Footwall And Hanging Wall Normal Fault
Normal faults occur in areas undergoing extension stretching.
Footwall and hanging wall normal fault. An upthrown block between two normal faults dipping away from each other is a horst. In a normal fault the hanging wall moves downward relative to the footwall. The hanging wall slides down relative to the footwall. Normal fault s are common.
A downthrown block between two normal faults dipping towards each other is a graben. Normal dip slip faults are produced by vertical compression as earth s crust lengthens. The hanging wall is to the left of the fault and the footwall to the right. If you imagine undoing the motion of a normal fault you will undo the stretching and thus shorten the horizontal distance between two points on either side of the fault.
They bound many of the mountain ranges of the world and many of the rift valleys found along spreading margins. Low angle normal faults with regional tectonic significance may be designated detachment faults. Normal fault geology. This sliding downward of normal faults creates rifts valleys and mountains.
Normal fault a type of fault in which the hanging wall moves down relative to the footwall and the fault surface dips steeply commonly from 50 o to 90 o.