Fault block

A section of Earth’s crust bounded by faults and displaced relative to neighboring sections by tectonic movement. Its movement can raise, lower, or tilt the block.

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Normal fault: A fault in which the hanging wall moves downward relative to the footwall. Extension along normal faults commonly drops one block relative to its neighbor.
Fault (geology): A fracture or zone of fractures in rock along which measurable displacement has occurred. Faults bound blocks and record the movement that separates them.
Sierra Nevada: A mountain range in the western United States, largely forming a west-tilted fault block. Its steep eastern escarpment and gentler western slope illustrate block tilting.
Fault-block mountain: A mountain formed when fault movement uplifts or tilts a crustal block. Uplifted blocks create mountain fronts and elevated plateaus.
Reverse fault: A fault in which the hanging wall moves upward relative to the footwall. Compression can thrust one crustal block over another.
Hanging wall: The rock mass above an inclined fault plane. Its motion relative to the footwall indicates the sense of displacement.
Basin and Range Province: A vast region of the western United States marked by alternating mountain ranges and basins. Its repeated ranges and valleys reflect extension and normal-fault block movement.
Escarpment: A steep slope or long cliff separating relatively level areas at different elevations. Differential block movement can leave a fault scarp or mountain-front escarpment.
Strike-slip fault: A fault whose sides move mainly horizontally past one another. Lateral displacement can offset blocks without substantially changing their elevation.
Footwall: The rock mass below an inclined fault plane. It provides the reference side for describing movement across an inclined fault.