San Andreas Fault Scarp EarthCache
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The San Andreas Fault is one of the most commonly refered to faults in the world and is used as an example all of the time.
The San Andreas is a strike-slip fault, which means that when it slips, it slips horizontally instead of vertically. Because of this there should be no fault scarp visible. A fault scarp is a cliff or hill left when a vertical fault slips. Fault scarps can be anywhere from only an inch or two high to hundreds of feet.
Because the san andreas is a strike-slip fault, its fault scarp should be underground and not visible. However, at this location the San Andreas show properties of a normal, vertical fault. This shows how at this location the fault is not only slipping horizontally, but vertically too.
Faults, however, are not only a line across the ground, but a plane going into the ground as well. Imagine the fault as being a piece of paper going intoo the ground at an angle. There are three terms used to describe this in faults: the strike, the dip-angle, and the dip direction. The strike is the direction at which the fault is travelling along the surface. The dip-angle is the angle at which the fault is going into the ground at. Lastly, the dip direction is the direction the dip travels at, which is perpendictular to the strike.
To get credit for this earthcache email me the answers to the following questions:
1. The GC code and name of this cache.
2. The number of geocachers in your group.
3. What is the strike, dip-angle, and dip direction of the fault?
4. How tall is the fault scarp?
Additional Hints
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