Faults related to the Yellowstone volcanic system are found primarily in the center of the park. Caldera boundary faults, such as those at the margin of the Henry's Fork and Yellowstone calderas, were created as their respective calderas collapsed after an eruption. As lava withdrew from beneath the caldera, the regional surface level dropped and an extensional environment was created, which caused other faults to form outside the caldera margins. The Mirror Lake Plateau is a good example of these types of faults.

Faults also form as a result of the ongoing and episodic rise and fall of the ground in Yellowstone as magma moves through the subsurface. For example, the Mallard Lake and Sour Creek resurgent dome faults, near Old Faithful and Fishing Bridge, respectively, are related to post-eruption deformation inside the Yellowstone caldera. Though largely imperceptible to park visitors, scientists can monitor inflation and deflation of the resurgent domes at the millimeter scale using high-precision GPS.

Other faults in Yellowstone are related to the Basin and Range Province, a region in the western United States characterized by alternating valleys and fault-bounded mountain ranges. The Basin and Range Province began forming at this latitude about 15 million years ago as the earth's crust was stretched in an east-west direction.