Vertical exaggeration and picking faults

Part of The Shear Zone channel. The interpretation of seismic reflection profiles is rarely done using an image where vertical and horizontal scales are equal - so the geometry of structures is distorted, sometimes considerably, from their reality (and the expectation of the interpreter). Follow the implications of this - and the recommendation to adjust scales (even approximately) to avoid interpretational pitfalls. Images come from the Virtual Seismic Atlas.