The complete pairings are:
- Rock layers are placed under compressional stress: Reverse fault
- Rock layers are placed under tensional stress: Normal fault
- Rock layers are placed under shear stress: Strike-slip fault
- Hanging wall has dropped relative to footwall: Normal fault
- Hanging wall has risen relative to footwall: Reverse fault
- Occurs at convergent boundaries where two tectonic plates collide: Reverse fault
- Occurs at divergent boundaries where two tectonic plates separate: Normal fault
- Occurs when tectonic forces cause rock layers to break apart and move in opposite, parallel directions: Strike-slip fault
What are these terms?
Rock layers can crack under three types of stress: compression (layers squish, forming reverse faults), tension (layers pull apart, forming normal faults), and shear (layers grind sideways, forming strike-slip faults). In faults, the "hanging wall" moves relative to the "footwall": downward in normal faults, upward in reverse faults.
Tectonic boundaries influence fault types: convergent boundaries (plates colliding) create reverse faults, divergent boundaries (plates separating) create normal faults, and strike-slip faults occur when plates slide past each other. This complex interplay of stress and boundaries shapes Earth's geology.