FAULT ROCKS

MARY ROSE LICAROS

  A rock that consists of
fragments produced by
the crushing and grinding
which accompany a
dislocation and is often
FAULT ROCKS found along the fault
plane.

 Faulted rocks often fill

fault zones.
FAULT ROCKS
TYPES OF FAULT ROCKS

1 Incohesive, non-foliated fault rocks

2 Cohesive, foliated fault rocks

INCOHESIVE, NON-FOLIATED FAULT ROCKS
 CATACLASITES

 Cataclasites are randomly oriented aggregates of

angular, broken fragments of the rocks composing
the fault walls. The fragments range in size and may
be held together by some cementing material,
generally infilling minerals crystallized by
precipitation from fluids circulating between the
fragments.
 TYPES OF CATACLASITES

FAULT BRECCIA
Fault breccia when visible, angular
fragments constitute more than
30% of the rock volume. Breccia
can be cemented or uncemented;
rock fragments may range from
sand-size to large boulder size
and are commonly striated.

Microbreccia if the fragments are

microscopic.
 TYPES OF CATACLASITES

GOUGE
Gouge when more than 70% of
the material consists of very fine-
grained, clayey, and often
dark powder containing small
angular fragments.
COHESIVE, FOLIATED FAULT ROCKS
 MYLONITES

 Mylonites are characterized by a foliated or streaky

structure, in thin section, and are typical of ductile
shear zones. Grains of the parent rock have been
reduced in size without the loss of primary
cohesion. The fine grain-size and distinctive
microstructure are due entirely to the ductile
deformation accompanied by recrystallization.
 TYPES OF MYLONITES

PROTOMYLONITE

A rock in the early stages of

mylonitization, containing more
than 50% porphyroclasts
 TYPES OF MYLONITES

ULTRAMYLONITE

A mylonite where more than 90%

of the rock volume has undergone
grain size reduction. Primary
structures and porphyroclasts
have been obliterated so that the
rock becomes homogeneous and
dense, with little if any parallel
structure.
 TYPES OF MYLONITES

BLASTOMYLONITE

Blastomylonite describes extensively

recrystallized rocks with strain grains
annealed after mylonitization.
 TYPES OF MYLONITES

PHYLLONITE

Phyllonite is a mica-rich mylonite

with the mesoscopic appearance of
schist.
 PSEUDOTACHYLITES

 Pseudotachylites form thin, glassy,

and dark veins of cohesive and non-
foliated rock along some faults.The
glassy matrix, which contains rock
inclusions and microscopic
spherulites, attests that the vein was
in a fluid state and abruptly chilled.

 Pseudotachylites are believed to form

when a seismic movement and local
decompression trigger swift melting
followed by quenching and
solidification of the molten material.
 ROCK FAULTS AND DEPTH

The different types of fault rocks tend to form at different depths:

Incohesive gouge and breccia 0 - 5 km

Pseudotachylites 10 - 15 km

Cohesive mylonites > 10 - 15 km

DETERMINATION OF SLIP
 KINEMATIC CRITERIA:

REIDEL SHEARS
(R’ SHEARS)
 The Riedel shears (also
called R shears) are the
small right-lateral faults
which are gently
inclined to the strike of
the main fault.
 KINEMATIC CRITERIA:

TOOL MARKS

 Cavities formed by the

mechanical erosion of
the fault plane by hard
inclusions.
 KINEMATIC CRITERIA:

EXTENSIONAL
FRACTURES

 30º angle to the fault

plane
 KINEMATIC CRITERIA:

MINERALIZED
STEPS

 Step-shaped cavities
filled with fibrous
minerals (often quartz
or calcite).
 KINEMATIC CRITERIA:

STRIATIONS

 form due to faulting,

and smooth (or
polished) surface.
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