Diprichtungen

Diprichtungen describe the orientation of a planar geological surface, such as a bedding plane, foliation, fault, or joint set. They indicate how the surface is inclined in three-dimensional space and are used together with dip angles and strike to characterize rock geometry. The dip direction is the azimuth of the line of greatest slope on the plane, measured clockwise from north on a 0–360° scale. The corresponding dip angle is the angle between the plane and the horizontal, ranging from 0° (horizontal) to 90° (vertical). The strike is the horizontal line on the plane and is perpendicular to the dip direction.

Measurement and notation are typically carried out with a compass or a compass-clinometer in the field. The strike is determined by tracing the horizontal line along the plane; the dip direction is the azimuth toward which the plane dips most steeply, and the dip angle is read as the inclination of the plane from the horizontal. In practice, many maps report strike and dip, sometimes alongside a separate dip direction and dip angle, for example: Strike 045°, Dip 25°, Dip direction 135°. This means the plane trends northeast, dips 25° toward the southeast.

Dip directions are fundamental for reconstructing the three-dimensional geometry of rocks, analyzing deformation histories, and guiding resource exploration. They aid in understanding folding, faulting, and stress directions, and are routinely used in geological mapping, structural analysis, and petroleum or mineral exploration. In cases where the dip is near 90°, the dip direction can become poorly defined, as the plane approaches vertical.