Normal faulting is the dip-slip motion in which the block of crust above an inclined fault plane, the hanging wall, slides downward relative to the block below, the footwall, as the crust is stretched apart under horizontal extension. It is the characteristic faulting style of continental rift zones and mid-ocean ridges, where it produces the alternating uplifted and down-dropped blocks known as horsts and grabens, the East African Rift and the Basin and Range Province of the western United States being classic large-scale examples. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Process Type TimescaleAn individual rupture is seconds; the fault system itself develops and accumulates displacement over thousands to millions of years. 1 First Proposed Year Connections
Sources
1. Normal Faulting (Wikipedia)
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