Dent Fault

It is named after the village of Dent in Dentdale, on the western margin of the Yorkshire Dales.

The fault is associated with the Taythes Anticline to its west and the Fell End Syncline to its east.

[1] The Carboniferous geology of northern England consists of a series of relatively high and stable "blocks", such as the Alston Block separated by actively subsiding "basins", generally referred to as "troughs", such as the Stainmore and Gainsborough Troughs.

[2] The block and basin terrain was a result of active extensional faulting, with a dominant N-S extension direction, possibly related to the effects of back-arc spreading related to north-directed subduction beneath Avalonia.

[3] Later in the Carboniferous, the onset of continental collision to the south of Avalonia, caused widespread reactivation of the extensional faults in reverse.