What is normal fault in geology?

Normal faults, or extensional faults, are a type of dip-slip fault. They occur when the hanging wall drops down and the footwall drops down. Normal faults are the result of extension when tectonic plates move away from each other.

What are transverse faults?

Transverse faults occur when a block of rock fractures, and the two blocks of rock slide past each other, in opposite directions. Compression, tension, and wrenching or twisting all contribute to movement along a transverse fault.

What are the types of symmetrical faults?

Two kinds of symmetrical faults include line to line to line (L-L-L) and line to line to line to ground (L-L-L-G) as shown in figure below. A rough occurrence of symmetrical faults is in the range of 2 to 5% of the total system faults.

What type of fault is the Moab fault?

The Moab Fault, near Moab, Utah, United States, is an extensional fault that runs approximately NW-SE, passing to the west of the Arches National Park….

Moab Fault
Displacement 960 m (3,150 ft)
Tectonics
Type extensional fault
Age Permian–Triassic

What type of faults cause earthquakes?

Earthquakes occur on faults – strike-slip earthquakes occur on strike-slip faults, normal earthquakes occur on normal faults, and thrust earthquakes occur on thrust or reverse faults. When an earthquake occurs on one of these faults, the rock on one side of the fault slips with respect to the other.

What are fault types defined by?

Faults are found either at the surface (fault surface) or underground (fault plane). Most earthquakes occur along fault lines. The principle types of faults are: normal, reverse, thrust, and slip-strike. Normal faults form when two plates are under tension and are being pulled or stretched apart.

normal fault. A geologic fault in which the hanging wall has moved downward relative to the footwall. Normal faults occur where two blocks of rock are pulled apart, as by tension. Compare reverse fault.

What is an example of a normal fault?

An example of a normal fault is the 240-mile (150-kilometer) long Wasatch Fault underlying parts of Utah and Idaho, again caused by the Pacific plate driving under western North America.

What are the 3 types of faults?

Three types of faults. There are three kinds of faults: strike-slip, normal and thrust (reverse) faults, said Nicholas van der Elst, a seismologist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York.