Alps portal
47-869: The Periadriatic Seam (or fault) is a distinct geologic fault in Southern Europe , running S-shaped about 1,000 km (621 mi) from the Tyrrhenian Sea through the whole Southern Alps as far as Hungary . It forms the division between the Adriatic plate and the Eurasian plate . Within the Eastern Alps , the line marks the border between the Central Eastern Alps and the Southern Limestone Alps . In
94-405: A decollement . Extensional decollements can grow to great dimensions and form detachment faults , which are low-angle normal faults with regional tectonic significance. Due to the curvature of the fault plane, the horizontal extensional displacement on a listric fault implies a geometric "gap" between the hanging and footwalls of the fault forms when the slip motion occurs. To accommodate into
141-860: A plate boundary. This class is related to an offset in a spreading center , such as a mid-ocean ridge , or, less common, within continental lithosphere , such as the Dead Sea Transform in the Middle East or the Alpine Fault in New Zealand. Transform faults are also referred to as "conservative" plate boundaries since the lithosphere is neither created nor destroyed. Dip-slip faults can be either normal (" extensional ") or reverse . The terminology of "normal" and "reverse" comes from coal mining in England, where normal faults are
188-447: A consequence of ductile shear. An important group of microstructures observed in ductile shear zones are S-planes, C-planes and C' planes. The sense of shear shown by both S-C and S-C' structures matches that of the shear zone in which they are found. Other microstructures which can give sense of shear include: Transpression regimes are formed during oblique collision of tectonic plates and during non-orthogonal subduction . Typically
235-582: A fault hosting valuable porphyry copper deposits is northern Chile's Domeyko Fault with deposits at Chuquicamata , Collahuasi , El Abra , El Salvador , La Escondida and Potrerillos . Further south in Chile Los Bronces and El Teniente porphyry copper deposit lie each at the intersection of two fault systems. Faults may not always act as conduits to surface. It has been proposed that deep-seated "misoriented" faults may instead be zones where magmas forming porphyry copper stagnate achieving
282-410: A fault often forms a discontinuity that may have a large influence on the mechanical behavior (strength, deformation, etc.) of soil and rock masses in, for example, tunnel , foundation , or slope construction. The level of a fault's activity can be critical for (1) locating buildings, tanks, and pipelines and (2) assessing the seismic shaking and tsunami hazard to infrastructure and people in
329-408: A fault's age by studying soil features seen in shallow excavations and geomorphology seen in aerial photographs. Subsurface clues include shears and their relationships to carbonate nodules , eroded clay, and iron oxide mineralization, in the case of older soil, and lack of such signs in the case of younger soil. Radiocarbon dating of organic material buried next to or over a fault shear
376-518: A focus for hydrothermal flow through orogenic belts . They may often show some form of retrograde metamorphism from a peak metamorphic assemblage and are commonly metasomatised . Shear zones can be only inches wide, or up to several kilometres wide. Often, due to their structural control and presence at the edges of tectonic blocks, shear zones are mappable units and form important discontinuities to separate terranes. As such, many large and long shear zones are named, identical to fault systems. When
423-602: A mixture of oblique-slip thrust faults and strike-slip or transform faults are formed. Microstructural evidence of transpressional regimes can be rodding lineations , mylonites , augen-structured gneisses , mica fish and so on. A typical example of a transpression regime is the Alpine Fault zone of New Zealand , where the oblique subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Indo-Australian Plate
470-475: A sinusoidal set of foliations formed at a shallow angle to the main shear foliation, and which curve into the main shear foliation. Such rocks are known as L-S tectonites. If the rock mass begins to undergo large degrees of lateral movement, the strain ellipse lengthens into a cigar shaped volume. At this point shear foliations begin to break down into a rodding lineation or a stretch lineation. Such rocks are known as L-tectonites. Very distinctive textures form as
517-457: A south block up and west oblique sense of movement. Transtension regimes are oblique tensional environments. Oblique, normal geologic fault and detachment faults in rift zones are the typical structural manifestations of transtension conditions. Microstructural evidence of transtension includes rodding or stretching lineations , stretched porphyroblasts , mylonites, etc. Diagrams and definitions of shear ( Wayback Machine ), by University of
SECTION 10
#1732768734258564-406: Is converted to oblique strike-slip movement. Here, the orogenic belt attains a trapezoidal shape dominated by oblique splay faults , steeply-dipping recumbent nappes and fault-bend folds. The Alpine Schist of New Zealand is characterised by heavily crenulated and sheared phyllite . It is being pushed up at the rate of 8 to 10 mm per year, and the area is prone to large earthquakes with
611-543: Is often critical in distinguishing active from inactive faults. From such relationships, paleoseismologists can estimate the sizes of past earthquakes over the past several hundred years, and develop rough projections of future fault activity. Many ore deposits lie on or are associated with faults. This is because the fractured rock associated with fault zones allow for magma ascent or the circulation of mineral-bearing fluids. Intersections of near-vertical faults are often locations of significant ore deposits. An example of
658-466: Is related to the study of structural geology , rock microstructure or rock texture and fault mechanics . The process of shearing occurs within brittle , brittle-ductile, and ductile rocks. Within purely brittle rocks, compressive stress results in fracturing and simple faulting . Rocks typical of shear zones include mylonite , cataclasite , S-tectonite and L-tectonite , pseudotachylite , certain breccias and highly foliated versions of
705-434: Is released in part as seismic waves , forming an earthquake . Strain occurs accumulatively or instantaneously, depending on the liquid state of the rock; the ductile lower crust and mantle accumulate deformation gradually via shearing , whereas the brittle upper crust reacts by fracture – instantaneous stress release – resulting in motion along the fault. A fault in ductile rocks can also release instantaneously when
752-463: The Chesapeake Bay impact crater . Ring faults are the result of a series of overlapping normal faults, forming a circular outline. Fractures created by ring faults may be filled by ring dikes . Synthetic and antithetic are terms used to describe minor faults associated with a major fault. Synthetic faults dip in the same direction as the major fault while the antithetic faults dip in
799-580: The Western Alps it forms the division between the southern Apulian foreland and the central crystalline zones of the Alps. Continental collision is still going on, with the Apulian and Eurasian plates still converging . The central zones of the Alps are rising too, causing vertical slip along the fault . The result is the set of major fault zones collectively named Periadriatic Seam. Movement along
846-495: The wall rocks . A shear zone is a tabular to sheetlike, planar or curviplanar zone composed of rocks that are more highly strained than rocks adjacent to the zone. Typically this is a type of fault , but it may be difficult to place a distinct fault plane into the shear zone. Shear zones may form zones of much more intense foliation , deformation , and folding . En echelon veins or fractures may be observed within shear zones. Many shear zones host ore deposits as they are
893-660: The Periadriatic Seam is the cause for the earthquake zone between Vienna and Friuli . The last destructive earthquake happened in Friuli in 1976. The uplift caused violent erosion of the young orogen, which led to the formation of the Hohe Tauern window . At several regions a heavy uplift of the Central Alps by some kilometers took place, and also a shift of more than 50 km. From east to west,
940-399: The boundaries between the plates, such as the megathrust faults of subduction zones or transform faults . Energy release associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes . Faults may also displace slowly, by aseismic creep . A fault plane is the plane that represents the fracture surface of a fault. A fault trace or fault line is a place where
987-458: The course of the Periadriatic Seam and the names given to it regionally are as follows: Geologic fault In geology , a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth 's crust result from the action of plate tectonic forces, with the largest forming
SECTION 20
#17327687342581034-414: The crust. A thrust fault has the same sense of motion as a reverse fault, but with the dip of the fault plane at less than 45°. Thrust faults typically form ramps, flats and fault-bend (hanging wall and footwall) folds. A section of a hanging wall or foot wall where a thrust fault formed along a relatively weak bedding plane is known as a flat and a section where the thrust fault cut upward through
1081-420: The deformation. Shear zones which occur in more brittle rheological conditions (cooler, less confining pressure ) or at high rates of strain, tend to fail by brittle failure; breaking of minerals, which are ground up into a breccia with a milled texture. Shear zones which occur under brittle-ductile conditions can accommodate much deformation by enacting a series of mechanisms which rely less on fracture of
1128-433: The direction of extension or shortening changes during the deformation but the earlier formed faults remain active. The hade angle is defined as the complement of the dip angle; it is the angle between the fault plane and a vertical plane that strikes parallel to the fault. Ring faults , also known as caldera faults , are faults that occur within collapsed volcanic calderas and the sites of bolide strikes, such as
1175-409: The fault (called a piercing point ). In practice, it is usually only possible to find the slip direction of faults, and an approximation of the heave and throw vector. The two sides of a non-vertical fault are known as the hanging wall and footwall . The hanging wall occurs above the fault plane and the footwall occurs below it. This terminology comes from mining: when working a tabular ore body,
1222-477: The fault can be seen or mapped on the surface. A fault trace is also the line commonly plotted on geologic maps to represent a fault. A fault zone is a cluster of parallel faults. However, the term is also used for the zone of crushed rock along a single fault. Prolonged motion along closely spaced faults can blur the distinction, as the rock between the faults is converted to fault-bound lenses of rock and then progressively crushed. Due to friction and
1269-459: The fault is the horizontal component, as in "Throw up and heave out". The vector of slip can be qualitatively assessed by studying any drag folding of strata, which may be visible on either side of the fault. Drag folding is a zone of folding close to a fault that likely arises from frictional resistance to movement on the fault. The direction and magnitude of heave and throw can be measured only by finding common intersection points on either side of
1316-465: The fault movement. Faults are mainly classified in terms of the angle that the fault plane makes with the Earth's surface, known as the dip , and the direction of slip along the fault plane. Based on the direction of slip, faults can be categorized as: In a strike-slip fault (also known as a wrench fault , tear fault or transcurrent fault ), the fault surface (plane) is usually near vertical, and
1363-428: The footwall moves laterally either left or right with very little vertical motion. Strike-slip faults with left-lateral motion are also known as sinistral faults and those with right-lateral motion as dextral faults. Each is defined by the direction of movement of the ground as would be seen by an observer on the opposite side of the fault. A special class of strike-slip fault is the transform fault when it forms
1410-531: The footwall. The dip of most normal faults is at least 60 degrees but some normal faults dip at less than 45 degrees. A downthrown block between two normal faults dipping towards each other is a graben . A block stranded between two grabens, and therefore two normal faults dipping away from each other, is a horst . A sequence of grabens and horsts on the surface of the Earth produces a characteristic basin and range topography . Normal faults can evolve into listric faults, with their plane dip being steeper near
1457-429: The geometric gap, and depending on its rheology , the hanging wall might fold and slide downwards into the gap and produce rollover folding , or break into further faults and blocks which fil in the gap. If faults form, imbrication fans or domino faulting may form. A reverse fault is the opposite of a normal fault—the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall. Reverse faults indicate compressive shortening of
Periadriatic Seam - Misplaced Pages Continue
1504-429: The horizontal displacement of this faulting can be measured in the tens or hundreds of kilometers of length, the fault is referred to as a megashear. Megashears often indicate the edges of ancient tectonic plates. The mechanisms of shearing depend on the pressure and temperature of the rock and on the rate of shear which the rock is subjected to. The response of the rock to these conditions determines how it accommodates
1551-491: The implied mechanism of deformation. A fault that passes through different levels of the lithosphere will have many different types of fault rock developed along its surface. Continued dip-slip displacement tends to juxtapose fault rocks characteristic of different crustal levels, with varying degrees of overprinting. This effect is particularly clear in the case of detachment faults and major thrust faults . The main types of fault rock include: In geotechnical engineering ,
1598-429: The initiation of shearing, a penetrative planar foliation is first formed within the rock mass. This manifests as realignment of textural features, growth and realignment of micas and growth of new minerals. The incipient shear foliation typically forms normal to the direction of principal shortening, and is diagnostic of the direction of shortening. In symmetric shortening, objects flatten on this shear foliation much
1645-464: The largest faults on Earth and give rise to the largest earthquakes. A fault which has a component of dip-slip and a component of strike-slip is termed an oblique-slip fault . Nearly all faults have some component of both dip-slip and strike-slip; hence, defining a fault as oblique requires both dip and strike components to be measurable and significant. Some oblique faults occur within transtensional and transpressional regimes, and others occur where
1692-408: The miner stood with the footwall under his feet and with the hanging wall above him. These terms are important for distinguishing different dip-slip fault types: reverse faults and normal faults. In a reverse fault, the hanging wall displaces upward, while in a normal fault the hanging wall displaces downward. Distinguishing between these two fault types is important for determining the stress regime of
1739-435: The most common. With the passage of time, a regional reversal between tensional and compressional stresses (or vice-versa) might occur, and faults may be reactivated with their relative block movement inverted in opposite directions to the original movement (fault inversion). In such a way, a normal fault may therefore become a reverse fault and vice versa. In a normal fault, the hanging wall moves downward, relative to
1786-494: The opposite direction. These faults may be accompanied by rollover anticlines (e.g. the Niger Delta Structural Style). All faults have a measurable thickness, made up of deformed rock characteristic of the level in the crust where the faulting happened, of the rock types affected by the fault and of the presence and nature of any mineralising fluids . Fault rocks are classified by their textures and
1833-412: The right time for—and type of— igneous differentiation . At a given time differentiated magmas would burst violently out of the fault-traps and head to shallower places in the crust where porphyry copper deposits would be formed. As faults are zones of weakness, they facilitate the interaction of water with the surrounding rock and enhance chemical weathering . The enhanced chemical weathering increases
1880-423: The rigidity of the constituent rocks, the two sides of a fault cannot always glide or flow past each other easily, and so occasionally all movement stops. The regions of higher friction along a fault plane, where it becomes locked, are called asperities . Stress builds up when a fault is locked, and when it reaches a level that exceeds the strength threshold, the fault ruptures and the accumulated strain energy
1927-412: The rock and occur within the minerals and the mineral lattices themselves. Shear zones accommodate compressive stress by movement on foliation planes. Shearing at ductile conditions may occur by fracturing of minerals and growth of sub-grain boundaries, as well as by lattice glide . This occurs particularly on platy minerals, especially micas. Mylonites are essentially ductile shear zones. During
Periadriatic Seam - Misplaced Pages Continue
1974-407: The same way that a round ball of treacle flattens with gravity. Within asymmetric shear zones, the behavior of an object undergoing shortening is analogous to the ball of treacle being smeared as it flattens, generally into an ellipse. Within shear zones with pronounced displacements a shear foliation may form at a shallow angle to the gross plane of the shear zone. This foliation ideally manifests as
2021-418: The size of the weathered zone and hence creates more space for groundwater . Fault zones act as aquifers and also assist groundwater transport. Shear (geology) In geology , shear is the response of a rock to deformation usually by compressive stress and forms particular textures. Shear can be homogeneous or non-homogeneous, and may be pure shear or simple shear . Study of geological shear
2068-404: The strain rate is too great. Slip is defined as the relative movement of geological features present on either side of a fault plane. A fault's sense of slip is defined as the relative motion of the rock on each side of the fault concerning the other side. In measuring the horizontal or vertical separation, the throw of the fault is the vertical component of the separation and the heave of
2115-416: The stratigraphic sequence is known as a ramp . Typically, thrust faults move within formations by forming flats and climbing up sections with ramps. This results in the hanging wall flat (or a portion thereof) lying atop the foot wall ramp as shown in the fault-bend fold diagram. Thrust faults form nappes and klippen in the large thrust belts. Subduction zones are a special class of thrusts that form
2162-400: The surface, then shallower with increased depth, with the fault plane curving into the Earth. They can also form where the hanging wall is absent (such as on a cliff), where the footwall may slump in a manner that creates multiple listric faults. The fault panes of listric faults can further flatten and evolve into a horizontal or near-horizontal plane, where slip progresses horizontally along
2209-582: The vicinity. In California, for example, new building construction has been prohibited directly on or near faults that have moved within the Holocene Epoch (the last 11,700 years) of the Earth's geological history. Also, faults that have shown movement during the Holocene plus Pleistocene Epochs (the last 2.6 million years) may receive consideration, especially for critical structures such as power plants, dams, hospitals, and schools. Geologists assess
#257742