What is throw in structural geology?

• A. The horizontal displacement of a fault block
• B. The vertical distance between two parts of an offset bed
• C. The dip angle of the fault plane
• D. The depth to the fault

Answer: (B)

Throw is the vertical difference created by faulting, i.e., the vertical offset of a marker bed across the fault. It represents how much one side has moved up or down relative to the other. This is why the correct description is the vertical distance between two parts of an offset bed. Horizontal displacement is a different component (heave), the dip angle describes the fault plane itself, and depth to the fault refers to how deep the fault plane extends, not the vertical offset of beds.