What is a dextral strike-slip fault?
A strike-slip fault is a fault that moves laterally, or side to side. Faults that move to the right are called dextral, or right-lateral. Faults that move to the left are called sinistral, or left-lateral. A strike-slip fault can also be oblique, meaning it moves vertically as well as laterally.
What is a horizontal fault?
Definition of horizontal fault : a fault in the earth’s crust with no vertical displacement.
What is a vertical fault?
Strike-slip faults are vertical (or nearly vertical) fractures where the blocks have mostly moved horizontally. If the block opposite an observer looking across the fault moves to the right, the slip style is termed right lateral; if the block moves to the left, the motion is termed left lateral.
What is dextral system?
1. adj. [Geology] Pertaining to a strike-slip fault or right-lateral fault in which the block across the fault moves to the right. If it moves left, the relative motion is described as sinistral. Clockwise rotation or spiraling is also described as dextral.
What does dextral mean in science?
Of, relating to, or located on the right side; right. 2. Right-handed. 3. Zoology Of or relating to a gastropod shell that coils clockwise and has its aperture to the right when facing the observer with the apex upward.
What are the 3 types of earthquake faults?
There are three main types of fault which can cause earthquakes: normal, reverse (thrust) and strike-slip. Figure 1 shows the types of faults that can cause earthquakes.
What are the 4 main types of faults?
There are four types of faulting — normal, reverse, strike-slip, and oblique. A normal fault is one in which the rocks above the fault plane, or hanging wall, move down relative to the rocks below the fault plane, or footwall. A reverse fault is one in which the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall.
What is meant by dextral and sinistral?
Dextral or sinistral means that the direction of coiling of the snail shell, when viewed from the top, is clockwise or counterclockwise, respectively. It was well established that left-handed forms of this snail existed as they did in the population studies of Crampton on the Polynesian snail Partula.
What is the difference between dextral and sinistral faults?
If you stand on one side of the fault and see the other side move to the right, we call that a dextral, or a right-lateral strike-slip fault. If you see it move to the left, we call it a sinistral, or left-lateral strike-slip fault. A dextral fault to you may be a sinistral fault to someone facing you on the other side of the line.
What is it called when a fault moves to the left?
If you see it move to the left, we call it a sinistral, or left-lateral strike-slip fault. A dextral fault to you may be a sinistral fault to someone facing you on the other side of the line. The other types of faults move up and down rather than side to side.
What are the two types of strike-slip faults?
Schematic illustration of the two strike-slip fault types. The view is of the Earth’s surface from above. In geology, the terms sinistral and dextral refer to the horizontal component of movement of blocks on either side of a fault or the sense of movement within a shear zone.
What causes transform faults to cause earthquakes?
When the stress builds up during this kind of movement and releases suddenly, it causes an earthquake. A transform fault is a type of strike-slip that is common on the ocean floor and relieves stress caused by seafloor spreading.