Dent Fault

The Dent Fault as it is crossed by the Clough River

The Dent Fault is a major geological fault in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in the Pennine fells in the north-west of the Riding. It is named after the village of Dent in Dentdale, on the western margin of the Yorkshire Dales.

The fault may be known with more accuracy as the 'Dent Fault System', and consists of a collection of closely associated faults and folds, defines the western edge of the Askrigg Block, a geological structure that underlies the Yorkshire Dales. The fault is associated with the Taythes Anticline to its west and the Fell End Syncline to its east. Other than vertical movement on the fault, there has also been an element of strike-slip movement.

To the north, the fault links with the Pennine Fault System in the vicinity of Brough in Westmorland and with the Craven Fault System near Kirkby Lonsdale to the south, also in Westmorland.