Thrust fault

A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks.

A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less.

If the angle of the fault plane is lower (often less than 15 degrees from the horizontal) and the displacement of the overlying block is large (often in the kilometer range) the fault is called an overthrust or overthrust fault. Erosion can remove part of the overlying block, creating a fenster (or window) – when the underlying block is exposed only in a relatively small area. When erosion removes most of the overlying block, leaving island-like remnants resting on the lower block, the remnants are called klippen (singular klippe).

If the fault plane terminates before it reaches the Earth's surface, it is called a blind thrust fault. Because of the lack of surface evidence, blind thrust faults are difficult to detect until rupture. The destructive 1994 earthquake in Northridge, Los Angeles, California, was caused by a previously undiscovered blind thrust fault.

Because of their low dip, thrusts are also difficult to appreciate in mapping, where lithological offsets are generally subtle and stratigraphic repetition is difficult to detect, especially in peneplain areas.

Thrust faults, particularly those involved in thin-skinned style of deformation, have a so-called ramp-flat geometry. Thrusts mainly propagate along zones of weakness within a sedimentary sequence, such as mudstones or halite layers; these parts of the thrust are called decollements. If the effectiveness of the decollement becomes reduced, the thrust will tend to cut up the section to a higher stratigraphic level until it reaches another effective decollement where it can continue as bedding parallel flat. The part of the thrust linking the two flats is known as a ramp and typically forms at an angle of about 15°–30° to the bedding. Continued displacement on a thrust over a ramp produces a characteristic fold geometry known as a ramp anticline or, more generally, as a fault-bend fold.

Fault-propagation folds form at the tip of a thrust fault where propagation along the decollement has ceased, but displacement on the thrust behind the fault tip continues. The formation of an asymmetric anticline-syncline fold pair accommodates the continuing displacement. As displacement continues, the thrust tip starts to propagate along the axis of the syncline. Such structures are also known as tip-line folds. Eventually, the propagating thrust tip may reach another effective decollement layer, and a composite fold structure will develop with fault-bending and fault-propagation folds' characteristics.

Duplexes occur where two decollement levels are close to each other within a sedimentary sequence, such as the top and base of a relatively strong sandstone layer bounded by two relatively weak mudstone layers. When a thrust that has propagated along the lower detachment, known as the floor thrust, cuts up to the upper detachment, known as the roof thrust, it forms a ramp within the stronger layer. With continued displacement on the thrust, higher stresses are developed in the footwall of the ramp due to the bend on the fault. This may cause renewed propagation along the floor thrust until it again cuts up to join the roof thrust. Further displacement then takes place via the newly created ramp. This process may repeat many times, forming a series of fault-bounded thrust slices known as imbricates or horses, each with the geometry of a fault-bend fold of small displacement. The final result is typically a lozenge-shaped duplex.