Window (geology)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Schematic overview of a thrust system. The hanging wall block is (when it has reasonable proportions) called a nappe. If an erosional hole is created in the nappe that is called a window. A klippe is a solitary outcrop of the nappe in the middle of autochthonous material.
Schematic overview of a thrust system. The hanging wall block is (when it has reasonable proportions) called a nappe. If an erosional hole is created in the nappe that is called a window. A klippe is a solitary outcrop of the nappe in the middle of autochthonous material.

A tectonic window (or Fenster (lit. "window" in German) is a geologic structure formed by erosion or normal faulting on a thrust system. In such a system the hanging wall block is called a nappe. When erosion or normal faulting produces a hole in the nappe where the underlying autochthonous rocks crop out this is called a window.

Windows can be almost any size, from a couple of meters to hundreds of kilometers.

 This geology article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia and WikiProject Geology by expanding it.