Fault Structures

In this central chapter Coulomb-Mohr’s theory of faulting is applied to: 1)normal and thrust faulting in rocks composed of layers differing in strength, rheology and pore pressure;2)the mechanical causes of listric faulting in various geological settings (sediment slopes, ice loads, substratal flow, thrusting and rifting, subsiding basement blocks, compaction, etc.);3)the role of antithetic faults and continuous ‘double-shearing’ in adjusting sliding rock masses to changes in shape or position of the sliding path;4)the ‘bookshelf’ operation of parallel antithetic faults in accommodating tectonic (quasi-) simple shearing;5)providing a mechanical explanation of the paradoxical stress orientation along the San Andreas fault, California.