- Slickenside
[
400px|thumb|right|Slickensides_developed_on_the_surface_of_a_small_fault_in_quartzite in theAlpujarras ] In pedology, the study of soils in their natural environments, a slickenside is a surface of the cracks produced in soils containing a high proportion of swellingclay s. Slickensides are a type of cutan.In
geology , the term refers to a smoothly polished surface caused by frictional movement between rocks along the two sides of a fault. This surface is normally striated in the direction of movement. The plane may be coated bymineral fibres that grew during the fault movement, known as "slickenfibres", which also show the direction of displacement. Due to irregularities in the fault plane exposed slickenfibres typically have a stepped appearance that can be used to determine the sense of movement across the fault. The surface feels smoother when the hand is moved in the same direction that the eroded side of the fault moved (see diagram for explanation), as the surface steps down in that direction, like the scales on a fish when stroked from the head.References
* Allaby, A. and Allaby, M. (Eds). 1990. "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Earth Sciences". New York, USA: Oxford University Press.
* McDonald, R. C. et al. 1990. "The Australian Soil and Land Survey Field Handbook", 2nd Ed. Melbourne, Australia: Inkata Press.
* "Microtectonics", by C.W.Passchier and R.A.J.Trouw, 2nd rev. and enlarged ed., 2005, XVI, 366 p., 322 illus., with CD
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