Pennine Fault System

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The Pennine Fault System is a NW-SE trending zone of faulting that forms the southwestern boundary to the Pennines in Cumbria. It was formed as a normal fault during Permian rifting, bounding the Vale of Eden basin, which has a half-graben geometry. It links through to the Dent Fault at its southeastern end. [1] Rocks of Ordovician and Silurian age outcrop between the two main strands of the fault, forming the Cross Fell inlier. [2]

In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movement. Large faults within the Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic forces, with the largest forming the boundaries between the plates, such as subduction zones or transform faults. Energy release associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes.

Pennines mountain range

The Pennines, also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of mountains and hills in England separating North West England from Yorkshire and North East England.

Cumbria Ceremonial (geographic) county of England

Cumbria is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's county town is Carlisle, in the north of the county, and the only other major urban area is Barrow-in-Furness on the southwestern tip of the county.

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References

  1. Hughes R.A. (2003). "Permian and Triassic rocks of the Appleby district (part of Sheet 30, England and Wales)" (PDF). Integrated Geoscience Surveys (North) Research Report RR/02/01. Natural Environment Research Council. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  2. "North Pennines Area of Outstanding Beauty and European Geopark: A Geodiversity Audit" (PDF). North Pennines AONB. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.