Iowa State Geology Practice Exam 2025 – Comprehensive Test Prep

A fault scarp is a geological feature that forms as a result of movement along a fault. When tectonic plates shift, the abrupt change in the landscape creates a sharp vertical face along the fault line. This face, or scar, is produced as one side of the fault moves up or down relative to the other side. Fault scarps can be several meters tall and are easily identifiable in the landscape.

The other options, while related to geological processes, do not specifically represent features created by fault movement. Displacement, for instance, describes the process of movement along the fault but is not a physical feature itself. Joints refer to fractures in rocks where no significant movement has occurred, and domes are large, uplifted structures that are formed through different geological processes involving folding and warping of rock layers, not directly related to the movement along a fault. Hence, the fault scarp stands out as the definitive feature created by fault movement.