Styles of Faulting

strike angle ϕ of fault plane clockwise from North(0° ≤ ϕ < 360°)

180.

dip angle δ of fault plane down from horizontal (0° ≤ δ ≤ 90°)

60.

slip angle λ in fault plane between slip direction and strike (-180° ≤ λ < 180°)

90.

amount of slip of hanging wall (0 to 1)

0.5

box

This Demonstration provides a three-dimensional illustration of the different styles of faulting (e.g., during earthquakes, but also for slow deformations), as determined by the strike direction

ϕ

of the fault clockwise against geographic North, the dip angle

δ

of the fault plane against the surface of the Earth, and the slip angle

λ

of the so-called hanging block (orange) against the foot wall block (white).

The

P

and

T

axes denote the local pressure and tension axes during faulting, respectively.

U

denotes the slip direction of the hanging block.

δP

,

δT

, and

δB

are the plunge angles of the

P

,

T

, and neutral axes against the horizontal, respectively.