Which process drives the formation of horst and graben structures along a normal fault?

💡 Explanation

When tensile stress occurs in brittle crust, normal faulting forms because the hanging wall moves downward relative to the footwall, creating horst (uplifted blocks) and graben (down-dropped blocks). Therefore brittle failure results, rather than ductile deformation or shear fracturing, which involve different stress regimes.

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• Which geological feature typically forms due to the lateral shearing motion at a transform plate boundary?
• Which consequence results when soil's clay minerals break disrupting drainage?
• Which risk increases when construction occurs atop an ancient, inactive fault line within a large alluvial basin?
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