Chapter 8, Problem 1RQ

To determine

The differences between normal, reverse, and strike-slip fault.

Answer to Problem 1RQ

According to the sense of slip we can differentiate the faults. Normal fault and reverse fault undergoes vertical movement of the hanging wall with respect to the footwall. The horizontal movement occurs in the strike-slip fault.

Explanation of Solution

A fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been a significant displacement as a result of the rock-mass movement.

The rock mass above a sloping fault plane is known as the hanging wall, and the rock mass below the fault plane is known as the footwall. The movement of the hanging wall with respect to the footwall in a fault plane is described as the sense of slip.

In a normal fault, the hanging wall moves downward with respect to the footwall on the fault plane. A fault in which the hanging wall moves upward on a slope is known as the reverse fault or thrust fault. The reverse fault and the thrust fault are same in the sense of slip, but they differ in their slope angle, and the reverse faults are steeper than the thrust fault. Displacement of the rock strata in the horizontal direction which is parallel to the line of fault is known as the strike-slip fault. No vertical movement occurs during a strike-slip fault.