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thrust fault

American  

noun

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


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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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


Etymology

Origin of thrust fault

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Take the Puente Hills thrust fault system, which was linked to several quakes this year centered in El Sereno, a neighborhood on Los Angeles’ Eastside.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 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

And so, to save the long established doctrines of a very definite order of successive life-forms, this theory of a "thrust fault" is offered as the best available explanation.

From Q. E. D., or New Light on the Doctrine of Creation by Price, George McCready