Understanding the process of faulting: selected challenges and opportunities at the edge of the 21st century

Displacement distributions along fault surfaces are a record of the processes of fault nucleation, slip, linkage, and propagation. Because several disparate processes can collectively influence the fault displacements, the relative contributions of these processes can be challenging, but are therefore necessary, to decipher. Continued advances in the mechanics of discontinuous slip surfaces in rock masses, when combined with appropriate field studies, should determine the roles of cohesive end zones, fault interaction, and propagation direction in shaping the displacement distributions. Studies of faults on other planetary surfaces provide a window into the role of a broad range of environmental conditions that can influence the faulting process. More inroads need to be made into traditional strain-based classes in structural geology so that mechanically sound concepts of fault analysis can become better utilized in the curriculum and by the non-specialist geological community.