thrust fault

American  

noun

Geology.

1. a low-angle reverse fault produced in rocks subjected to thrust.

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thrust fault British  

noun

1. a fault in which the rocks on the upper side of an inclined fault plane have been displaced upwards, usually by compression; a reverse fault

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thrust fault Scientific  

1. A reverse fault in which the fault plane is inclined at an angle equal to or less than 45°.

2. See Note at fault

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Etymology

Origin of thrust fault

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Monday’s magnitude 4.4 quake that rattled Southern California is believed to have struck on a well-known and dangerous fault system known as the Puente Hills thrust fault system.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 15, 2024

We should not expect that the thrust fault below each scarp has moved only once.

From Salon • Oct. 4, 2023

The collision is still going on, as India moves several centimeters north each year, and this has created an unstable fissure in the planet's crust, known as the Himalayan frontal thrust fault.

From Scientific American • Apr. 27, 2015

A special type of reverse fault, with a very low-angle fault plane, is known as a thrust fault.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

A thrust fault with a hade of 30 degrees, showing cliffs due to harder strata outcropping on the downthrow.

From The Elements of Geology by Norton, William Harmon