Lecture 20

Geological Structures: Folds

Dr. K. Vijaya Kumar School of Earth Sciences SRTM University, Nanded 431 606 Maharashtra, INDIA (E-mail: vijay_kumar92@hotmail.com)

The topographic map suggests that the Earth's surface has been deformed. This deformation is the result of forces that are strong enough to move ocean sediments to an elevation many thousands meters above sea level

Strikes and Dips are used to identify geologic structures

When rocks deform in a ductile manner, they may bend or fold, and the resulting structures are called folds. Folds result from compressional stresses acting over considerable time. Because the strain rate is low, rocks that we normally consider brittle can behave in a ductile manner resulting in such folds

Parts of a Fold

Parts of a Fold
Limbs: Limbs are sides of the fold. An individual fold will have two limbs whereas in a series of folds, one of the limbs the central limb- is common to any two adjacent folds. The pint where the limbs change their curvature are called inflection points. Axial Plane: Axial plane of a fold the surface which divides any given fold as symmetrical as possible. It may be vertical, horizontal or inclined depending on the extent of folding. Axis of the fold: Axis of the fold is the intersection of the axial plane with any bed of the fold. If a folded sequence is composed of number of beds there will be number of intersections consequently number of axes. However, as all the axes are essentially parallel, any one of the axes represents the general trend of the intersection. The fold axis may be horizontal or inclined. Crest and Trough: Most folds are either up-arched (antiform) or down-arched (synform) bends. The line running through the highest points in an up-arched fold defines the crest and a corresponding line running through the lowest points in a downward fold is termed trough. The crest or trough may or may not coincide with the axis of a fold.

Parts of a Fold

Plunge of a fold: The axis of a fold may be horizontal or inclined. The angle of inclination of the fold axis with the horizontal as measured in a vertical plane is termed as pitch or plunge of the fold. If the fold axis is inclined then the fold is called a Plunging Fold.

Classification of Folds
Folds can be classified based on their appearance. If the two limbs of the fold dip away from the axis with the same angle, the fold is said to be a symmetrical fold. If the limbs dip at different angles, the folds are said to be asymmetrical folds.

If the compressional stresses that cause the folding are intense, the fold can close up and have limbs that are parallel to each other. Such a fold is called an isoclinal fold (iso means same, and cline means angle, so isoclinal means the limbs have the same angle). Note the isoclinal fold depicted in the diagram below is also a symmetrical fold.
If the folding is so intense that the strata on one limb of the fold becomes nearly upside down, the fold is called an overturned fold. An overturned fold with an axial plane that is nearly horizontal is called a recumbant fold. A fold that has no curvature in its hinge and straight-sided limbs that form a zigzag pattern is called a chevron fold.

Classification of Folds
There are six types of folds that may occur: Monocline Anticline Syncline Overturned fold Recumbent Fold Nappe Fold

Monoclines are the simplest types of folds. Monoclines occur when horizontal strata are bent upward so that the two limbs of the fold are still horizontal.

 An anticline occurs when a tectonic plate is compressed by movement of other plates. This causes the center of the compressed plate to bend in an upwards motion. Fold mountains are formed when the crust is pushed up as tectonic plates collide. When formed, these mountains are usually enormous

 A syncline is similar to an anticline, in that it is formed by the compression of a tectonic plate. However, a syncline occurs when the plate bends in a downward motion. The lowest part of the syncline is known as the trough.

Eroded Anticline and Syncline

Plunging Anticline

Domes and Basins

Domes: Domes are eroded anticlinal arches in which beds dip away in all directions from a common centre.
Basins: Basins are eroded synclinal arches characterized by dipping in from all directions.

Tight Fold
A tight fold is a sharp peaked anticline or syncline. It is just a regular anticline or syncline, but was compressed with a greater force causing the angle to be much smaller. Folds such as these occur to form steep mountain slopes like those in Whistler, British Columbia. To the left is a photo of a tight fold formed by extreme pressure on these rocks.

Overturned fold
An overturned fold takes place when folding rock becomes bent or warped. Sometimes the folds can become so disfigured that they may even overlap each other.

Recumbent Fold
This type of fold is compressed so much that it is no longer vertical. There is a large extent of overlapping and it can take the form of an s.

Nappe Folding
This fold is similar to a recumbent fold because of the extent of folding and overlapping. However, nappe folding becomes so overturned that rock layers become fractured.

In summary
Folds are bends or curvatures developed in rocks due to the action of stresses. The phenomenon of folding indicates an effort by the rocks to adjust themselves with changing stress conditions. Folds are classified into anticlines and synclines based on the direction of dipping of limbs and symmetric and asymmetric based on the similar or contrasting dip angles of fold limbs. Fold axis is either straight or inclined (dipping). Folds with inclined fold axes are called Plunging Folds. Folds are caused by 1) compression, 2) due to magma intrusion, 3) isostatic settling and 4) differential compaction.