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Mirror Fault - Dead Sea

 

Mirror fault surface on a normal fault in carbonate rocks near the Dead Sea. Long vertical striations are the mark of the friction between the two sides of the fault. The slip velocity is a few millimetres per year. Hundreds of meters of slip has been accommodated on this fault plane through time. The elongated bumps along the mirror fault surface correspond to parallel sets of slip planes. The name "fault mirror", reflects the fact that these rocks are so smooth that in places they reflect the sunlight. Beyond the fault slip surface, the mirror plane, crushed or pulverized rock can be seen in weathered holes. These crush zones have a high porosity, and are likley highly permeable allowing fluids to flow through the rock.

This fault can also be seen as a 3D panoramic view which gives an impression of the scale of the fault. 

Lat: 31° 41' 32.1252'' N

Long: 31° 41' 32.1252'' E

Virutal Outrcop Credits: CC- Attribution-ShareAlike, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike.

Acquisition and processing: Renaud Toussaint, IPGS, CNRS/University of Strasbourg (http://eost.unistra.fr/renaud)

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