Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.
Concept
Fault (geology)
Summary
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic forces, with the largest forming the boundaries between the plates, such as the megathrust faults of subduction zones or transform faults. Energy release associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes. Faults may also displace slowly, by aseismic creep.
A fault plane is the plane that represents the fracture surface of a fault. A fault trace or fault line is a place where the fault can be seen or mapped on the surface. A fault trace is also the line commonly plotted on geologic maps to represent a fault.
A fault zone is a cluster of parallel faults. However, the term is also used for the zone of crushed rock along a single fault. Prolonged motion along closely spaced faults can blur the distinction, as the rock between the faults is converted to fault-bound lenses of rock and then progressively crushed.
Fault mechanics
Owing to friction and the rigidity of the constituent rocks, the two sides of a fault cannot always glide or flow past each other easily, and so occasionally all movement stops. The regions of higher friction along a fault plane, where it becomes locked, are called asperities. Stress builds up when a fault is locked, and when it reaches a level that exceeds the strength threshold, the fault ruptures and the accumulated strain energy is released in part as seismic waves, forming an earthquake.
Strain occurs accumulatively or instantaneously, depending on the liquid state of the rock; the ductile lower crust and mantle accumulate deformation gradually via shearing, whereas the brittle upper crust reacts by fracture – instantaneous stress release – resulting in motion along the fault. A fault in ductile rocks can also release instantaneously when the strain rate is too great.
Slip is defined as the relative movement of geological features present on either side of a fault plane.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related publications (23)
Related people (14)
Related units (1)
Related concepts (93)
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's outer solid layer, the crust, and most of its interior, except for the liquid outer core and pockets of magma in the asthenosphere. The study of rocks involves multiple subdisciplines of geology, including petrology and mineralogy.
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental right-lateral strike-slip transform fault that extends roughly through the Californias. It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. Traditionally, for scientific purposes, the fault has been classified into three main segments (northern, central, and southern), each with different characteristics and a different degree of earthquake risk. The average slip rate along the entire fault ranges from per year.
Fault (geology)
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic forces, with the largest forming the boundaries between the plates, such as the megathrust faults of subduction zones or transform faults. Energy release associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes. Faults may also displace slowly, by aseismic creep.
Related courses (12)
CIVIL-428: Engineering geology for geo-energy
Objective is to provide an understanding of the problems in geo-energy projects. Underground as storage medium for carbon dioxide, heat storage and radioactive waste and as energy source like deep geo
CIVIL-211: Geology
Les ingénieurs civils exercent leurs activités en constante interaction avec le sous-sol.
Le cours de géologie donne aux étudiants les bases en Géosciences nécessaires à une ingénierie bien intégrée d
CIVIL-403: Geology for construction and environment
Détermination des roches principales, physique des écoulements souterrains en rapport avec les ouvrages, relations entre milieu géologique et construit.
Determination of the main rocks, physics of un
Related lectures (23)
Path-Delay Fault Testing
Covers linked and unlinked faults in VLSI systems, March test algorithms, critical paths, and path-delay fault testing.
Barrages: Types and Criteria
Discusses the selection criteria for different types of dams based on geology and seismic risk.
Testing of VLSI Systems
Explores defects, errors, and faults in VLSI systems, including fault models and testing challenges.