What is a normal fault simple definition?
Definition of normal fault : an inclined fault in which the hanging wall has slipped down relative to the footwall.
What is reverse fault in science definition?
Definition of reverse fault : a geological fault in which the hanging wall appears to have been pushed up along the footwall.
What is an example of normal fault?
A normal fault is a fault in which the hanging wall moves down relative to the footwall. An example of a normal fault is the infamous San Andreas Fault in California. The opposite is a reverse fault, in which the hanging wall moves up instead of down.
What are normal faults called?
dip-slip fault
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.
What causes a normal fault?
Normal Faults: This is the most common type of fault. It forms when rock above an inclined fracture plane moves downward, sliding along the rock on the other side of the fracture. Normal faults are often found along divergent plate boundaries, such as under the ocean where new crust is forming.
Where are normal faults?
Normal faults are often found along divergent plate boundaries, such as under the ocean where new crust is forming. Long, deep valleys can also be the result of normal faulting.
Where do normal faults occur?
divergent plate boundaries
Normal faults are often found along divergent plate boundaries, such as under the ocean where new crust is forming. Long, deep valleys can also be the result of normal faulting.
What type of force is normal fault?
Normal faults form when the hanging wall drops down in relation to the footwall. Extensional forces, those that pull the plates apart, and gravity are the forces that create normal faults.
What are the characteristics of a normal fault?
A normal fault is one in which the rocks above the fault plane, or hanging wall, move down relative to the rocks below the fault plane, or footwall. A reverse fault is one in which the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall.
What type of forces causes a normal fault?
Normal fault—the block above the inclined fault moves down relative to the block below the fault. This fault motion is caused by extensional forces and results in extension. [Other names: normal-slip fault, tensional fault or gravity fault] Examples include Basin & Range faults.
What happens in a normal fault?
If the hanging wall drops relative to the footwall, you have a normal fault. Normal faults occur in areas undergoing extension (stretching). If you imagine undoing the motion of a normal fault, you will undo the stretching and thus shorten the horizontal distance between two points on either side of the fault.
What does normal fault mean?
• NORMAL FAULT (noun) The noun NORMAL FAULT has 1 sense: 1. an inclined fault in which the hanging wall appears to have slipped downward relative to the footwall. Familiarity information: NORMAL FAULT used as a noun is very rare.
What is the difference between normal fault and reverse fault?
Answers. You can tell the difference between a reverse and a normal fault, because when you look at the fault, you look from left to right. If the layers on the right side of the fault appear to have moved up compared to the layers on the left of the fault line, then it is a reverse fault.
What is the best description of a normal fault?
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.