overfault Geol.
(ˈəʊvəfɔːlt)
[over- 3 + fault n. 9.]
A term applied to a fault of which the inclination or hade is in the opposite direction to what it is in a normal or ordinary fault, that is, towards the upthrow side (hence also called inverted or reverse fault).
The result is that the dislocated strata, instead of slipping down the fault-plane (as in a normal fault), have been pushed or slidden up and over the fault-plane: see overthrust.
| 1883 Lapworth in Geol. Mag. X. Aug. 342 The various stages of rock deformation under lateral pressure (folds, overfolds, overfaults, and overthrusts). ― in Letter to Editor, An overfault is sometimes produced by the development of an overfold until it has a plane of dislocation or ‘thrust-plane’ in lieu of its middle limb. |