noun
fault
A break in rock along which movement has occurred.
The road crosses an active fault in the bedrock.
Etymology
The general word for a defect was applied to a disruption in geological strata. In the technical sense, that disruption is a fracture along which rock has moved.
More examples
- The earthquake caused movement along the fault.
- Geologists mapped several nearby faults.
- Rock layers were displaced across the fault.
Forms
fault · faults