Heave is the measure of horizontal separation between two sides of a faulted vein or rock layer. When a fault breaks and shifts a continuous ore body, miners measure the heave to know how far sideways they must drive a tunnel to locate the continuation of the pay zone. It is the horizontal counterpart to the vertical throw of a fault.
Heard on the job
The fault cut off our seam, and the geologists calculate a heave of about twenty meters to the east.