Hanging Wall Vs Footwall On A Fault

In thrust faults the plane of the fault is near horizontal.
Hanging wall vs footwall on a fault. In reverse faults the hanging wall moved up relative to the footwall. The two sides of a non vertical fault are known as the hanging wall and footwall. In a non vertical fault where the fault plane dips the footwall is the section of the fault that lies under the fault while the hanging wall lies over the fault. The hanging wall occurs above the fault plane and the footwall occurs below it.
Its strike and its dip. Mainly because the names hanging wall and footwall were named by miners who weren t trying to be cute. The dip of a fault plane is its angle of inclination measured from the horizontal. As nouns the difference between hangingwall and footwall is that hangingwall is while footwall is geology the section of rock that extends below a diagonal fault line the corresponding upper section being the hanging wall.
The names come about from the. In a non vertical fault where the fault plane dips the footwall is the section of the fault that lies under the fault while the hanging wall lies over the fault the names come about from the. Quite often the ore that a miner wants to get to is sitting right on that inclined plane the ore is in the fault. In lateral faults the fault itself is vertical.
Where the fault plane is sloping as with normal and reverse faults the upper side is the hanging wall and the lower side is the footwall. Random geologic terminology about faults. The fault strike is the direction of the line of intersection between the fault plane and earth s surface. Neither wall is a hanging wall or a footwall.
Fault plane is called the hanging wall or headwall. The block below is called the footwall. This terminology comes from mining. When the fault plane is vertical there is no hanging wall or footwall.
Most faults broken places are essentially inclined planes like this.