Describe the differences between normal, thrust and strike-slip faults?

Question

When a continental plate and an ocean plate collide, which will subduct and why?

Answer 1

I like Geolicious, and her eyes are to die for, but she made a mistake in the first part of her answer. An ophiolite is a piece of oceanic crust that has been thrusted onto continent crust. However, the continental plate does not subduct under the oceanic plate. Oceanic crust subducts under continental crust, and sometimes under oceanic crust due to density differences. The average continental crust has a density of 2700 kg/m^3 and the average oceanic crust has a density of 3400 kg/m^3. Where oceanic crust is subducted under oceanic crust (the Philippine Islands, for example), older oceanic crust is subducted under newer oceanic crust. This has to do with density differences due to the cooler, older oceanic crust. It is always due to density differences.

Answer 2

To answer the simpler one first: The oceanic plate will always subduct because it is more dense than the continental plate.

A normal fault is a result of tensional force, or forces pulling things apart. As a result, in a normal fault the hanging wall slips down below the foot wall. This is associated with crustal thinning. Think Great Rift Valley

A thrust fault is a low angle reverse fault and it is a result of compressional forces, or forces pushing things together. As a result in a thrust/reverse fault, the hanging wall is pushed up over the foot wall. This is associated with crustal thickening. Think Appalachian Mountains.

A strike slip fault involves rocks that shear or slide past each other rather than moving up or down in relation to one another. These are also called transform faults. Think San Andreas Fault.

Answer 3

favourite dips interior the direction of the downthrown facet because of the fact that's extensional—think of of it as because it pulls aside gravity pulls the section downwards. opposite dips far off from the downthrown facet as that's compressional and is pushed up. i'm no longer particular if those forces definitely are available to play, I’m no longer a geophysicist, even though it enables me keep in mind none-the-much less. Strike-slip you in straightforward terms could keep in mind is a horizontal pass as adversarial to the vertical pass of dip-slips.

Answer 4

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