace the most prevalent and the most useful in descibing faults: a ‘Types of Faults A faule divides the rocks ie cuts into two fault blocks For an inclined fault, geologists have adopted eke min- ers? eras hanging wall for the botcom surface of the ‘upper faule block and fourwall for the top susface of the lower fault block (Figuees 41, 4.2) In a ran. these are the surfaces that literally hang overhead or le under foot. The faule block above the fault is che hanging wall block, and the block below the fault is che footwall block: For a vertical fault of course, these distinctions do not apply, and the sides of the fault are named in accordance with geographic ditections: the northwest side and che southeast side, for instance. Faults are classified in terms of the attitude of the fault surface. Ifa faule dip is more than 45°, itis a high- angle fault; if less than 45°, ie isa low-angle fault. ‘We also divide fauls into three categories depend ing on the orientation of the relative displacement, or slip, which is the nee distance and direction thet the hanging wall block has moved with respect to the foot wall block (Figure 4.2). On dip-slip faules, the slip is Approximately parallel ro the dip of the fault sucfaces con strike-slip faults, cheslip is approximately horizontal, parallel to the scrike of the fault surface; and on oblique- slip faults, the slip is inelined obliquely on the Fault surface. An oblique-slip vector ean always be described as the som of a strike-slip component and a dip-slip B. Fault zone C. Duct shear zone Figure 4.1. Theee styles of fauhing. A. A single faule consises ofa single shear fractuce. A fault one comprises Ba se of asociaced sheae fractates o¢ C.a 20n¢ of ductile shear. component, or a5 the sum of a horizontal component and a vertical component, The dip-slip component may in carn be described as the sum of a vertical component and a horizontal component, which are sometimes called the throw and the heave, respectively. “We subdivide faults further in terms of the relative ‘movement along them. Inclined dip-slip faults on which the hanging wall block moves down relative co the foot- wall block are normal faults (Figure 434). Those on which the hanging wall block moves up telative to the Footwall block are thrust faults (Figure 4.38)! Vertical *Theue fouks char dip more steply than 48" ate sometimes called revert faults. 52 BRITTLE DEFORMATION favks characterized by dip-slip motion cannot, of course, be classified as either normal or reverse faults, so we simply specify which side of the fault has moved up ot down, Seike-slip faults are right-lareral, or dex- tral, if the faul block across the fault from the observer moved to the right (Figure 4.30); they are left-lateral, or sinistral, if that block moved to the lef (Figure 43D). ‘Oblique-slip faults may be described according to the rnatuge of the strike-slip and dip-slip components. Figare 4.36, for example, shows sinistral normal slip, and Fig- ure 4 3F shows sinscal reverse slip. For rotational faules the slip changes rapidly with horizontal distance along the fault (Figure 4.36). Figure 42 Slip vecrors and slip components on a faule surface, Dp: gw Hanging wall ‘Hanging wall Hone sip lock s faults Stik sie fats Footial biock block A. Nowa 8. Thrust C.Righttatera, ordonral __D, Letter er sit! Oblique Rotational tp faalt fetts E, Seistvaknormal F, Siisiva-roverse @ Figure 43 Faulted blocks showing the characteristic displacement for the differene classes of Fults. 5 th Recognition of Faults Features Intrinsic to Faults “he criteria for recognizing faults can be divided into Faults can often be recognized by the characteristic tex- three broad categories: features intrinsic to faults them= tures and structures developed in rocks as a result of selves, effects on geologie or stratigraphic units, and shearing (Table 4.1). These textures and steuctures vary effects on physiographic features. We briefly consider with the amount and rate of sheat and with the physical ‘each of these categories. conditions at which the faulting escorted, including Table 4 Fault Rock Terminology! Caraclaste rocks ected fermen Beelneie on a = Tne Nawyanie Ne sed Mylene I aeyonice 90% The ceoninology appliod ve fal oaks is by ap means generally wrved upon, The dlinitions of the diMferenr areas, and hequanstatve boundaries we bave placed on them, zhouldtherole be undecsood a gudeline to presen uzape, which can vary from one geologist co another. We believe, for example hat what we have defined ax movie would anyone's efinion, bu other geclogsts use plone in broader sense,

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