Hanging Wall Vs Footwall Faults

The hanging wall is the block of rock above the fault line.

Hanging wall vs footwall faults.

The fault plane is where the action is. In a non vertical fault where the fault plane dips the footwall is the section of the fault that lies under the fault while the hanging wall lies over the fault the names come about from the. Reverse faults indicate compressive shortening of the crust. Block below is called the footwall.

The terminology of normal and reverse comes from coal mining in england where normal faults are the most common. As nouns the difference between hangingwall and footwall is that hangingwall is while footwall is geology the section of rock that extends below a diagonal fault line the corresponding upper section being the hanging wall. Other articles where hanging wall is discussed. It is a flat surface that may be vertical or sloping.

The line it makes on the earth s surface is the fault trace. The main components of a fault are 1 the fault plane 2 the fault trace 3 the hanging wall and 4 the footwall. Before getting into the different types of faults you must understand the difference between a hanging wall and a footwall. The fault strike is the direction of the line of intersection between the fault plane and earth s surface.

Hanging wall definition the underside of the wall rock overlying a vein or bed of ore. This situation however is generally found only in cirques cut into flat plateaus. The dip of a reverse fault is relatively steep greater than 45. In an ideal cirque the headwall is semicircular in plan view.

You can hang something from the hanging wall as if it were a ceiling. A reverse fault is the opposite of a normal fault the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall. Cirques tarns u shaped valleys arêtes and horns. More common are headwalls angular in map view due to irregularities in height along.