Faults I

Fault
A fault is a mesoscopic to macroscopic plane (listric
faults are curved at large scale!) along which the two
blocks on either side have displaced (slipped) relative to
one another
The slip is primarily due to brittle deformation

This distinguishes faults from fault/shear zone

Deformation in a fault zone is distributed along a set
of closely-spaced faults within a zone

Deformation in a shear zone is ductile (i.e., high
strain without macroscopic loss of cohesion),
involving either crystal plastic or catraclastic flow
mechanisms (or a combination = semibrittle)
Scale of Faults
The range of size for faults is from:
microscopic, mm scale (10
-3
m), to
thousands of kilometer (10
6
m)
(regional, lithospheric)

A fault is called a shear fracture if its
dimensions are smaller than one meter

Net Slip
The net slip of a fault is the magnitude and
direction of relative displacement on the fault
plane between two previously contiguous
points (piercing points).

The net slip is a vector; it requires magnitude
(e.g., in meters) and a direction (trend/plunge)

It can be resolved into its components
We also need to define the sense of slip (or
shear) to completely define the net slip
Net slip
The net slip vector can be resolved into any
arbitrary pair of components, for example
along the strike (strike-slip)
along the dip (dip-slip)
oblique to the strike (oblique-slip)
This is the most common case!

The components for the dip-slip are:
Heave: horizontal component of dip-slip
Throw: vertical component of dip-slip
Measuring Net Slip
Need two previously contiguous points
(piercing points) on the fault plane

These two points (one on the hanging wall and
the other on the footwall) are the intersection
of a so-called piercing line with the fault

The piercing line, defined by intersection of
two planes (e.g., two beddings, fault and
bedding), becomes broken after faulting
Slip Lineation
Lineation on the fault plane that form parallel to the net slip,
for at least the last increment of slip
Slip lineation forms parallel to the intersection of the fault plane
and the movement plane (M-plane, which is the
1

3
plane)
The
1

3
plane, of course, is perpendicular to the
2
, which
lies on the plane of the fault(s)
It also contains the pole to the fault
The M-plane is constructed by putting the pole to the fault
and the slip lineation on a same great circle

The attitude of the slip lineation provides the attitude of latest
slip (trend/plunge)
The sense of slip may be provided with shear indicators on
the fault surface
Slickensided
surface &
Slip fibers
Principal stresses and faults
According to the Anderson theory of
faulting, one principal axis of stress is
always perpendicular to the earth surface
(i.e., is vertical)

Normal fault:
1
is vertical
Reverse fault:
3
is vertical
Strike-slip fault:
2
is vertical
Plots of slip lineation for kinematic
analysis
These plots (of slip linear) are used for
kinematic analysis, i.e., determining the
direction of motion along the fault
For this we need the attitude of the fault, the
orientation of the slip lines, and the sense of
slip

In this plot, the slip line is decorated with
an arrow which indicates the direction (and
sense) of slip (along the M-Plane)

Procedure for plotting fault data
Plot the trace of the fault and its pole
If there are two conjugate faults, then plot both.
Note:
The conjugate faults (develop if the difference in the
value between the maximum and the other two principal
stresses is significant)
If the intermediate and minimum principal stresses are
equal, and say
1
is vertical, then normal faults with
variable strikes would develop.

For each fault, plot the slip lineation (using its
trend/plunge or pitch) on the fault plane
The intersection of the two conjugate faults defines the
direction of the
2

The bisector of the acute angle defines the

1
, and the
bisector of the obtuse angle defines the
3

Both lie on the M-Plane

Plot the M-plane (contains the fault pole and slip line)

Decorate the slip line, on the M-plane/fault, with a short
line (called slip linear), drawn along the M-plane
If we know the sense of slip (e.g., normal, reverse), say
from slip fibers, decorate the line with an arrow to
indicate the relative movement of the HW block (e.g.,
arrow points updip along the M-plane)
Identify the upward slip lines from downward ones



Notice that the direction of the
1
should be steep for the
case of normal faults, and the slip linear(s) must be along
the true dip, downdip toward the premitive

For the case of a reverse fault,
1
should be gently
plunging, near the primitive, and the slip linear(s) should
point updip

For the case of strike slip fault,
1
is near the primitive,
and the sense of the slip is indicated by a couple
(remember that the acute wedge facing
1
goes in!).

For each case, conjugate faults intersect along the
2



Direction of shortening vs. extension
From the slip linear and faults orientation,
we can find the shortening and extension
axes for the fault
These axes lie on the M-plane

They are perpendicular to each other

The slip linear arrow points toward the
extension axis, and away from the
shortening direction
Differential stress and faulting
In sandbox experiments, it has been shown
that:
Normal faults form when
1
remains constant
while
3
weakens (i.e., differential stress increases
as
3
goes to the left on the Mohr diagram)
i.e., vertical push is constant, while
3
(horizontal) is
reduced, i.e., circle grows to the left

Reverse faults form when
3
remains constant
while increases
1
increases
i.e., circle grows to the right on the Mohr diagram
Terminology - Non-vertical faults:
Block above the fault plane is the hanging-wall
Block below the fault plane is the footwall

By convention, geologist keep track of the
movement of the hanging wall (not the
footwall)

The hanging wall can move up or down
This is the basis of the classification of
faults
Terminology
Emergent fault
Active fault that cuts the surface of Earth

Exhumed fault
Exposure of an inactive fault at the surface
due to uplift or erosion

Blind fault
A fault that dies out in the subsurface
without intersecting the surface of Earth
General Types of Fault
Faults are divided into the following three
categories based on the relative displacement
of the fault blocks with respect to the attitude
of the fault plane:

Dip slip fault - The hanging wall block moves
(up or down) parallel to the dip of the fault
plane
The net slip is pure dip-slip
Classification of Faults
Strike slip fault - Both blocks move parallel to the strike
of the fault plane
There is no hanging wall in this case!
The net slip is pure strike-slip
Oblique slip fault - The displacement vector is oblique
to both strike and dip
The senses of both the dip slip (normal or reverse) and
strike slip (left- or right-lateral) are needed for a
oblique-slip fault
Left-lateral, normal, oblique-slip fault
Right-lateral, reverse, oblique-slip fault
Extensional or Contractional
Contractional fault
Forms due to shortening of the layers
Rock units become duplicated
Includes reverse and thrust fault

Extensional fault
Forms due to lengthening of a layer
Involves loss of stratigraphic section
Includes normal fault
Extensional & contractional Faults
Dip-slip Faults
Dip-slip - Motion is along the dip
High-angle ( >60
o
)
Intermediate angle (30
o
-60
o
)
Low-angle <30
o
)

Two types of dip-slip: Normal and Reverse

Normal fault - If the relative motion of the hanging wall
block is down-dip on the fault
Is caused by extension
Forms horst and graben
Example: Basin and Range, Mid-ocean ridge
Dip-slip Faults
Reverse fault, if the motion of the hanging
wall block is up-dip on the fault.

Caused by contraction
e.g., faults in subduction zones

Thrust is a low-angle reverse fault
e.g. Grand Tetons; the Appalachians
Strike-slip Faults
Strike-slip - one block moves horizontally past
another block:
Are usually very long (100s - 1000s of km)

NOTE:
At a small scale, fault attitude may be constant
At a larger scale, however, both the dip and/or
strike of a fault may change
Strike-Slip Faults - Types
Left-lateral (sinistral) strike slip fault
To an observer standing on one block and looking
across the fault, the other block seems to have
moved to the left

Right-lateral (dextral) strike slip fault
The block across the fault moved to the right of the
observer. e.g., San Andreas fault

Oblique-slip
motion is oblique to dip and strike
e.g., normal, left-lateral, right-lateral, reverse
Fault Type
Listric fault:
The dip of the fault varies with depth.
Fault bend:
Is where both the dip and strike of a fault
changes.
Flat:
A fault which is locally parallel to the bedding (in
the hanging wall or the footwall).
A fault parallel to bedding in the hanging wall
may be across the bedding in the footwall, and
vice versa!
Ramp: A fault which is locally across bedding
Ramps/Flats before & after Thrusting
Bends
The change in the attitude of the fault steps
the fault either to the left (left-step) or to the
right (right-step)

Depending on the sense of displacement of
the fault, the right or left step may produces
either contraction (restraining bends) or
extension (releasing bends) across the step
Basement thrust over younger sediments in
transpressional segment of San Andreas fault
Fault Separation
Distance between the displaced parts of a marker as
measured along a specific line, on a specific plane.
Is usually not the same as the net slip, unless the
specified line is parallel to the net slip.
It depends on the attitude of the displaced marker.

NOTE:
Two non-parallel markers will produce different
separation
Separation along the fault for one marker may show
right-lateral, and for another, a left-lateral sense of
slip!
Fault Separation - Facts
A strike-slip fault cutting a horizontal sequence of
layers produces no horizontal (strike) separation!

A dip-slip fault cutting vertical layers produces no
dip separation

Use linear features (e.g., fence, roads, etc.), or trace
of a planar feature, on a horizontal plane, to
determine the horizontal separation

Heave and throw are components of the dip
separation
Faulting
Faulting, as a mode of failure, is the most significant
way in which lithospheric masses are tectonically
transported relative to each other, especially in the
seismogenic upper crust

Deformation in this brittle part of the crust takes place
by pressure-sensitive, strain rate-insensitive frictional
sliding on discrete fault planes with little inelastic
strain and dislocation activity

Faults commonly involve frictional sliding along pre-
existing joints, veins, and other discontinuities, but
can also initiate and propagate in intact rocks
Fault Geomorphology & Scale
Active faults such as the San Andreas:
Show considerable variation in the irregularity of
their trace
Commonly occur in variably-oriented strands or
segments
The segments grow and link as the total
displacement increases
Range in fault length is over eight orders of
magnitude (10
-3
m to 10
5
m)
Display a power law size distribution; i.e., fractal
Fault Surface Structures
Fault displacement produces friction-related
striations (polishing and grooving) indicating the
latest, local direction of movement and
sometimes absolute direction of movement
The slip lineation are called slickensides or
slickenlines
Fiber growth in the direction of fault
displacement, on the slickensided surface,
provide clear indications of relative offset
Extensional fractures occur at a high angle to
slip direction and dip steeply into fault plane
Structural features to Recognize Faults
polishing and grooving
slickensides
breccia
gouge
mylonite
shear zone
associated fractures
drag of layers adjacent to fault
juxtaposition of dissimilar rock types
displacement of planar structures
Fault
Breccia
Clay
Gouge
Mylonite vs. Cataclasite
Geomorphic features
fault scarp
fault-line scarps
triangular facets
alignment of facets
increase of stream gradients at the fault line
hanging valleys
aligned springs and vegetation
landslides
displaced stream courses
Fault Scarp
Fault-line scarp caused by faulting of
a resistant layer
Fault and Stress
Conjugate shear fractures develop at about = 30
degrees from
1



1
bisects the acute angle of about 60
o
between the
two fractures


3
bisects the obtuse angle between the two fractures
Anderson Faulting Theory
The surface of Earth is a principal plane of
stress (i.e., there is no shear stress along the
surface of Earth)

The normal to the surface is therefore parallel
to one of the principal stresses (
1
,
2
,
3
)

This means that one principal stress is vertical
while the other two are horizontal
Faults and the Principal Stresses
Reverse faults are more likely to form if
3
is vertical
and constant (at a standard state), while horizontal,
compressive
1
and

2
increase in value compared to
the standard state

Normal faults form if
1
is vertical and constant, while
horizontal
3
and

2
decrease in value, or if horizontal

3
is tensile

Strike-slip faults form if
2
is vertical and constant,
while horizontal
1
and

2
increase and decreases in
value, respectively
Stress and Normal Faulting
Stress and Reverse Faulting
Semibrittle shear zone SC Folitaion
Riedel R,
R', and P
shears