Mountain front 2026-10-25
The boundary between a mountain block and adjacent lower terrain. Its geometry records interacting tectonic uplift, faulting, erosion and deposition. A straight front, triangular facets and displaced alluvial fans together can support an active normal fault interpretation.
Mark a fault scarp cutting an alluvial fan on the left-to-central smooth piedmont, approximately . Its narrow, aligned height break continues across surfaces that are smoother than the mountains; repeated downthrow on the basin side produces the scarp. Sketch a once-continuous gently sloping fan surface cut by a basin-facing step.
Mark triangular facets on the mountain front in the right-central part, near . These are roughly triangular planar mountain faces bounded laterally by incised valleys and below by the fault front. In a front view, draw repeated triangles separated by stream valleys. Triangular facets result from the interaction of normal faulting, uplift and erosion; neither they nor a sharp mountain front alone demonstrates a rupture in the particular historical event.
Triangular facet 2026-10-25
A roughly triangular planar mountain face bounded by incised valleys and a basal front. Repeated normal faulting, tectonic uplift and erosion can maintain arrays of triangular facets. Their geometry is suggestive but does not alone date an individual earthquake.