Hanging Wall Faults

This type of faulting is common in areas of compression when the dip angle is shallow a reverse fault is often described as a thrust fault.

Hanging wall faults.

When the hanging wall moves horizontally it s a strike slipearthquake. The block below is called the footwall. Low angle normal faults with regional tectonic significance may be designated detachment faults. A downthrown block between two normal faults dipping towards each other is a graben.

When movement along a fault is the reverse of what you would expect with normal gravity we call them reverse faults. When the fault plane is vertical there is no hanging wall or footwall. An upthrown block between two normal faults dipping away from each other is a horst. A dip slip fault in which the upper block above the fault plane moves up and over the lower block.

It is a flat surface that may be vertical or sloping. The fault strike is the direction of the line of intersection between the fault plane and earth s surface. In fault fault plane is called the hanging wall or headwall. You probably noticed that the blocks that move on either side of a reverse or normal fault slide up.

The dip of a fault plane is its angle of inclination measured from the horizontal. Any fault plane can be completely described with two measurements. Where the fault plane is sloping as with normal and reverse faults the upper side is the hanging wall and the lower side is the footwall. Occurs when the hanging wall moves down relative to the foot wall reverse fault.

Strike slip faults have a different type of movement than normal and reverse faults. If the hanging wall moves to the left the earthquake is called right lateral if it moves to the right it s called a left lateral fault. Occurs where the hanging wall moves up or is thrust over the foot wall. The line it makes on the earth s surface is the fault trace.

Its strike and its dip.