slickenside: a standalone construct

In structural geology, a slickenside is a polished, striated fault surface left where two rock masses ground past each other, its fine grooves and steps recording the direction and, often, the sense of slip. Means's 1987 note on a newly recognised type of slickenside striation and Doblas's 1998 review of slickenside kinematic indicators catalogue the surface markings and how they reveal fault movement. The referent is a slip-polished fracture surface whose lineations are read as a kinematic record, measured by striation orientation and the asymmetry of steps that gives the slip sense.[1][2]

Unit

The orientation and sense of slip recorded by striations on a fault surface

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Read from striation trend and plunge and from the step-and-groove asymmetry that indicates slip direction and sense