Fault (geology) - Fault Types

Fault Types

Geologists can categorize faults into three groups based on the sense of slip:

1. a fault where the relative movement (or slip) on the fault plane is approximately vertical is known as a dip-slip fault
2. where the slip is approximately horizontal, the fault is known as a transcurrent or strike-slip fault
3. an oblique-slip fault has non-zero components of both strike and dip slip.

For all naming distinctions, it is the orientation of the net dip and sense of slip of the fault which must be considered, not the present-day orientation, which may have been altered by local or regional folding or tilting.