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If we are to have such a list, and I foresee difficulties with the inclusion criteria, then if should be
List of faults as a 'fault line' is the intersection between a fault plane and the earth's surface
[1] - some faults do not reach the earth's surface (such as
blind thrusts).
Mikenorton (
talk) 17:41, 22 May 2012 (UTC)reply
I agree. As an alternative the list could also be named "list of faults and seismic zones". If all the faults not reaching the surface would be removed than many earthquakes wouldn't be listed and the list would loose much of its reference value. --
Tobias1984 (
talk) 18:12, 22 May 2012 (UTC)reply
How about "List of fault zones"? --
Bejnar (
talk) 22:18, 22 May 2012 (UTC)reply
That would be a better name I think.
Mikenorton (
talk) 19:39, 23 May 2012 (UTC)reply
Scope
I too share
Mikenorton's concern about the inclusion criteria. Currently it reads: either geologically important or connected to prominent seismic activity. Anyone have suggestions for improvement? --
Bejnar (
talk) 22:18, 22 May 2012 (UTC)reply
Most faults that are linked already have pages on Wikipedia but only very local links (e.g. "Tectonics of South America"-table in
Pichilemu_Fault) which give no global perspective of fault zones.
Some faults probably don't fulfill the inclusion criteria themselves (e.g.
San_Ramón_Fault)
I think at this point the page would benefit from a clearer definition of what should be included in the list (e.g. no fault zones shorter than 1000 km). As usual it would be nice to hear a few more opinions. --
Tobias1984 (
talk) 07:23, 23 May 2012 (UTC)reply
I don't know if this helps much, but I added: It is not intended to list every notable fault, but only major fault zones. --
Bejnar (
talk) 22:41, 25 May 2012 (UTC)reply
Reference lists
I'm struggling at the moment to find anything like a global catalogue of fault zones to meet the criteria for stand alone lists - there are several countries that list major fault zones that occur within their boundaries (in most cases as part of seismic hazard assessment e.g. New Zealand and the US), but none that I can find that take a more global view.
Mikenorton (
talk) 19:38, 23 May 2012 (UTC)reply
Old, but try for starters: Snead, Rodman E. (1972) Atlas of world physical features Wiley, New York,
ISBN0-471-80800-8, on page 45:Few areas of the world are completely free of the stresses taking place, and faulting is very widespread. This map shows the main fault zones. --
Bejnar (
talk) 20:45, 25 May 2012 (UTC)reply
This map is another possible source, but a lot of the faults are unlabelled - I'll look further to see if NASA lists them anywhere.
Mikenorton (
talk) 21:09, 25 May 2012 (UTC)reply
The Circum-Pacific Map Project put out a set of seven sheets of plate-tectonic maps for the Pacific that in theory list fault zones, but when I looked at the SW Pacific sheet and the Arctic sheet, very few fault zones appeared. --
Bejnar (
talk) 03:04, 28 May 2012 (UTC)reply
List of fracture zones
I just noticed the
List of fracture zones article. What should be the relationship between that article and this article? --
Bejnar (
talk) 04:46, 28 May 2012 (UTC)reply
Subdivisions
Right now this is a simple alphabetical list. What possible systems of classifying fault zones would provide utility for readers when used as subdivisions within this article? By continent and ocean? By dip-slip, strike-slip and "strike and dip slip"? By geologic period of first incidence? --
Bejnar (
talk) 04:46, 28 May 2012 (UTC)reply
I decided to do something about this list, firstly by adding the period of movement and also by filling in blank columns. Most of the listed faults are active and this makes me wonder if we should split the table into two (or possibly more) parts. These could be 'active' and 'extinct' and could be further organised geographically. If anyone would like to come up with options while I'm pondering this, I would be grateful.
Mikenorton (
talk) 19:19, 28 February 2016 (UTC)reply