# Fault block > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fault_block > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fault_block.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fault_block > Source revision: 1331245576 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Large blocks of rock created by tectonic and localized stresses in Earth's crust}} {{Redirect|Fault-block|geological faulting in general|Fault (geology)}} [[File:Hanging Hills.jpg|right|thumb|The [Hanging Hills](/source/Hanging_Hills) of [Connecticut](/source/Connecticut) ([Metacomet Ridge](/source/Metacomet_Ridge) range); upfaulting ([horst](/source/Horst_(geology))) visible from right to left.]] right|thumb|Horizontal movement between blocks along a strike-slip fault '''Fault blocks''' are very large blocks of rock, sometimes hundreds of kilometres in extent, created by [tectonic](/source/Tectonics) and localized stresses in [Earth's crust](/source/Crust_(geology)). Large areas of bedrock are broken up into blocks by [faults](/source/Fault_(geology)). Blocks are characterized by relatively uniform [lithology](/source/lithology). The largest of these fault blocks are called '''crustal blocks'''. Large crustal blocks broken off from tectonic plates are called [terrane](/source/terrane)s.''A crustal block may or may not also comprise a tectonostratigraphic terrane that has a specific geologic definition.'' Bulter, Robert F. (1992) [http://www.geo.arizona.edu/Paleomag/book/chap11.pdf "Chapter 11: Applications to Regional Tectonics"] ''Paleomagnetism: Magnetic Domains to Geologic Terranes'' Blackwell, pp. 205–223, page 205, archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20041026090142/http://www.geo.arizona.edu/Paleomag/book/chap11.pdf here] by [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive) on 26 October 2004 Those terranes which are the full thickness of the [lithosphere](/source/lithosphere) are called microplates. Continent-sized blocks are called variously ''microcontinents, continental ribbons, H-blocks, extensional allochthons and outer highs.''{{Cite journal|title=From microcontinents to extensional allochthons: witnesses of how continents rift and break apart?|last1=Péron-Pinvidic |first1= Gwenn |last2= Manatschal |first2=Gianreto |journal=Petroleum Geoscience|doi=10.1144/1354-079309-903|year=2010|volume=16|number=3|page=189 |bibcode=2010PetGe..16..189P |s2cid=131142997 }} Because most stresses relate to the tectonic activity of moving [plates](/source/Plate_tectonics), most motion between blocks is horizontal, that is parallel to the Earth's crust by [strike-slip faults](/source/Fault_(geology)). However vertical movement of blocks produces much more dramatic results. Landforms ([mountain](/source/mountain)s, hills, ridges, lakes, valleys, etc.) are sometimes formed when the faults have a large vertical displacement. Adjacent raised blocks ([horst](/source/horst_(geology))s) and down-dropped blocks ([graben](/source/graben)s) can form high [escarpment](/source/escarpment)s. Often the movement of these blocks is accompanied by tilting, due to compaction or stretching of the crust at that point. ==Fault-block mountains== {{See also|List of mountain types|Mountain building}} right|thumb|Lifted fault-block geology [[Image:Teton fault block.jpg|right|thumb|Tilted fault-block formation in the [Teton Range](/source/Teton_Range)]] Fault-block mountains often result from [rift](/source/rift)ing, an indicator of [extensional tectonics](/source/extensional_tectonics). These can be small or form extensive [rift valley](/source/rift_valley) systems, such as the [East African Rift](/source/East_African_Rift) zone. [Death Valley](/source/Death_Valley) in [California](/source/California) is a smaller example. There are two main types of block mountains; uplifted blocks between two faults and [tilted blocks](/source/Tilted_block_faulting) mainly controlled by one fault. Lifted type block mountains have two steep sides exposing both sides scarps, leading to the [horst](/source/Horst_(geology)) and [graben](/source/graben) terrain seen in various parts of [Europe](/source/Europe) including the [Upper Rhine](/source/Upper_Rhine) valley, a graben between two horsts – the [Vosges mountains](/source/Vosges_mountains) (in [France](/source/France)) and the [Black Forest](/source/Black_Forest) (in [Germany](/source/Germany)), and also the [Rila](/source/Rila) – [Rhodope](/source/Rhodope_Mountains) [Massif](/source/Massif) in [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria), [Southeast Europe](/source/Southeast_Europe), including the well defined [horsts](/source/Horst_(geology)) of [Belasitsa](/source/Belasitsa) (linear horst), [Rila mountain](/source/Rila) (vaulted domed shaped horst) and [Pirin mountain](/source/Pirin) – a horst forming a massive [anticline](/source/anticline) situated between the complex [graben](/source/graben) valleys of [Struma](/source/Struma_(river)) and that of [Mesta](/source/Nestos_(river)).{{cite book | ref={{harvid|Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria|1980}} | script-title =bg: Географски речник на България | trans-title = Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria | last1 = Мичев (Michev) | first1 = Николай (Nikolay) | last2 = Михайлов (Mihaylov) | first2 = Цветко (Tsvetko) | last3 = Вапцаров (Vaptsarov) | first3 = Иван (Ivan) | last4 = Кираджиев (Kiradzhiev) | first4 = Светлин (Svetlin) | year = 1980 | language = bg | publisher = Наука и култура (Nauka i kultura) | location = Sofia |page=368}}{{cite book | ref={{harvid|Dimitrova et al.|2004}} | trans-title = Pirin National Park. Management Plan | script-title= bg:Национален парк "Пирин". План за управление | last1 = Димитрова (Dimitrova) | first1 = Людмила (Lyudmila) | others = и колектив | year = 2004 | language = bg | publisher = [Ministry of Environment and Water](/source/Ministry_of_Environment_and_Water_(Bulgaria)), Bulgarian Foundation "Biodiversity" | location = Sofia |page=53 }}{{cite book | ref={{harvid|Donchev|Karakashev|2004}} | script-title=bg: Теми по физическа и социално-икономическа география на България | trans-title=Topics on Physical and Social-Economic Geography of Bulgaria | last1 = Дончев (Donchev) | first1 = Дончо (Doncho) | last2 = Каракашев (Karakashev) | first2 = Христо (Hristo) | year = 2004 | language = bg | publisher = Ciela | location = Sofia | isbn = 954-649-717-7 |pages=128–129}} [Tilted type](/source/Tilted_block_faulting) block mountains have one gently sloping side and one steep side with an exposed scarp, and are common in the [Basin and Range](/source/Basin_and_Range_Province) region of the western United States. An example of a [graben](/source/graben) is the basin of the [Narmada River](/source/Narmada_River) in [India](/source/India), between the [Vindhya](/source/Vindhya) and [Satpura](/source/Satpura) horsts. ==See also== * {{annotated link|Orogeny}} ==Notes== {{Reflist}} ==References== * Plummer, Charles, David McGeary, and Diane Carlson. ''Physical Geology'' 8th ed. McGraw-Hill, Boston, 1999. * Monroe, James S., and Reed Wicander. The Changing Earth: Exploring Geology and Evolution. 2nd educational Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1997. {{ISBN|0-314-09577-2}} (pp. 234,-8) ==External links== * [http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/earth/fault-block-mountains/ Fault-Block Mountains] – [Universe Today](/source/Universe_Today) {{Structural geology}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Fault-Block Mountain}} Category:Mountain geomorphology Category:Structural geology --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fault block](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fault_block) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fault_block?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.