The angle between a geological plane and the horizontal plane, such as a rock layer or fault, is referred to as inclination.
The inclination angle tells us how steeply the inclined plane is inclined with respect to the horizontal when a horizontal line meets it.
It is a measurement of the inclined plane's slope or tilt.
The term "bearing" describes the horizontal angle, expressed in degrees clockwise, between a reference direction (often North) and a particular point or direction.
It frequently provides directional information in navigation, surveying, and other applications.
Geologists use the term "trend" to describe the compass direction that a linear geological feature extends along on the horizontal plane.
It's a crucial idea for explaining how rock strata, faults, and other geological structures are arranged spatially.
Understanding the orientation of geological features depends on knowing the strike of a geological plane, which provides the compass direction of a horizontal line on the plane's surface.
It is not affected by the plane's inclination and is measured in degrees clockwise from North.
The slope angle, which indicates how steeply a geological feature is sloped in relation to a flat surface, is the angle at which the feature is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane.
The apparent dip of a geological plane is the angle of inclination that it seems to have when measured in a direction other than parallel to the strike.
When you can't measure the dip angle directly along the strike direction, you can estimate it in this fashion.
When measured perpendicular to a geological plane's highest slope or the direction of steepest descent, such as a rock layer or fault, dip is the angle at which the plane is inclined.
To put it another way, it shows how sharply the plane deviates from the horizontal plane.
