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LECTURE 2 THE GEOMETRIES OF FAULTS

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LECTURE PLAN

Inglewood Field
Playa del Rey
Field

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1) CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF FAULTS


2) FAULT DISPLACEMENTS
3) EXTENSIONAL FAULTS

Potrero Field

Dominquez Field

Torrance Field

Long Beach Field

Pal
Hill os Ver
des
s

Seal Beach Field


Wilmington Field

San P
edro
Bay

1) CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF FAULTS

10 km

Rosecrons Fields

El Segundo Field

Location in California

Faults are important structures because they are responsible


for earthquakes, control the distribution of minerals and
hydrocarbon accumulations and offset stratigraphy. They are
widespread on the Earth and occur on other rocky planets. In
this lecture we will learn about the geometries of faults and the
terminology used to describe them.

Huntington Beach Field

Huntington Beach
Tidelands Pool

San Joaquin Hills

Oilfields located along folds


produced during strike-slip
faulting

Oil-fields,
showing fold axis

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text

The active Maratea normal fault in southern Italy. The white stripe of fresh
rock was exposed by earthquakes that have uplifted the footwall mountains
of the fault.

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text

Course Homepage

Lecture

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text

Normal faults with the largest offsetting an impact crater in the Beta Regio
region of Venus

Contact Staff

9 10

Practical 1 2 3 4 5 6 71 8 9 10

Normal faulting in the Afar


region at the termination of
the Carlsberg Ridge seen on
a digital elevation model
(DEM) collected by the Space
Shuttle (SRTM data)

Arabia

Africa

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overview

Carlsberg
Ridge

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overview

Normal faults offsetting Pliocene-Recent basalt flows

Note the displacement gradients on these faults

Carlsberg
Ridge
Fault Tip

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overview

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overview

Strike-slip and normal faulting seen on a digital elevation model (DEM) collected
by the Space Shuttle (SRTM
data)

Extension across
normal faults in the
Basin and Range

San Francisco
U.S.A

San Andreas
Fault

San Andreas
Fault

Pacific
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overview

Termination
of the East Pacific Rise

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overview

Extension across
normal faults in the
Basin and Range

Continental
Margin

San Andreas
Fault

San Andreas
Fault
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overview

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overview

Los Angeles

Faults are planar discontinuities along which significant


displacement has occurred. Form generally in the top 10-15km
of the crust.

Strike projection of displacement on faults from seismic reflection data


from an oilfield. Contours show offset of a stratigraphic horizons in
two-way-traveltime.
LINE NUMBER
15

20

25

30

1.5

TWT (S)

100

- Faults do not continue in all direction forever, but the their


displacement dies out along tip lines (like tears in a piece of
paper). This decrease in displacement produces a
displacement gradient.

300

1.7
200
100

500 m
contours (ms x 10)

LINE NUMBER
20

40

60

80

100

50
100
200

140

150

1.4

200

100

100

300

250

0
50

150

250

200

contours (ms)

120

1 km

50

TWT (S)

1.0

1.8

(after Walsh & Watterson 1991)

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- Faults are "penny-shaped" dislocations within rocks


surrounded by a area of ductile deformation known as a ductile
bead. The propagation of fault through the ductile bead
produces what appear to be "drag folds", although they have
not been dragged because they were formed before the fault
grew.
The area above a fault is said to be in the hanging-wall
(because it hangs over you if you stand on the fault).

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Planar fault surface on a normal fault near


Delphi, central Greece

Gouge composed of crushed Mesozoic


limestone on the Normal fault near Delphi,
central Greece

= Fault Tips

Hw

Hw = Hangingwall

The area below a fault is said to be in the footwall (because it


lies by your foot if you stand on the fault).
The classification of faults is based on the dip of the fault plane
and the direction of slip relative to a horizontal plane.

Fw = Footwall

Fault displacements die out both


up-down and along-strike of the fault

Fw

Geometry of the top


of the pink layer in
three-dimensions

UPLIFT
SUBSIDENCE
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text

However:- It is often not possible to find the exact


displacement, as this requires knowledge of the location of
matching points on either side of the fault plane. It is not easy

Start of this Lecture

Another way to consider these data is in terms of fault


growth. If a fault increases in displacement, then it must
also increase its length (otherwise the d/L ratio would
not be 0.03). Thus, the data imply that faults grow by
adding displacement (usually during earthquakes,
although some faults creep), which causes an increase
in fault length by lateral propagation.

1000000
100000
10000
1000
DISPLACEMENT
(metres)

When the lengths and displacements for faults are


collated for all measured faults on the Earth a clear
relationship between small and large faults emerges.
They all share the same displacement (d) to length (L)
ratio (d/L = 0.03). The d/L ratio is a measure of the
stiffness of the material that contains the faults. Stiff
material (say like glass) has very long faults with very
small displacements (d/L = 0.001). Less stiff material
(say like toffee at room temperature) has faults whose
length is similar or just longer than the displacement (d/L
= 0.1-1.0). Thus, the fact that all faults on the Earth have
d/L ratios that are similar implies that the Earth's crust
has a similar stiffness at whatever scale it is viewed.

100

McMillan (1975) - SS - 125


Elliott (1976) - T - 29
Villemin et al. (1995) - N - 26
Opheim & Gudmusson (1989) - N - 7
Krantz (1988) - N - 16
Walsh & Watterson (1987) - N - 34
Dawers et al. (1993) - N - 15
Peacock (1991) - SS - 20
Peacock & Sanderson (1991) - N - 20
Muraoka & Kamata (1983) - N - 15
McGrath (1992) - N - 39
Schlische et al. (1996) - N - 201

10
1

D = 0.03L 1.06

0.1

0.01

= 0.97

0.001

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text
-3
-2
-1
0
10
10
10
10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

LENGTH (metres)
Log-log plot of displacement versus length for various published fault populations.
Sources of data are indicated and show type of fault (N: normal, T: thrust, SS: strike-slip) and
number of data. Best-fit curve for all the data is shown. After Schlische et al. (1996).

Start of this Lecture

ELEVATION CHANGE (mm)

400
0
-400

DATA
MODEL

-800
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-1200

(a)

ELEVATION (km)

-30

DEPTH (km)

Faults increase their displacements during earthquakes.


For example during the 1983 Borah Peak Earthquake in
the U.S.A., the fault slipped by about 1.5 metres, of
which about 300 mm was footwall uplift and 1200 mm
was hangingwall subsidence. This examples shows how
uplift/subsidence measured geodetically can be linked
with the geology of the fault and with the focal
mechanism of the earthquake.

-20

-10

Borah Peak

SW

NE

Thousand Springs Valley

2
0

10

Qa

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-2
-30
0

VERT = 2x HORIZ

-20

-10

(b)

10

5
10
15
20 -30

MODEL
FAULT
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VERT = HORIZ

-20

-10

(c)

10

DISTANCE NORMAL TO FAULT (km)


Geodetic and geological data from the 1983 Borah Peak earthquake (Ms = 7.3), which
occurred on the Lost River fault, western United States. (a) Coseismic deformation (dots) associated
with the earthquake, measured by resurveying a levelling line across the fault. The model fit to the
data (solid line) was calculated assuming a planar fault in an elastic medium. (b) Geological crosssection across the Lost River fault. Qa = Quaternary alluvium, V = Tertiary volcanics, shading =
Palaeozoic and older. (c) Seismological data for the 1983 earthquake sequence. Error bars bracket
the mainshock location, with the focal mechanism shown at the hypocentre. Small circles indicate
the aftershock locations. The 'model fault' is that used to generate the geodetic curve (solid) in (a).
Redrawn from Stein et al. (1988).

Start of this Lecture

Some faults break the surface and others (blind faults)


do not.

(a)

(b)
0 .2

The first diagram shows an elastic model of a normal


fault whose upper tip extends to a contemporary free
surface. Note that hangingwall subsidence is very much
greater than footwall uplift. (b) Displacement contours in
the deformed volume around the model fault, calibrated
relative to the displacement at the fault centre. Arrows
show gross displacement directions. Note the
asymmetry in the strain field across the fault, in
particular the larger area of high strain in the
hangingwall.
The second diagram shows a model of a blind normal
fault confined within an elastic medium. The fault has a
maximum displacement at its centre which decreases
gradually to zero at the tip. Fault length is equal to its
down-dip dimension. Note that the strain is partitioned
equally and oppositely into footwall uplift and
hangingwall subsidence. (b) Displacement contours in
the deformed volume around the model fault, calibrated
relative to the displacement at the fault centre. Arrows
show gross displacement directions. Note the symmetry
in the strain field across the fault.

0.1

0.1

0.05

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text

(a)

(b)

0.

0.1

0.05

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text

Start of this Lecture

The North Sea is a classic area with segmented normal


faults seen here using seismic data.

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text
This map shows the oil fields around the North Viking Graben
This cross-section illustrates the styles of faulting as seen on a deep seismic reflection profile

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This is a shaded image of the top prerift horizon compiled using 3D seismic
data. It is like looking at the buried
topography under the synrift and
postrift. Note the segmented nature of
the faults, and the fact that the
Gullfaks oilfield is in the crest of the
footwall.

This is an example of high resolution seismic reflection data from which the faults
are interpreted. Note the thickening into the fault that indicates that the fault was
active in Heather time (mid-Jurassic).

Start of this Lecture

2) FAULT DISPLACEMENTS
Normal fault near Delphi, central Greece, juxtaposing
Mesozoic limestones against Pleistocene and Holocene
sediments. Note the striated nature of the fault surface.

Along most faults the following features can be recognised:a) Direction of movement
Lineations on the fault plane give the azimuth or bearing along
which displacement has occurred. Corrugations, grooves,
striations, stretched crystal fibres and slickolites are types of
lineation.

Striations

These lineations should be plotted on field maps as close as


possible to the trace of the fault.

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text

Borehole

b) Sense of movement and stratigraphic separation

6
5
4

Determined by stratigraphic relationships and from the apparent


offset of marker units such as dykes or other faults.
The stratigraphic separation across faults is as follows:-

Hangingwall

Footwall

Hangingwall

6
5
4

3
2

3
2
1

1
Footwall
Cross-Section

Extensional fault. Note missing layers in borehole and map.

Map at the level


of the dashed line
in the cross-section

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- Extensional faults place younger rocks on top of older rocks


and cause an omission of stratigraphy (see below).
- Contractional faults place older rocks on top of younger rocks
and cause a repetition of stratigraphy (see below).
- Strike-slip faults do not produce a stratigraphic separation.

Borehole
10
9

Hangingwall

8
7
6
5
4 Footwall

Footwall

Hangingwall

6
5
4

3
2
1
Cross-Section

Reverse or contractional fault. Note repeated layers.

Map at the level


of the dashed line
in the cross-section

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text

Start of this Lecture

Stratigraphic separation must vary along the strike of a fault


and this can be viewed on a stratigraphic separation diagram.
To produce such a diagram, plot the elevation of the cut-off of
particular stratigraphic horizon in both the footwall and the
hanging-wall against distance along the fault. The vertical
distance between the footwall and hanging-wall cut-offs is
known as the stratigraphic separation.
c) The relationship between heave, throw and displacement
The displacement is the distance by which a particular feature
(e.g. a bedding horizon) is offset across the fault measured
along the fault surface.
The throw is the vertical distance that a point moves during
faulting.

Borehole
6
5
4

Hangingwall
6
5
4

3
2

Footwall

Hangingwall

3
2
1

1
Footwall
Cross-Section
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text

Map at the level


of the dashed line
in the cross-section

(The throw is also the vertical


stratigraphic separation)

Amount of
Extension
or heave

Undeformed

Deformed

Throw
Displacement

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text

The heave is the horizontal distance that a point moves moves


during faulting.

0
Upper Brittle Crust

3) EXTENSIONAL FAULTS

350 oC
Isotherm
Lower Plastic Crust

35 km

Moho

Found in extensional tectonic regimes. Generally propagate at


around 60o to the stratigraphy. Associated with crustal thinning,
elevation of crustal isotherms and the upward migration of
magmas.

Mantle

Cross-section across extended lithosphere


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text

Start of this Lecture

A number of normals faults dipping in opposite directions may


form horst and graben structures whilst a number of normal
faults with the same dip direction form half graben.

Horst
Graben

Graben

Normal faults may be listric (concave upwards) or planar and


this is the subject of much debate.
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text

a) Models of fault geometry


i) Domino Model:- Planar extensional faults bounding rigid
blocks. The faults and the blocks both rotate during
deformation. Gaps at the edges of the block are filled with
extensional basins and ductile flow of the lower crust at the
lower end. May be associated with a basal detachment horizon.

Space filled by flowing


plastic lower crust

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text

ii) Listric faults and detachments:- Listric faults have curved


profiles which are concave upwards. The shallow into
detachment horizons. Geometrically necessary folds in the
hanging-wall are forced by the presence of curved fault planes.
Roll-over anticlines may be cut by antithetic normal faults.
These second order faults accommodate strain in the growing
anticline. Note that these are not compressional folds.
The same terms as used in thrusts can be used to describe
Footwall ramps, flats and cut-offs, Hanging-wall ramps, flats
and cut-offs (see later).
The faults produce sedimentary basins and topography on the
basin margins so that growth faults with stratigraphic thickening
are the result.

Domino Model
of tilted extensional
fault blocks

Roll-over and listric main fault

Roll-over anticline and sediment infill

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Domino faults and sediment infill


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text

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text

Start of this Lecture

Folds associated with normal faults


Movement over listric faults produces a type of fault bend fold
known as a roll-over anticline. Displacement gradients may also
produce folds around normal faults. Roll-overs and
displacement gradients may both produce reverse drag and
complex strain patterns around the terminations of the faults.
Synthetic and antithetic faults may occur around the major fault.

Drainage flowing
through a transfer
zone

3-D Geometry of normal faults

Faults are surrounded by tip lines where the displacement


accommodated by the fault dies to zero. Faults are generally
found en echelon and are separated by transfer zones where
displacement is transferred between the faults. Fault Bridges
and relay ramps occur in these regions. Transfer faults (strikeslip) may also occur between offset fault strands.
b) Basic Rules for extensional faults

Fan

Note how the fault displacements


die away toward the fault tips
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text

1) Normal faults bring younger rocks over older rocks.


2) Normal fault cut down section in their movement direction.
3) Younger normal faults occur in the hanging-wall of older
extensional faults.
4) Fault blocks bound by planar normal faults (domino) must rotate
during deformation. Also, rotation occurs in the hanging-wall for the
case of listric faults.

Start of this Lecture

FURTHER READING AVAILABLE


FROM THE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY

mainland Greece, Journal of Structural


Geology, 23, 489-506

Chris Mansfield and Joe Cartwright, 2001.


Fault growth by linkage: observations and
implications from analogue models, Journal
of Structural Geology, 23, 745-763

Valerio Acocella, Agust Gudmundsson and


Renato Funiciello, 2000.
Interaction and linkage of extension
fractures and normal faults: examples from
the rift zone of Iceland, Journal of Structural
Geology, 22, 1233-1246

David A. Ferrill and Alan P. Morris, 2001.


Displacement gradient and deformation in
normal fault systems, Journal of Structural
Geology, 23, 619-638
Nigel C. Morewood and Gerald P. Roberts,
2001. Comparison of surface slip and focal
mechanism slip data along normal faults: an
example from the eastern Gulf of Corinth,
Greece, Journal of Structural Geology, 23,
473-487
Mary Goldsworthy and James Jackson, 2001.
Migration of activity within normal fault
systems: examples from the Quaternary of

Nigel C. Morewood and Gerald P. Roberts,


2000. The geometry, kinematics and rates of
deformation within an en chelon normal
fault segment boundary, central Italy,
Journal of Structural Geology, 22, 1027-1047
D. C. P. Peacock, S. P. Price, A. G. Whitham
and C. S. Pickles, 2000. The World's biggest
relay ramp: Hold With Hope, NE
Greenland, Journal of Structural Geology, 22,
843-850

FURTHER READING AVAILABLE


FROM THE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY
Ahlgren, S. G. 2001. The nucleation and
evolution of Riedel shear zones as
deformation bands in porous sandstone,
Journal of Structural Geology, 23, 1203-1214
A. M. Casas, D. Gapais, T. Nalpas, K.
Besnard and T. Romn-Berdiel, 2001.
Analogue models of transpressive systems,
Journal of Structural Geology, 23, 733-743
Steven E. Schulz and James P. Evans, 2000,
Mesoscopic structure of the Punchbowl
Fault, Southern California and the geologic
and geophysical structure of active strikeslip faults, Journal of Structural Geology, 22,
913-930
Amgalan Bayasgalan, James Jackson, JeanFranois Ritz and Sebastien Carretier, 1999.
`Forebergs', flower structures, and the

development of large intra-continental


strike-slip faults: the Gurvan Bogd fault
system in Mongolia, Journal of Structural
Geology, 21, 1285-1302
Michael L. Curtis, 1999. Structural and
kinematic evolution of a Miocene to Recent
sinistral restraining bend: the Montejunto
massif, Portugal, Journal of Structural
Geology, 21, 39-53
P. G. Kelly and D. J. SandersonD. C. P.
Peacock, 1998, Linkage and evolution of
conjugate strike-slip fault zones in
limestones of Somerset and Northumbria,
Journal of Structural Geology, 20,
1477-1493
Claudia J. LewisJoann M. Stock, 1998. Late
Miocene to Recent transtensional tectonics
in the Sierra San Fermn, northeastern Baja
California, Mexico, Journal of Structural
Geology, 20, 1043-1063

FURTHER READING AVAILABLE


FROM THE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY
R. A. Price 2001. An evaluation of models for
the kinematic evolution of thrust and fold
belts: structural analysis of a transverse
fault zone in the Front Ranges of the
Canadian Rockies north of Banff, Alberta,
Journal of Structural Geology, 23, 1079-1088
Hemin A. Koyi and Antonio Teixell, 1999.
Where is the footwall flat? A cautionary
note on template constraints, Journal of
Structural Geology, 21, 373-377
Fernando NioHerv Philip and Jean Chry,
1998. The role of bed-parallel slip in the
formation of blind thrust faults, Journal of
Structural Geology, 20, 503-516
John WickhamGeorge Moeckel, 1997.
Restoration of structural cross-sections,
Journal of Structural Geology, 19, 975-986

Enrico Tavarnelli, 1997. Structural evolution


of a foreland fold-and-thrust belt: the
Umbria-Marche Apennines, Italy, Journal of
Structural Geology, 19, 523-534
F. Mouthereau, O. Lacombe, B. Deffontaines,
J. Angelier and S. Brusset, 2001. Deformation
history of the southwestern Taiwan foreland
thrust belt: insights from tectonosedimentary analyses and balanced crosssections, Tectonophysics, 333, 293-318
E. O. Cristallini and V. A. Ramos, 2000.
Thick-skinned and thin-skinned thrusting in
the La Ramada fold and thrust belt: crustal
evolution of the High Andes of San Juan,
Argentina (32SL), Tectonophysics, 317, 205235

Emanuel J. M. WillemseDavid C. P.
PeacockAtilla Aydin, 1997. Nucleation and
growth of strike-slip faults in limestones
from Somerset, U.K., Journal of Structural
Geology, 19, 1461-1477
An L.-J. and C. G. Sammis, 1996.
Development of strike-slip faults: shear
experiments in granular materials and clay
using a new technique, Journal of Structural
Geology, 18, 1061-1077
Michel CorsiniAlain VauchezRenaud Caby,
1996. Ductile duplexing at a bend of a
continental-scale strike-slip shear zone:
example from NE Brazil, Journal of
Structural Geology, 18, 385-394
Aykut Barka, H. Serdar Akyz, Harvey A.
Cohen and Fred Watchorn, 2000. Tectonic
evolution of the Niksar and TasovaErbaa
pull-apart basins, North Anatolian Fault
Zone: their significance for the motion of the

Anatolian block, Tectonophysics, 2000, 322,


243-264

Haakon Fossen and Jonny Hesthammer, 2000.


Possible absence of small faults in the
Gullfaks Field, northern North Sea:
implications for downscaling of faults in
some porous sandstones, Journal of
Structural Geology, 22, 851-863

Greenland, Journal of Structural Geology, 21,


1351-1368

Anupma Gupta and Christopher H. Scholz,


2000. A model of normal fault interaction
based on observations and theory, Journal of
Structural Geology, 22, 865-879

J. J. Walsh, J. Watterson, W. R. Bailey and C.


Childs , 1999. Fault relays, bends and
branch-lines, Journal of Structural Geology,
21, 1019-1026

Jan M. Vermilye and Christopher H. Scholz,


1999. Fault propagation and segmentation:
insight
from
the
microstructural
examination of a small fault, Journal of
Structural Geology, 21,
1623-1636

David A. Ferrill, John A. Stamatakos and


Darrell Sims, Normal fault corrugation:
implications for growth and seismicity of
active normal faults, Journal of Structural
Geology, 21, 1027-1038

yvind Steen and Arild Andresen, 1999.


Effects of lithology on geometry and scaling
of small faults in Triassic sandstones, East

James Jackson, 1999. Fault death: a


perspective from actively deforming regions,
Journal of Structural Geology, 21, 1003-1010

Stuart Hardy and Ken McClay, 1999.


Kinematic modelling of extensional faultpropagation folding, Journal of Structural
Geology, 21, 695-702

Martin G. Miller, 1999. Active breaching of a


geometric segment boundary in the Sawatch
Range normal fault, Colorado, USA, Journal
of Structural Geology, 21, 769-776
Nigel C. Morewood and Gerald P. Roberts,
1999. Lateral propagation of the surface
trace of the South Alkyonides normal fault
segment, central Greece: its impact on
models
of
fault
growth
and
displacementlength relationships, Journal of
Structural Geology, 21, 635-652
Christopher A. J. Wibberley, Jean-Pierre Petit
and Thierry Rives, 1999. Mechanics of high
displacement gradient faulting prior to
lithification, Journal of Structural Geology,
21, 251-257
Patience A. Cowie and Zoe K. Shipton, 1998,
Fault tip displacement gradients and process
zone dimensions, Journal of Structural
Geology, 20, 983-997

P. A. Cowie, 1998. A healing-reloading


feedback control on the growth rate of
seismogenic faults, Journal of Structural
Geology, 20, 1075-1087
Jian-Jun HouMu-Kang Han and Bao-Long
ChaiHeng-Yue Han, 1998. Geomorphological
observations of active faults in the epicentral
region of the Huaxian large earthquake in
1556 in Shaanxi Province, China, Journal of
Structural Geology, 20, 549-557
J. Watterson, A. Nicol and J. J. WalshD. Meier,
1998. Strains at the intersections of
synchronous conjugate normal faults,
Journal of Structural Geology, 20, 363-370
J. A. CartwrightC. S. Mansfield, 1998. Lateral
displacement variation and lateral tip
geometry of normal faults in the
Canyonlands National Park, Utah, Journal
of Structural Geology, 20, 3-19

Conrad Childs, Andrew Nicol, John J. Walsh


and Juan Watterson, 1996. Growth of
vertically segmented normal faults, Journal
of Structural Geology, 18, 1389-1397
Gerald P. Roberts, 1996. Variation in faultslip directions along active and segmented
normal fault systems, Journal of Structural
Geology, 18, 835-845
A. Nicol, J. J. Walsh, J. Watterson and P. A.
Gillespie, 1996. Fault size distributions -- are
they really power-law?, Journal of Structural
Geology, 18, 191-197 Note all the other papers
in this issue!

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