Geometry and scaling relations of a population of very small rift-related normal faults

Exceptionally well exposed normal faults within the Solite Quarry of the Dan River rift basin range in length from a few millimetres to a few metres and are possibly the smallest visible faults studied to date. Displacement is greatest at or near the center of isolated faults and decreases toward the fault tips. Relay structures form between closely overlapping faults. The distribution of fault sizes in the study area follows a power-law (fractal) relation, and the maximum observed displacement scales linearly with fault length. The new fault data extend the global data set to more than eight orders of magnitude of fault length and indicate that there is no significant change in displacement geometry and the linear length-displacement scaling relation between small and large faults.