FOLDS AND FAULTS

Mountains are regions of disturbed or deformed rocks. They are differentiated in

to three types according to the nature of the deformation which created them:
1. dome mountains result from the upward bending of rocks into the form of a
dome. The Black Hills of South Dakota are a typical example of a naturally disse
cted dome mountain.
2. fold mountains consist of a series of long, more or less parallel wrinkles
, or folds. The mountains of West Virginia and central Pennsylvania are good exa
mples of fold mountains in the mature stage of erosion. This type of lateral com
pressional folding, whether it occurs in mountain building or on a much more loc
alized scale in the subsurface, creates structures which may contain hydrocarbon
s. These are anticlines, synclines, and monoclines.
3. block mountains are formed by faulting and uplifting of angular blocks of
rock. Some of the blocks are pushed and tilted at various angles into block moun
tains. The depressed blocks between the uplifted ones are block basins.
1. Folds
Anticlines are the raised peaks of folds (the tops of the hills) and may be evid
ent at the surface, although deeply buried anticlines may be covered by flat lyi
ng sediments. Synclines are the valleys between folds. A monocline is a long, re
latively flat, sloping surface usually with a more or less flat plain at the bot
tom end and a flat plateau at the top end.
Formation dip is the angle relative to horizontal at which the top surface of a
formation rests. The dip direction, or dip azimuth, is the direction relative to
north at which the formation dips downward. Strike is the direction of a line a
long the surface at right angles to the dip direction.
Definitions of folds
A fold is made of:
1. an axial plane or an axial surface of folding
2. two flanks, or limbs
3. a zone of flexure
4. an axis where the axial plane crosses the rock layers
A fold is described according to:
1. the orientation of the axial surface with respect to vertical:
- symmetrical when the axial plane is vertical
- asymmetrical when the axial surface is oblique
- overturned when the axial surface is oblique, and one flank has been ove
rturned; i.e., dips in the same direction as the other flank
- recumbent when the axial surface is horizontal or nearly so, one flank i
s overturned
2. the dip of both flanks with regard to the axial plane;
- anticline when the flanks dip downward away from the axial plane
- syncline when the flanks dip downward toward the axial plane
3. the direction of the angle of folding:
- convex when the angle of folding points upward (upfold, anticline)
- concave when the angle of folding points downward (downfold, syncline)
4. the angle of folding:
- open when the angle of folding is greater than 90 degrees
- closed when the angle of folding is less than 90 degrees

A dome is a fold where the beds dip in all directions away from the point of fol
ding. The axial plane may be a warped surface.
2. Faults
The same type of forces that act on a major scale to build mountains act in a sm
aller localized way to create faults. The gravity, or normal, fault is caused by
tensional forces. Removal of compression allows one block of the earth to move
downward with respect to another.
Definitions of faults
When compressional forces are exerted, a reverse or thrust fault results. In a t
hrust fault, pressure forces cause the hanging wall (the rock above the fault pl
ane) to move upward and over the top of the foot wall (the rock below the fault
plane). Reverse faults are similar except that there is no motion of the upper b
lock along the top of the lower block.
Movement of either wall in a direction parallel with the fault plane is called a
rift or tear or shear fault.
In some instances a long and narrow block drops down between two or more faults,
and is called a graben. Blocks that remain raised between two faults are called
horsts. The faults bounding both grabens and horsts are gravity (or normal) fau
lts.
A fault is a fracture with relative movement of the
side of the fracture. It is made of:
1. the fracture proper
2. fault plane(s) or fault zone
3. the upper block above the fault plane, called
4. the lower block below the fault plane, called
5. a zone of distortion, which may occur on both
plane, usually called rollover, drag, or gouge

two blocks of rock on either

the hanging wall

the foot wall
or either side of the fault

A fault can be described:

1. according to the relative movements of both blocks with respect to vertica
l
- normal when the upper block is downthrown (gravity fault)
- reverse when the upper block is upthrown
2. according to the relative movement of both blocks with respect to the dip
of the fault plane
- strike-slip when the movement occurs laterally along the strike of the f
ault plane (horizontal throw)
- dip-slip when the movement occurs down the dip of the fault plane (verti
cal throw)
- oblique-slip when the movement occurs along both the strike and dip of t
he fault plane
- rotational when the movement occurs around an axis with rotation on only
one block
- pivotal when both blocks rotate in opposite directions around a common a
xis
3. according to the magnitude of dip of the fault plane
- high angle when the fault plane dips more than 45 degrees
- low angle when the fault plane dips less than 45 degrees
- vertical when the fault plane is vertical

4. according to the time of occurrence with respect to deposition

- post-depositional when the fault occurs long after deposition
- contemporaneous when the fault grows at the same time as deposition, als
o called growth faults
Other descriptive terms used are:
1. separation: the distance from one bed boundary in one block to its counter
part in the other.
2. throw: the vertical component of separation; i.e., separation measured in
a vertical plane normal to the fault plane. The term 45-foot fault means that 45
feet of vertical section are missing at the well bore (if a normal fault) or 45
feet of section is repeated (if a reverse fault).
3. slip: the movement along the fault, being the distance between two formerl
y adjacent points. Slip can be in any direction within the fault plane; same as
separation if there is no horizontal component of movement.
4. extent: a fault is limited in horizontal and vertical extent by sudden dis
appearance against another fault, or against an unconformity, or by gradual decr
ease of throw along the fault plane. In rotational faults, throw decreases in th
e direction of the plane of rotation.
5. correlation gaps or repeats: when a well crosses a normal fault, correlati
on of the well logs will show a missing section. When a well crosses a reverse f
ault, the same formation is crossed twice, and appears as a repeat section on th
e log. A reversed repeat can occur when drilling through a recumbent fold.
6. drag and rollover: are fold-like deformations of the bedding planes in the
vicinity of a fault and associated with the fault. Such folding is called drag
when it is caused by friction of the two blocks against each other along the fau
lt. The result is:
- concave folding on the downthrown block.
- convex folding on the upthrown block.
Drag on faults
In certain regions, normal faulting occurs with reverse drag, or rollover in the
downthrown block. In this configuration, the bedding planes dip into the fault
plane instead of away from it. Rollover is frequently associated with growth fau
lts; i.e., faulting contemporaneous with deposition, with greater formation thic
kness on the downthrown side of the fault.