Faults

A Fault and a Fault-Block Mountain

Earthquakes occur very often, but do you know where? Read more to find out about where they occur, and what they are. A fault is a thin zone between 2 blocks of rocks. It is a crack in the earth’s rock. Major earthquakes can happen all over the world and on major faults at any given time. Some of the faults are given their names by experts. Usually Fault-block Mountains occur on normal faults. Where there is a fault, mountains and valleys usually form. Central Mexico to Oregon and Idaho and Western Utah, Nevada, and the east coast of California are where the fault-block mountain chain is.

Folds and Faulting

The 3 countries with the most earthquakes are USA, Canada, and China. The crust surface can be vertical, horizontal, or at some sorts of angles that surface the earth between two are. Some folds are huge and some folds are small. But folds can be any size you can imagine. Some are as small you need a microscope and others are so big they can form mountains! Folds are bends in rocks. When a fold goes upward in a rock it is called anticline. When a fold in a rock goes downward it is called syncline. Some folds are huge and some folds are small. But folds can be any size you can imagine. Some are as small you need a microscope and others are so big they can form mountains! You can tell a fold is coming by pressure, rock type, and stress

Temperature- when you take out a crayon on a hot day and it snaps in half, which means it is faults. On a normal temperature they may bend but not break, that is folding. or when you take out a crayon on a hot day and it snaps in half, which means it, is faults. On a normal temperature they may bend but not break, that is folding.

Pressure- is more likely to create a fold instead of a fault.

Rock Type-Ductile rocks are easier to fold and brittle rocks are more likely to fault.

Stress -applies little by little or slowly it is more likely to create a fold, but when it applies suddenly it can form a fault. A large area of flat land that has been raised by sea level higher is a plateau. It is usually surrounded by cliffs and wider that it is tall.

Did you know that mountains used to be a flat surface?

Types of Faults:


Lateral Faults	is when 2 rocks’ cracks slides past each other. These faults are very dangerous. **Also known as the strike-slip or the transcurrent fault.

Normal Faults	A normal fault is when a rock moves up or down and pushing out along the fault.
Reverse Faults	is when cracks are sliding downward on one block, and farther away from another rock. In places where this happens is when a plate slowly splits apart when they push away from each other. -Thrust faults are a kind of reverse fault. They consider it special because it is almost horizontal instead of vertical. They mix up the order of the rocks. -When compression is on a fault and it is moving up or down, but instead of pushing out like a normal fault the reverse fault pushes in.