If a fault offset bed has a vertical separation of 12 meters between segments, the throw is ...

• A. 12 seconds
• B. 12 kilometers
• C. 12 meters
• D. 12 degrees

Answer: (C)

The main concept here is what throw means in faulting. Throw is the vertical displacement of rocks across a fault—the vertical offset between beds on opposite sides. If the bed shows a 12-meter vertical separation between the faulted segments, the throw is 12 meters. The other options don’t fit because seconds are a unit of time, kilometers are a distance not specifically the vertical offset, and degrees are an angle; throw refers to a vertical distance, not time, a horizontal distance, or an angle.