10 Facts about Faults

If you like to talk about geology, you have to read Facts about Faults. The fault is generated because of the movement of rock mass. This term is defined as a discontinuity or planar fracture in rock volume. The action of plate tectonic forces produces the large faults on the Earth’s crust. The transform faults and subduction zones are included as the largest ones, which set a border of two plates. Let me show you other interesting facts about faults below:

Facts about Faults 1: earthquakes

Most earthquakes are caused by the fast movement on active faults, which release the energy.

Facts about Fault

Facts about Faults 2: the fracture surface

The fracture surface of a fault is represented by a plane. You can call it a fault plane.

Facts about Faults 3: a fault line

Another important term to talk is a fault line. People also call it a fault trace. It is used to call an intersection of a fault plane.

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Fault

Facts about Faults 4: geologic maps

When you spot geologic maps, a fault is represented by using a line of fault trace.

Facts about Faults 5: fault zone

Fault zone is a term to call a zone of complex deformation connected with fault plane. The term exists due to the complex nature of fractures on some faults.

Facts about Faults 6: the footwall

The footwall and hanging wall are important in geology. It is used to represent the two sides of a non-vertical fault. The footwall is spotted below the fault. On the other hand, the above part of the fault plate is the hanging wall. Both terms are derived from the mining industry.

Facts about Faults 7: Aleutian Trench

One example of fault is Aleutian Trench. It spans from southern coast of Alaska and Aleutian Islands.

Fault Pic

Facts about Faults 8: Alpine Fault

Another famous geological fault is Alpine Fault. You can find it on South Island of New Zealand. The Southern Alps have been formed due to the earthquake on this fault.

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Facts about Faults 9: geotechnical engineering

The presence of faults on earth affects geotechnical engineering. When people want to apply slope construction, tunnel and foundation, they will always think about the rock masses, soil, deformation and strength of fault.

Fault Facts

Facts about Faults 10: the fault’s activity

The engineers should take a note on the fault’s activity. If the activity is too high, it may affect the pipelines, tanks and buildings around the faults. A construction for a new building is banned for the area nearby the faults of Holocene Epoch in California.

What do you think on facts about faults?