Faults in the field, part one

Fault patterns and field analyses

 Joints: fractures in rocks with no
Faults in the field displacement.
Fault patterns Faults: displacement occur along the
fractures.
Displacement: movement across the
fault trace irrespective to direction.
Throw: displacement in a vertical cross-
section across the fault, the up and
down part of the movement. Well
determined in a faulted horizontal layer.
Sense: relative movement directions
each side of the fault, represented by
paired half reciprocal arrows.
Upthrown block (U): the faulted block
Horizontal fault move up on fault plane.
Sense of movement

plane Downthrown block (D): the block move

down on fault plane.
dipping fault Footwall: the fault block exists below the
plane fault plane

Vertical fault Hangingwall: the fault block exists on

the fault plane.
plane
 Displacement: It involves, slip and
Fault displacement separation. Deceptive appearance of
fault displacement can be produced in
inclined units, well done in horizontal and
vertical units under some circumstances.
Slip: the displacement of formerly adjacent
points along a fault, in a particular
specified direction and measured in a
fault plane.
Strike slip: slip parallel to the strike of fault.
Dip-slip: the slip parallel to the true dip of the
fault.
Net slip: is an unambiguous measure of total
fault movement.
Note: slip here is not related to the strike and
dip of displaced units.
Separation: the distance between two
formerly adjacent lines, and measured in
any specified direction, not necessarily
in the fault plane. Well determined in
case of faulted vertical and horizontal
layers under some circumstances.
Heave: horizontal distance between two
formerly adjacent points on a fault plane
=Startigraphic throw
and measured in true dip of the fault
plane
 Fault displacement

Notes:
1. The disadvantage of working with slip is that it is not common to be
able to establish points which have been relatively displaced. In
practice, the points usually arise from the intersection of lines with the
fault surface, but even this circumstance is not very common.
2. Separation is therefore much more accessible measure than slip; the
snag is that may not be practically meaningful.
The vertical displacement of faulted, very steeply dipping beds,
the separation will be small in map view, even though the vertical
throw could be huge.
With a fault that oriented obliquely to dipping beds, the amount of
separation will vary according to where the measurement is
made.
 Classification of faults in the field

Heave
 Dip-slip fault

Reverse fault
Normal fault
U
D
D

Y Y
M Y Y M
Illusory interpretation
O M Deceptive Deceptive
right- left-lateral M O
O O
lateral
U U
D
Strike-slip fault

Right-lateral strike-slip fault

Dexteral sense of transportation

left-lateral strike-slip fault

Sinistral sense of transportation

The Hangingwall and Footwall as well as

the Upthrown and Downthrown blocks are
not used in case of vertical fault
 Oblique slip (Diagonal fault)
Displacement is in the apparent dip of the fault plane
Normal-right-lateral Reverse-right-
diagonal fault lateral diagonal fault

D
U
U
D

Normal-left-lateral
diagonal fault

D U
D
U Reverse-right-
lateral diagonal fault
 Visual assessment on geologic maps
1. Interruption of the stratigraphic succession may indicate faulting parallel to the
strike of the outcrops.
2. Units which should be present but do not appear at surface may be affected by
strike-parallel fault dipping in the same direction. Absence may be falsely
interpreted as contact of unconformity.
 Visual assessment on geologic maps
3. Repetition of beds can indicate a strike-parallel fault, dipping in the opposite
direction to the beds. Note repetition due to faulting not folding.

4. If horizontal beds are involved, small-scale strike-slip faulting may not be

apparent in maps.
 Visual assessment on geologic maps
5. For a particular amount of net-slip, the amount of horizontal displacement
(strike separation) decreases as the fault becomes more oblique to the strike of
the beds.
 Visual assessment on geologic maps
6. The misleading sense of displacement in the horizontal for a given fault
depends on the dip direction of the beds.

Deceiving right lateral Deceiving left lateral

 Visual assessment on geologic maps
7. Double displacement effect results from a dip-slip fault displacing both limbs of
a fold.
 Visual assessment on geologic maps
8. Older rocks are brought up on upthrow side whereas the younger rocks appear
on the downthrow side.

Y Y

Reverse fault
Normal fault
M Y Y M

O M
M O
O O
U U
D
Geological maps
Geological maps
 Measurements on maps

1. The length of the fault trace can be measured directly from the maps.
2. Displacement in the horizontal can also easily measured.
The strike separation, measured parallel to the fault strike.
Offset, measured normal to strike of the unit.
 Measurements on maps
3. The trigonometric estimation of bed depth. From the offset of a displaced
bed and the tangent of the dip angle (true dip), the bed depth can be
calculated.
4. Stratigraphic throw (vertical separation of the beds) is done by two ways:
The stratigraphic throw is measured by the elevation difference of a
surface in one side of the fault and its elevation on the other side at the
same strike.
 Measurements on maps
The constructed structure contours. From abutment of any two structure
contours of displaced unit on either side of the fault, the elevation
difference between them is the stratigraphic throw. If there is no dip
changes of the unit on both sides of the fault, the stratigraphic throw will be
constant, but it will be variable across the fault if the unit displays different
dips.
 Measurements on maps
5. The fault throw is the elevation difference between two points on either side of
the fault zone measured in the true dip direction of the fault. Note, that in most
cases it will not have the same value as the stratigraphic separation
(stratigraphic throw), which involves projection along the strike of the units and
does not refer to the dip of the fault.

( stratigraphic throw)

When does fault throw equal the stratigraphic throw?????? Support your
answer by figures. Homework !!!!!
 Measurements
on maps

Solved
exercises

Fault throw = 450m

Heave = 760m
statigraphic throw = 700
offset = 1180m
Strike separation =1850m
Depth to green surface = 1947m
 Measurements
on maps

Solved
exercises

Fault throw = 330m

Heave = 560m
statigraphic throw = 350m
offset = 130 0m
Strike separation =1350m
Depth to green surface = 370 m
 Fault throw = 450m
Heave = 760m
statigraphic throw = 700
offset = 1180m
Strike separation =1850m
Depth to green surface = 1947m
 Fault throw = 330m
Heave = 560m
statigraphic throw = 350m
offset = 130 0m
Strike separation =1350m
Depth to green surface = 370 m