Answer:
fault, in geology, a planar or gently curved fracture in the rocks of Earth’s crustaz, where compressional or tensional forces cause relative displacement of the rocks on the opposite sides of the fracture. Faults range in length from a few centimetres to many hundreds of kilometres, and displacement likewise may range from less than a centimetre to several hundred kilometres along the fracture surface (the fault plane). In some instances, the movement is distributed over a fault zone composed of many individual faults that occupy a belt hundreds of metres wide. The geographic distribution of faults varies; some large areas have almost none, others are cut by innumerable faults.
Explanation:
Faults may be vertical, horizontal, or inclined at any angle. Although the angle of inclination of a specific fault plane tends to be relatively uniform, it may differ considerably along its length from place to place. When rocks slip past each other in faulting, the upper or overlying block along the fault plane is called the hanging wall, or headwall; the block below is called the footwall. The fault strike is the direction of the line of intersection between the fault plane and Earth’s surface. The dip of a fault plane is its angle of inclination measured from the horizontal.
