UCSB Science Line
Sponge Spicules Nerve Cells Galaxy Abalone Shell Nickel Succinate X-ray Lens Lupine
UCSB Science Line
Home
How it Works
Ask a Question
Search Topics
Webcasts
Our Scientists
Science Links
Contact Information
How are reverse faults different than thrust faults? In what way are they similar?
Question Date: 2012-02-13
Answer 1:

Reverse faults are high angle...generally thrust faults which are reverse faults are low angle.


Answer 2:

A reverse fault is any fault in which the hanging wall - that is, the fault block that is above the plane of the fault - is elevated relative to the foot wall, which is the fault block below the plane of the fault. Thrust faults are reverse faults, but specifically they are reverse faults that happen during compression, when plates or portions of plates collide. Thrust faults I'm not sure have a precise definition, but the things that we normally think of as thrust faults, namely the brittle form of the buckling that makes the first type of mountain belt that I described above (as opposed to ductile buckling, a.k.a. folding), are basically low-angle reverse faults.



Click Here to return to the search form.

University of California, Santa Barbara Materials Research Laboratory National Science Foundation
This program is co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation and UCSB School-University Partnerships
Copyright © 2020 The Regents of the University of California,
All Rights Reserved.
UCSB Terms of Use