The flat surface of rock along which a geological fault occurs.
one block rests above the fault plane, the other below it
Example sentencesExamples
- Upward migration of heated hydrothermal fluids along fault planes may have been aided by seismic pumping.
- The size of an earthquake is not only a function of the amount of displacement but also the area of the fault plane that ruptures.
- The earthquake resulted from horizontal displacement of the ground across a nearly vertical fault plane.
- The point on the fault plane where the earthquake rupture is initiated is called the focus or hypocentre.
- Fractures are narrow, linear features that are marked by near-vertical fault planes.