FAULT

in geology, a fracture of strata, accompanied by a sliding down or an upheaval of the deposits on the one side of the fracture to a greater distance than the other. Faults are frequently recognizable in coal-beds, the miner coming unexpectedly upon an abrupt wall cutting off the seam. The angle this makes with the plane of the bed he is working usually indicates whether he must look up cr down for its continuation on the other side of the fracture; but reversed 400 FAUN faulis occur, in which the strata on one side have been pushed up the slope of the plane of fracture. In mines these faults often serve for natural drains. The change of position in strata caused by a fault called the throw, and is measured vertically. IMG:fig401_1.jpg: