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Within a shallow fault zone undergoing brittle fracture, repeated sliding crushes and grinds grains. Expect fault gouge, potentially rich in fine clay minerals, and coarser angular fault breccia; a cohesive, cemented crushed rock is a cataclasite. Slickensides or displaced grains can record the sliding direction.

An opening geological joint need not contain any fault rock: it may be an open crack. If fluids circulated, it can contain a mineral vein, for example calcite or quartz, grown from the fracture walls. Thus comminuted fault rock supports shear, while open space or a crack-filling mineral vein supports opening. Mineral filling is conditional on fluid chemistry and timing; its precise composition cannot be inferred from the photograph.