Faults in Fall Part 3
Strike-Slip Faults
Strike-Slip faults involve lateral movement, versus vertical movement found in normal and reverse faults. It’s pretty simple, you have two blocks moving in opposite directions relative to each other in a horizontal fashion (Fig. 1).
Now the direction does matter, as these faults are labeled by direction. The easiest way to remember which direction, is by imagining you are standing on one of the blocks, looking across the fault at the other block. Whichever direction that block is going is the direction type of the fault, in the case of the diagram, a left-lateral strike-slip fault (Fig. 2).
Where you can see strike-slip faults:
- The World Famous San Andreas Fault, California
- Western portions of Nevada, in smaller scale
References
- Roadside Geology of Nevada, F. Decourten and N. Biggar
- Roadside Geology of Northern and Central California, D. Alt and D. Hyndman
- Science Teaching Staff at BOMUSD