05 Introducction To Structural Geology, Allmendinger, 1999-128-290 PDF

Lecture 1 5 116
Pressure Solution & Crystal Plasticity
More commonly, there is much more evidence for removal of material than for the local re-
precipitation. Then, there is a net volume decrease; you see shortening but no extension. The rocks in
the Delaware Water Gap area, for example, have experienced more than 50% volume loss due to pressure
solution.
What actually happens to produce pressure solution? No one really knows, but the favored
model is that, because of the high stress concentration at grain contacts, material there is more soluble.
Material dissolved from there migrates along the grain boundary to places on the sides of the grains,
where the stress concentration is lower, and is deposited there. This model is sometimes called by the
name “fluid assisted grain boundary diffusion” because the material diffuses along a thin fluid film at the
boundary of the grain:
σ1
solution of material at there may be a thin

grain-to-grain contact fluid film between
the grains
redeposition at the
grain margins
This process is probably relatively common during diagenesis.
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Not all pressure solution can be called a diffusional process because, as we will see later, diffusion
acts slowly and over short distances. In the case where there is a net volume reduction at hand sample or
outcrop scale, there has to be has to be large scale flushing of the material in solution out of the system by
long distance migration of the pore fluids.
15.1.2 Environmental constrains on Pressure Solution
Temperature -- most common between ~50° and 400°C. Thus, you will see it best developed in
rocks that are between diagenesis and low grade metamorphism (i.e., greenschist facies).
Grain Size -- at constant stress, pressure solution occurs faster at smaller grain sizes. This is
because grain surface area increases with decreasing grain size.
Impurities/clay -- the presence of impurities such as clay, etc., enhances pressure solution. It
may be that the impurities provide fluid pathways.
The switch from pressure solution to mechanisms dominated by crystal plasticity is controlled by
all of these factors. For two common minerals, the switch occurs as follows:
Upper Temperature Limit for Pressure Solution

Grain Size Quartz Calcite
100 µm 450°C 300°C
1000 µm 300°C 200°C
These temperatures are somewhere in lower greenschist facies of metamorphism.
15.2 Mechanisms of Crystal Plasticity
Many years ago, after scientists had learned a fair amount about atom structure and bonding
forces, they calculated the theoretical strengths of various materials. However, the strengths that they
predicted turned out to be up to five orders of magnitude higher than what they actually observed in
laboratory experiments. Thus, they hypothesized that crystals couldn’t be perfect, but must have defects
in them. We now know that there are three important types of crystal defects:
• Point
• Linear
• Planar
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15.2.1 Point Defects
To general types of point defects are possible:
• Impurities
Substitution
Interstitial
• Vacancies
Impurities occur when a “foreign” atom is found in the crystal structure, either in place of an
atom that is supposed to be there (substitution) or in the spaces between the existing atoms. Vacancies
occur when an atom is missing from its normal spot in the crystal lattice, leaving a “hole”. These are
illustrated below:
Substitution Impurity -- Atom of a similar

atomic radius is substituted for a regular one
Vacancy -- Atom missing

from crystal lattice
Interstitial Impurity -- Atom of a much smaller

atomic radius "squeezes" into a space in the
crystal lattice
Because the crystal does not have its ideal configuration, it has a higher internal energy and is therefore
weaker than the equivalent ideal crystal.
15.2.2 Diffusion
In general, crystals contain more vacancies at higher temperature. The vacancies facilitate the
movement of atoms through the crystal structure because atoms adjacent to a vacancy can “jump” into it.
This general process is known as diffusion. This is illustrated in the following figure:
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1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.
[the darker gray atoms have all moved from their original position by jumping
into the adjacent vacancy. Atoms and vacancies diffuse in opposite directions]
There are two types of diffusion:
• Crystal lattice diffusion (Herring Nabarro creep) -- This type is important

only at high temperatures (T ≈ 0.85 Tmelting ) such as one finds in the mantle of
the earth because it occurs far too slowly at crustal temperatures. [shown
above]
• Grain boundary diffusion (Coble creep) -- This type occurs at lower

temperatures such as those found in the Earth’s crust.
15.2.3 Planar Defects
There are several types of planar defects. Most are a product of the movement of dislocations.
Several are of relatively limited importance and some are still poorly understood. These include:
• Deformation bands -- planar zones of deformation within a crystal
• Deformation lamellae -- similar to deformation bands; poorly understood
• Subgrain boundaries
• Grain boundaries
• Twin lamellae
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The last three are illustrated, below:
1° - 5°
> 5°
Grain boundaries -- ("high-angle tilt boundaries") Subgrain boundaries -- ("low-angle tilt boundaries")
there is a large angle mismatch of the crystal latices. there is a small angle mismatch of the crystal latices
This would be seen under the microscope as a This would be seen under the microscope as a
large difference in extinction angles of the crystals small difference in extinction angles of the crystals
38.2°
Twin Lamellae
Narrow band in which there has

been a symmetric rotation of the
crystal lattice, producing a "mirror
image". The twin band will have a
different extinction angle than the
main part of the crystal
c - axis
(optic axis)
e - lamellae in calcite
[Ca-ions at the corners of the rhombs]
The formation of twin lamellae is called “Twin gliding”. This is particularly common in calcite, dolomite,
and plagioclase (in which twin glide produces “albite twins”). In plagioclase, twin lamellae commonly
form during crystal growth; in the carbonates, it is usually a product of deformation. Because of its
consistent relationship to the crystal structure, twins in calcite and dolomite can be used as a strain gauge.
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Dislocations
LECTURE 16—DEFORMATION MECHANISMS IV: DISLOCATIONS
1 6 . 1 Basic Concepts and Terms
Linear defects in crystals are known as dislocations. These are the most important defects for
understanding deformation of rocks under crustal conditions. The basic concept is that it is much easier
to move just part of something, a little at a time, than to move something all at once. I’m sure that that is
a little obscure, but perhaps a couple of non-geological examples will help.
The first example is well known: How do you move a carpet across the floor with the least
amount of work? If you just grab onto one side of it and try and pull the whole thing at once, it is very
difficult, especially if the carpet has furniture on it, because you are trying to simultaneously overcome
the resistance to sliding over the entire rug at the same time. It is much easier to make a “rumple” or a
wave at one side of the rug and then “roll” that wave to the other side of the rug:
1. 2.
3. 4.
rug has now moved one full "unit" to the right
Freight trains also provide a lesser known example. A long train actually starts by backing up.
There is a small amount of play in the connections between each car. After backing up, when the train
moves forward for a small instant it is just moving itself, then just itself and the car behind it, etc. This
way, it does not have to start all of the cars moving at one time.
Crystals deform in the same way. It is much easier for the crystal to just break one bond at a time
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Dislocations
than to try and break all of them simultaneously.
1. 2. 3.
The the line of atoms in gray in each step represents the extra
4. half plane for that step. the atoms that comprised the intial
extra half plane are indicated by black dots.
The dislocation line is the bottom edge of the extra half plane.
In this diagram, it is perpendicular to the page. In each step,
only a singe bond is broken, so that the dislocation moves in
b increments of one lattice spacing each time. This distance
that the dislocation moves is known as the Burgers Vector ,
and is indicated by b in the diagram on the left.
Note that there is no record in the crystal of the passage of a

dislocation; the dislocation leaves a perfect crystal in its
"wake". Thus, a dislocation is not a fault in the crystal.
As you can see in the above figure, we describe the orientation of the dislocation and its direction of
movement with two quantities:
• Tangent vector -- the vector parallel to the local orientation of the dislocation
line
• Burgers vector -- slip vector parallel to the direction of movement. It is

directly related to the crystal lattice spacing
These two quantities allow us to define two end member types of dislocations:
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Dislocations
"Cut-away" view of part of a dislocation loop
extra half
"plane"
Edge dislocation : b ⊥ t
dislocation line t
b Screw dislocation: b // t
edge
screw segment
t segment
crystalographic
[the previous figure
glide plane
could have been of
this face of the block]
Most dislocations are closed loops which have both edge and screw components locally.
1 6 . 2 Dislocation (“Translation”) Glide
When the movement of a dislocation is confined to a single, crystallographically determined

plane, it is known as dislocation glide (or translation glide by some). A particular crystallographic plane
combined with a preferred slip direction is called a slip system.
The number of slip systems in a crystal depends on the symmetry class of the crystal. Crystals
with high symmetry will have many slip systems; those with low symmetry will have fewer. Slip will
start on planes with the lowest critical resolved shear stress. That is, slip will start on planes where the
bonds are easiest to break.
1 6 . 3 Dislocations and Strain Hardening
After dislocations begin to move or glide in their appropriate slip planes, there are three things
that happen almost immediately which make it more difficult for them to continue moving:
1. Self stress field: there is a stress field around each dislocation line which is
related to the elastic distortion of the crystal around the extra half plane. In
this case, the dislocations repell each other so that it takes more stress to get
them to move:
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Dislocations
self-stress field
[schematic]
2. Dislocation Pinning (pile-up): This occurs when an impurity point defect

lies in the glide plane of a dislocation. If the impurity atom is tightly bound in
the crystal lattice, the dislocation, which is everywhere else in its glide plane
slipping freely, will become pinned by the atom. Other dislocations in the
same glide plane will also encounter the same impurity, and will tend to pile
up at that point.
Dislocation b
lines
impurity
glide plane atom
3. Jogs: When dislocations of different slip systems pass through each other,
one produces a jog or step in the other. This jog makes it much more difficult
to move because the “jogged” segment quite probably requires a different
critical resolved shear stress to move. In the diagram, below, the extra half
planes are shown in shade of gray:
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Dislocations
t1
t1
b1
b1
b2
b2 t2
g
Jo
t2
Before the two dislocations After they pass, a jog has been
run into each other produced in dislocation 1
1 6 . 4 Dislocation Glide and Climb
If there are a sufficient number of vacancies in a crystal, when a dislocation encounters an

impurity atom in its glide plane the dislocation can avoid being pinned by jumping to a parallel crystal-
lographic plane. This jump is referred to as dislocation climb.
The process of dislocation climb is markedly facilitated by the diffusion of vacancies through the
crystal. Thus, climb occurs at higher temperatures because there are more vacancies at higher temperatures.
It is important to understand that diffusion has two roles in deformation: It can be the primary deformation
mechanism (but probably only in the mantle for crystal lattice diffusion), or it can aid the process of dislocation glide
and climb.
When dislocation glide and climb occurs, strain hardening no longer takes place. The material
either acts as a perfect plastic, or it strain softens.
There are several new terms that can be introduced at this point:
Cold Working -- Plastic deformation with strain hardening. The main process is dislocation
glide.
Hot working -- Permanent deformation with little or no strain hardening or with strain softening.
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Dislocations
The main process is dislocation glide and climb.
Annealing -- Heating up a cold worked, strain hardened crystal to the point where diffusion
becomes rapid enough to permit the glide and climb of dislocations. Then the dislocations either climb
out of the crystal, into sub-grain walls, or they cancel each other out, producing a strain free grain from
one that was obviously deformed and strained.
1 6 . 5 Review of Deformation Mechanisms
• Elastic deformation -- Very low temperature, small strains
• Fracture -- Very low temperature, high differential stress
• Pressure Solution -- Low temperature, fluids necessary
• Dislocation glide -- Low temperature, high differential stress
• Dislocation glide and climb -- Higher temperature, high differential stress
• Grain boundary diffusion -- Low temperature, low differential stress
• Crystal lattice diffusion -- High temperature, low differential stress
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Lecture 1 7 127
Flow Laws & Stress in Lithosphere
LECTURE 17—FLOW LAWS & STATE OF STRESS I N THE

LITHOSPHERE
Experimental work over the last several years has provided data which enable us to determine
how stress and strain -- or more specifically stress and strain rate -- are related for crystal plastic mechanisms.
The relationship for dislocation glide and climb is known as power law creep, for diffusion, diffusion
creep.
1 7 . 1 Power Law Creep
The basic equation which governs dislocation glide and climb is:
−Q 
e˙ = Co (σ 1 − σ 3 ) exp
n
. (17.1)
 RT 
The variables are:
e = strain rate [s-1]

Co = a constant [GPa-ns -1; experimentally determined]
σ1 - σ3 = the differential stress [GPa]
n = a power [experimentally determined]
Q = the activation energy [kJ/mol; experimentally determined]
R = the universal gas constant = 8.3144 × 10-3 kJ/mol °K
T = temperature, °K [°K = °C + 273.16°]
It is called “power law” because the strain rate is proportional to a power of the differential
stress. Because temperature occurs in the exponential function, you can see that this sort of rheology is
going to be extremely sensitive to temperature. To think of it another way, over a very small range of
temperatures, rocks change from being very strong to very weak. The exact temperature at which this
occurs depends on the lithology.
Using this equation and the data from Appendix B in Suppe (1985) you can easily calculate the
differential stress that aplite can support at 300°C assuming that power law creep is the deformation
mechanism. First of all, rearranging the above equation:
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1
 n
 e˙ 
σ1 − σ 3 = 
 −Q  
 Co exp 
  RT  
Substituting in the actual values:
1
  3.1
 −14 −1
10 s 
σ1 − σ 3 =  
 2.8  −163 kJ mol −1 
 (10 GPa s ) exp 8.3144 × 10 -3 kJ mol -1 K -1 (273.16 + 300) K  
−3.1 −1
 
After working through the math, you get:
σ1 - σ3 = 0.236 GPa = 236 MPa .
These curves can be constructed for a variety of rock types and temperature (just by iteratively
carrying out the same calculations we did above), and we get the following graph of curves:
Max Shear Stress (Mpa)

200 400 600 800 1000
quartzite (wet)
limestone
quartzite (dry)
granite (dry) feldspar-bearing rocks
400 diabase
Temperature (°C)
clinopyroxenite
olivine (wet)
olivine (dry)
800
gray show range for
-15 ≤ log[strain rates] ≤ -13
Power Law Creep Curves

-14 -1
[strain rate = 10 s ]
1200
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Note that, for a geothermal gradient of 20°C/km and a 35 km thick continental crust, the temperature at
the base of the crust would be 700°C; there, only olivine would have significant strength.
1 7 . 2 Diffusion Creep
This mechanism is a linear function of the differential stress and is more sensitive to grain size
than temperature:
D(σ 1 − σ 3 )
e˙ = Co (T ) . (17.2)
dn
Again, the variables are:
e = strain rate [s-1]

Co(T) = a temperature dependent constant [experimentally determined]
σ1 - σ3 = the differential stress
n = a power [experimentally determined]
D = the diffusion coefficient [experimentally determined]
d = the grain size
In diffusion, the strain rate is inversely proportional to the grain size. Thus, the higher the grain size, the
slower the strain rate due to diffusional processes. Although crystal lattice diffusion requires high overall
temperatures, it is not nearly so sensitive to changes in temperature.
1 7 . 3 Deformation Maps
With these flow laws, we can construct a diagram known as a deformation map, which shows
what deformation mechanism will be dominant for any combination of strain rate, differential stress,
temperature, and grain size. Generally there are two types:
• differential stress is plotted against temperature for a constant grain size;

different curves on the diagram represent different strain rates.
• differential stress is plotted against grain size for a constant temperature;
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different curves on the diagram represent different strain rates. This one is
generally easier to construct.
The diagram below shows an example of the first type for the mineral olivine.
Dislocation glide
1000
(MPa)
Dislocation
100 glide & climb
-13 -1
10 10 s
σ1 − σ 3
1 -14 -1
10 s
0.1 Lattice diffusion

-15 -1 [Nabarro Herring Creep]
Grain boundary diffusion 10 s
0.01 [Coble Creep]
0 800 1600 T (°C)
1 7 . 4 State of Stress in the Lithosphere
By making a number of assumptions, we can use our understanding of the various deformation
mechanisms and their related empirically derived stress-strain relations (or flow laws) to predict how
stresses vary in the earth’s crust. Four basic assumptions are made; two relate to the deformation
mechanisms and two relate to the lithologies:
• The upper crust is dominated by slip on pre-existing faults. Thus we will use
the Coulomb relation for the case of zero cohesion:
σs = σn * µs . (17.3)
• The lower crust is dominated by the mechanism of power law creep as described
by the equation developed above (eqn 17.1).
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• The crust is dominantly composed of quartz and feldspar bearing rocks.
• The mantle is composed of olivine.
The basic idea is that the crust will fail by whatever mechanism requires less differential shear
stress. [Remember that the maximum shear stress is just equal to one-half the differential stress.] The
resulting curve has the following form:
Differential Stress (MPa) Lithospheric Column

σ1 − σ3 1000
5
strong
10 power law creep for
quartz-dominated lithologies
Maximum stress in crust
CRUST
15
sli
po
Depth (km)
20
np
re
-e
25
xis
weak
tin
gf
30
au
lts
35 Moho
strong
for olivine
MANTLE
p
power law cree
weak
[the only possible stresses in the
lithosphere are in the shaded fields]
This model is sometimes humorously referred to as the “jelly sandwich” model of the crust. It predicts
that the lower crust will be very weak (supporting differential stresses of < 20 Mpa) relative to the upper
crust and upper mantle; it will behave like jelly between two slices of (stiff) bread. In general, the most
numerous and the largest earthquakes tend to occur in the region of the stress maximum in the middle
crust, providing at least circumstantial support to the model.
These curves are sometimes incorrectly referred to as “brittle-ductile transition” curves. Because
we have used very specific rheologies to construct them, they should be called “frictional crystal-plastic
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transition” curves.
Now, we should review some of the important “hidden” assumptions and limitations of these
curves, which have been very popular during the last decade:
• Lithostatic load and confining pressure control the deformation of the upper crust --
notice that there is no depth term in eqn. 17.3, even though the vertical axis of
the graph is plotted in depth. The depth is calculated by assuming that the
vertical stress is either σ1 or σ3 and that it is equal to the lithostatic load:
σ1 or σ3 = Pl i t h = ρgz
• Temperature is the fundamental control on deformation in the lower crust -- Again,

there is no depth term in the Power Law Creep equation (17.1). Depth is
calculated by assuming a geothermal gradient and calculating the temperature
at that depth based on the gradient. So really, two completely different things are
being plotted on the vertical axis and neither one is depth!
• Friction is assumed to be the main constraint on deformation in the upper crust -- The
value of friction is assumed to be constant for all rock types. [This follows
from “Byerlee’s Law” which we will discuss in a few days.]
• Laboratory strain rates are extrapolated over eight to ten orders of magnitude to get
the power law creep curves -- the validity of this extrapolation is not known.
• Other deformation mechanisms are not considered to be important -- The most

important of these would include pressure solution, the unknown role of
fluids in the lower crust, and diffusion.
• There is a wide variation in laboratory determined constants for all of the flow laws --
Basically, do not take the specific numbers too seriously.
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Joints & Veins 133
LECTURE 18—JOINTS & VEINS
18.1 Faults and Joints as Cracks
We’ll start our exploration of structures with discontinuous structures and later move on to
continuous structures. There are two basic types of discontinuous structures:
• Faults -- discontinuities in which one block has slipped past another, and
• Joints -- where block move apart, but do not slip past each other.
Most modern views of these structures are based on crack theory, which we had some exposure
to previously when we talked about the failure envelop. There are three basic “modes” of cracks:
Mode I : opening Mode II : sliding Mode III : tearing
Looked at this way, faults are mode II or mode III cracks, while joints are mode I cracks. Notice the gross
similarity between mode II cracks and edge dislocations and mode III cracks and screw dislocations.
Although they are similar, bear in mind that there are major differences between the two.
Definition of a joint: a break in the rock across which there has been no shearing, only extension.
Basically, they are mode I cracks. If it is not filled with anything, then it is called a joint; if material has
been precipitated in the break, then it is called a vein.
18.2 Joints
Joints are characteristic features of all rocks relatively near the Earth’s surface. They are of great
practical importance because they are pre-fractured surfaces. They have immediate significance for:
• mining and quarrying
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• civil engineering
• ground water circulation
• hydrothermal solutions and mineral deposits
Despite their ubiquitous nature and their practical importance, there are several reasons why
analyzing joints is not easy and is subject to considerable uncertainty:
• age usually unknown

• they are easily reactivated
• they represent virtually no measurable strain
• there are many possible mechanisms of origin
18.2.1 Terminology
Systematic joints commonly are remarkably smooth and planar with regular spacing. They
nearly always occur in sets of parallel joints. Joint sets are systematic over large regions. Joint systems
are composed of two or more joint sets. Joints which regularly occur between (i.e. they do not cross) two
member of a joint set are called cross joints.
Most joints are actually a joint zone made of “en echelon” sets of fractures:
a joint
detail shows how the end of

A right-stepping, en echelon joint the en echelon segments
curve towards each other
Joint systems are consistent over large regions indicating that the scale of processes that control
jointing is also regional in nature. For example, in the Appalachians, the joints are roughly perpendicular
to the fold axes over broad regions:

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New York
0 100 km
Lake Erie
folds
Ohio
New
Pennsylvania Jersey
Joints are not always perpendicular to fold axes or even related to regional folds in any systematic
way. On the Colorado Plateau, for example, joints in sedimentary rocks are parallel to the metamorphic
foliation in the basement.
18.2.2 Surface morphology of the joint face:

ol
de
rj
oi
n
plumose oint
t
direction of ger j
markings propagation youn
"Butting relation" (map view)

twist hackles
This kind of morphology indicates that the fracture propagates very rapidly. Younger joints nearly
always terminate against older joints at right angles. This is called a butting relation. As we will see
later in the course, this occurs because the older joint acts like as free surface with no shear stress

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18.2.3 Special Types of Joints and Joint-related Features
Although many joints are tectonic in origin (e.g. the joints in sedimentary rocks of the Ithaca
area), others are totally unrelated to tectonics. Some special types:
Sheet structure or exfoliation -- This is very common in the granitoid rocks and other rocks are
were originally free from other types of joints. Sheet joints form thin, curved, generally convex-upward
shells which parallel the local topography. The sheets get thicker and less numerous with depth in the
earth and die out completely at about 40 m depth. The sheets are generally under compression parallel to
their length; the source of this compression is not well understood. In general, they are related to
gravitational unloading of the granitoid terrain. In New England, they have been used to construct the
pre-glacial topography because they formed before the last glaciation:
pre-glacial land surface
present land surface
Spalling and rock bursts in mines and quarries -- In man made excavations, the weight of the
overburden is released very suddenly. This creates a dangerous situation in which pieces of rock may
literally “explode” off of the newly exposed wall or tunnel (it is released by the formation of a joint at
acoustic velocities). For this reason quarries, especially deep ones, after miners make a new excavation,
no one is allowed to work near the new face of rock for a period of hours or days until the danger of rock
bursts has passed.
Cooling joints in volcanic rocks—The process involved is thermal contraction; as the rock
cools it shrinks, pulling itself apart. This is the source of the well known columnar joints in basaltic rocks,
etc.
18.2.4 Maximum Depth of True Tensile Joints
True tensile joints, with no shear on their surfaces, occur only in the very shallow part of the

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Earth’s crust. The shape of the Mohr failure envelop gives us some insight into the maximum depth of
formation of true joints:
σs
To σ∗1 = | 3To |
σn
If we assume that, near the surface of the earth, σ1 is vertical, then we can write the stress as a function of
depth, the density of rocks, and the pore fluid pressure:
σ1 = ρgz (1 - λ)
where λ is the fluid pressure ratio: λ = Pf / ρgz.
The maximum depth of formation of tensile joints, then, is:
3To
Zmax =
ρg(1 − λ )
Thus, except at very high pore fluid pressures, the maximum depth of formation of joints is about 6 km,
given that the tensile strength of rocks, To , is usually less than 40 MPa.
18.3 Veins
Veins form when joints or other fractures in a rock with a small amount of shear are filled with
material precipitated from a fluid. For many reasons, veins are extremely useful for studying local and

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regional deformations:
• record incremental strains

• many contain dateable material
• fluid inclusions in the vein record the temperature and pressure conditions at the time the vein formed
In addition, veins have substantial economic importance because many ore deposits are found in veins.
The Mother Lode which caused the California gold rush in 1849 is just a large gold-bearing quartz vein.
18.3.1 Fibrous Veins in Structural Analysis
An extremely useful aspect of many veins is that the minerals grow in a fibrous form as the walls
of the vein open up, with the long axes of the fibers parallel to the incremental extension direction.
ε1
ε1
Step 1 Step 2
There are two types of fibrous veins, and it is important to distinguish between them in order to use them
in structural analysis:
Syntaxial veins form when the vein has the same composition as the host rock (e.g. calcite veins
in limestone). The first material nucleates on crystals in the wall of the vein and grows in optical
continuity with those. New material is added at the center of the vein (as in the example, above).
Antitaxial veins form when the vein material is a different composition than the host rock (e.g.
calcite vein in a quartzite). New material is always added at the margins of the vein.

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new material new material

added at margins added at center
step 1
step 3
step 2
step 3
step 2
step 1
step 2
step 2
step 3
step 1
Antitaxial Vein Syntaxial Vein
vein material a different vein material the same

composition than wall rocks composition than wall rocks
These are among the very few natural features which show the rotational history of a deformation and
thus are particularly useful for studying simple shear deformations.
It is important to remember that the fibers are not deformed. They are simply growing during
the deformation.
18.3.2 En Echelon Sigmoidal Veins
Veins in which the tip grows during deformation (so that the entire vein gets larger) also provide
information on the incremental history of the deformation. The tip always grows perpendicular to the
incremental (or infinitesimal) principal extension), even though the main part of the vein may have
rotated during the simple shear. These veins are called sigmoidal veins or sometimes “tension gashes.”
They can also be syntaxial or antitaxial, thus providing even more information.
The formation of all of these types of veins in a simple shear zone is illustrated below:

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Joints & Veins 140
infinitesimal strain axes

ε3 ε1
45° 45°
ε3 ε1
45° 45°
finite
strain
axes
Recall that, in a shear zone, the axes of the infinitesimal strain ellipse are always oriented at 45° to the
shear plane. Because the tips of the sigmoidal veins always propagate perpendicular to the infinitesimal
extension direction, the tips will also be at 45° to the shear zone boundary. If the veins grow in a
syntaxial style, as in the above diagram, the fibers at the tips and in the center of the vein will also be at
45°.
18.4 Relationship of Joints and Veins to other Structures
Faults& Shear Zones
Folds

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Faults I: Basic Terminology 141
LECTURE 19—FAULTS I: BASIC TERMINOLOGY
19.1 Descriptive Fault Geometry
For faults that are not vertical, there are two very useful terms for describing the blocks on either
side of the fault. These terms can be used either for normal or reverse faults:
• Hanging Wall, so called because it “hangs” over the head of a miner, and
• Footwall, because that’s the block on which the miners feet were located.
Hanging Wall
Footwall
The three dimensional geometry of a fault surface can be quite variable, and there are several
terms to describe it:
• Planar -- a flat, planar surface
• Listric (from the Greek word “listron” meaning shovel shaped) -- fault dip
becomes shallower with depth, i.e. concave-upward
• Steepening downward or convex up
• Anastomosing -- numerous branching irregular traces
In three dimensions, faults are irregular surfaces. All faults either have a point at which (a) their displacement
goes to zero, (b) they reach a point where the intersect another fault, or (c) they intersect the surface of the
Earth. There are three terms to describe these three possibilities:
• Tip Line -- Where fault displacement goes to zero; it is the line which separates
slipped from unslipped rock, or in the above crack diagrams, it is the edge of
the crack. Unless it intersects the surface of the Earth or a branch line, the tip

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line is a closed loop
• Branch Line -- the line along which one fault intersects with or branches off
of another fault
• Surface trace -- the line of intersection between the fault surface and the land
surface
19.2 Apparent and Real Displacement
The displacement of one block relative to another is known as the slip vector. This vector
connects two points which were originally adjacent on either side of the fault. It is extremely unusual to
find a geological object which approximates a point that was “sliced in half” by a fault.
Fortunately, we can get the same information from a linear feature which intersects and was offset
across the fault surface. Such lines are known as piercing points. Most such linear features in geology
are formed by the intersection of two planes:
• intersection between a dike and a bed
• intersection of specific beds above and below an angular unconformity
• fold axis
It is however, much more common to see a planar feature offset by a fault. In this case, we can only talk
about separation, not slip:
strike
separation
dip
separation

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There are an infinite number of possible slips that could produce an observed separation of a planar
feature. If you just saw the top of the above block, you might assume that the fault is a strike slip fault. If
you just saw the front, you might assume a normal fault. However, it could be either one, or a combination
of the two.
19.3 Basic Fault Types
With this basic terminology in mind, we can define some basic fault types:
19.3.1 Dip Slip
Normal -- The hanging wall moves down with respect to the footwall. This movement results in
horizontal extension. In a previously undeformed stratigraphic section, this would juxtapose younger
rocks against older.
High-angle -- dip > 45°
Low-angle -- dip < 45°
Reverse -- the hanging wall moves up with respect to the footwall. This movement results in
horizontal shortening. In a previously undeformed stratigraphic section, this would juxtapose older
rocks against younger.
High-angle -- dip > 45°
Thrust -- dip < 45°
19.3.2 Strike-Slip
Right lateral (dextral)-- the other fault block (i.e. the one that the viewer is not standing on)
appears to move to the viewers right.
Left lateral (sinistral)-- the other fault block appears to move to the viewers left.
A wrench fault is a vertical strike-slip fault.
Oblique Slip -- a combination of strike and dip slip

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19.3.3 Rotational fault
In this case one block rotates with respect to the other. This can be due to a curved fault surface
[rotation axis is parallel to the fault surface], or where the rotation axis is perpendicular to the fault
surface. The latter case produces what is commonly known as a scissors or a hinge fault:
Scissors Fault:
19.4 Fault Rocks
The process of faulting produces distinctive textures in rocks, and those textures can be classified
according to the deformation mechanism that produced it. Again, the two general classes of mechanisms
that we discussed in class are: Frictional-Cataclastic (“Brittle mechanisms”), and crystal-plastic mechanisms.
19.4.1 Sibson’s Classification
Presently, the most popular classification method of fault rocks comes from the work by Sibson.
He has two general categories, based on whether the texture of the rock is foliated or random:

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Random Fabric Foliated Fabric
Fault breccia
(visable fragments > 30%)
Incohesive
Fault gouge
(visable fragments < 30%)
crush breccia
(fragments > 0.5 cm)
fine crush breccia

(fragments 0.1 - 0.5 cm) 0 - 10 %
Proportion of Matrix
Cohesive
crush micro-breccia
(fragments < 0.1 cm)
Protocataclasite Protomylonite 10 - 50 %
Cataclasite Mylonite 50 - 90 %
Ultracataclasite Ultramylonite 90 - 100 %
These rock types tend to form at different depths in the earth:
non-cohesive gouge &

breccia
1 - 4 km
cohesive cataclasite series
(non-foliated)
250-350°C 10 - 15 km
cohesive mylonite series
(foliated)

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19.4.2 The Mylonite Controversy
There exists to this day no generally accepted definition f the term “mylonite” despite the fact
that it is one of the most commonly used fault rock names. There are two or three current definitions:
• A fine grained, laminated rock produced by extreme microbrecciation and

milling of rocks during movement on fault surfaces. This definition is closest
to the original definition of Lapworth for the mylonites along the Moine thrust
in Scotland
• Any laminated rock in which the grain size has been reduced by any mechanism
during the process of faulting. This is an “intermediate” definition.
• A fault rock in which the matrix has deformed by dominantly crystal-plastic

mechanisms, even though more resistant grains may deform by cracking and
breaking. This definition tends to be that most used today.
The problem with these definitions is that they tend to be genetic rather than descriptive, and they don’t
take into account the fact that, under the same temperature and pressure conditions, different minerals
will deform by different mechanisms.

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Faults II: Slip Sense & Surface Effects
LECTURE 20—FAULTS II: SLIP SENSE & SURFACE

EFFECTS
20.1 Surface Effects of Faulting
Faults that cut the surface of the Earth (i.e. the tip line intersects the surface) are known as
emergent faults. They produce a topographic step known as a scarp:
fault scarp fault-line scarp
The scarp can either be the surface exposure of the fault plane, in which case it is a fault scarp or it can
simply be a topographic bump aligned with, but with a different dip than, the fault (a fault-line scarp).
Where scarps of normal faults occur in mountainous terrain, one common geomprohic indicator of the
fault line are flat irons along the moutain front:
flat irons

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These are particularly common in the Basin and Range of the western United States. In areas of strike-slip
faulting, features such as off-set stream valleys, and sag ponds — wet swampy areas along the fault trace
— are common (sag ponds can also be seen along normal and thrust fault traces).
off-set stream
sag pond
Faults which do not cut the surface of the Earth (i.e. their tip lines do not intersect the surface) are
called blind faults. They can still produce topographic uplift, particularly if the tip line is close to the
surface, but the uplift is broader and more poorly defined than with emergent faults. Blind faults have
stirred quite a bit of interest in recent years because of their role in seismic hazard. The recent Northridge
Earthquake occurred along a blind thrust fault.
20.2 How a Fault Starts: Riedel Shears
clay cake
Much of our basic understanding of the array of structures that develop during faulting comes from
experiments with clay cakes deformed in shear, as in the picture, above. These experiments show that
strike-slip is a two stage process involving

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• pre-rupture structures, and

• post-rupture structures.
20.2.1 Pre-rupture Structures
Riedel Shears :
φ
90 -
2
φ
2
90 - φ R
(synthetic)
R' (antithetic)
The initial angles that the synthetic and antithetic shears form at is controlled by their coefficient of
internal friction. Those angles and the above geometry mean that the maximum compression and the
principal shortening axis of infinitesimal strain are both oriented at 45° to the shear zone boundary.
With continued shearing they will rotate (clockwise in the above diagram) to steeper angles.
Because the R' shears are originally at a high angle to the shear zone they will rotate more quickly and
become inactive more quickly than the R shears. In general, the R shears are more commonly observed,
probably because they have more displacement on them.
Riedel shears can be very useful for determining the sense of shear in brittle fault zones.
Extension Cracks: In some cases, extension cracks will form, initially at 45° to the shear zone:

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45°
These cracks can serve to break out blocks which subsequently rotate in the shear zone, domino-style:
Note that the faults between the blocks have the opposite sense of shear than the shear zone itself.
20.2.2 Rupture & Post-Rupture Structures
A rupture, a new set of shears, called “P-shears”, for symmetric to the R-shears. These tend to
link up the R-shears, forming a through-going fault zone:
P-shears
φ R
2 (synthetic)
R' (antithetic)

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20.3 Determination of Sense of Slip
To understand the kinematics of fault deformation, we must determine their slip. The slip vector
is composed of two things: (1) the orientation of a line along which the blocks have moved, and (2) the
sense of slip (i.e. the movement of one block with respect to the other).
Geological features usually give us one or the other of these. Below, I’ll give you a list of features,
many of which may not mean much to you right now. Later in the course, we will describe several in
detail. I give you their names now just so that you’ll associate them with the determination of how a fault
moves.
Orientation
Frictional-Cataclastic faults
grooves, striae, slickensides, slickenlines
Crystal plastic
mineral lineations
Sense
Frictional-cataclastic
Riedel shears, steps, tool marks, sigmoidal gash fractures, drag folds, curved mineral
fibers
Crystal plastic mechanisms
Sheath folds, S-C fabrics, asymmetric c-axis fabrics, mica fish, asymmetric augen,
fractured and rotated mineral grains

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Orientations of Common Fault-Related Features
Shear Fractures Veins

45°
~10° 45°
φ/2
R
P 90° − φ/2
R'
R = synthetic Riedel shear
R' = antithetic Riedel shear
P = P-shear; φ = angle of internal friction Same sense of shear applies to all following diagrams
Riedel Shears
These features are well described in the classic papers by Tchalenko (1970), Wilcox et al. (1973),
etc. The discussion below follows Petit (1987). It si uncommon to find unambiguous indicators of
movement on the R or R' surfaces and one commonly interprets them based on striation and angle
alone In my experience, R shears can be misleading and one should take particular care in using
them without redundant indicators or collaborative indicators of a different type.
"RO"-Type (top): The fault surface is totally

composed of R and R' surfaces. There are no P
surfaces or an average surface of the fault plane.
Fault surface has a serrated profile. Not very
common.
R' R
"RM"-Type (middle): The main fault surface is

completely striated. R shears dip gently (5-15°)
into the wall rock; R' shears are much less
common. The tip at the intersection of R and the
main fault plane commonly breaks off, leaving an
unstriated step.
Lunate fractures (bottom): R shears commonly

have concave curvature toward the fault plane,
resulting in "half moon" shaped cavities or
depressions in the fault surface.
diagrams modified after Petit (1987)

[sense of shear is top (missing) block to the right in all the diagrams on this page]

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Striated P-Surfaces
These features were first described by Petit (1987). The fault plane is only partially striated, and
the striations only appear on the up-flow sides of asperities.
P
"PT"-Type (top & middle): ~ planar, non-striated
surfaces dip gently into the wall rock. Petit (1987)
calls these "T" surfaces because of lack of
T evidence for shear, but they commonly form at
angles more appropriate for R shears. Striated P
surfaces face the direction in which that block
moved. Steep steps developed locally at
intersection between P and T. P surfaces may be
relatively closely spaced (top) or much farther apart
(middle).
"PO"-Type (bottom) : T surfaces are missing

entirely. Striated P surfaces face in direction of
movement of the block in which they occur. Lee
side of asperities are unstriated.
Unstriated Fractures ("T fractures")

Although "T" refers to "tension" it is a mistake to consider these as tensile fractures. They
commonly dip in the direction of movement of the upper (missing) block and may be filled with
veins or unfilled.
"Tensile Fractures" (top): If truely tensile in origin

and formed during the faulting event, these should
initiate at 45° to the fault plane and then rotate to
higher angles with wall rock deformation. Many
naturally occuring examples are found with angles
between 30° and 90°. They are referred to as
"comb fractures" by Hancock and Barka (1987).
veins or empty fractures
Crescent Marks (bottom) Commonly concave in
the direction of movement of the upper (missing)
block. They virtually always occur in sets and are
usually oriented at a high angle to the fault surface.
They are equivalent the "crescentic fractures"
formed at the base of glaciers.


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"S-C" Fabrics
Although commonly associated with ductile shear zones, features kinematically identical to S-C
fabrics also occur in brittle fault zones. There are two types: (1) those that form in clayey gouge in
clastic rocks and (2) those that form in carbonates. They have not been described extensively in
the literature. This is somewhat odd because I have found them one of the most useful, reliable,
and prevalent indicators.
Clayey Gouge fabric (top ): Documented by

Chester and Logan (1987) and mentioned by Petit
(1987). Fabric in the gouge has a sigmoidal shape
very similar to S-surfaces in type-1 mylonites. This
implies that the maximum strain in the gouge and
displacement in the shear zone is along the walls.
Abberations along faults may commonly be related
to local steps in the walls.
gouge
Carbonate fabric (top ): This feature is

particularly common in limestones. A pressure
solution cleavage is localized in the walls of a fault
zone. Because maximum strain and displacement
is in the center of the zone rather than the edges,
the curvature has a different aspect than the clayey
gouge case. The fault surface, itself, commonly
has slip-parallel calcite fibers.
pressure solution cleavage
Mineral Fibers & Tool Marks
Mineral Fibers and Steps (top): When faulting

occurs with fluids present along an undulatory
fault surface or one with discrete steps, fiberous
minerals grow from the lee side of the asperities
where stress is lower and/or gaps open up.
These are very common in carbonate rocks and
less so in siliceous clastic rocks.
Tool Marks (bottom): This feature is most com-

mon in rocks which have clasts much harder that
the matrix. During faulting, these clasts gouge
the surface ("asperity ploughing" of Means
[1987]), producinig trough shaped grooves.
Although some attempt to interpret the grooves
alone, to make a reliable interpretation, one must
see the clast which produced the groove as well.
Other- wise, it is impossible to tell if the deepest
part of the groove is where the clast ended up or
where it was plucked from.

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Faults III: Dynamics & Kinematics
LECTURE 21—FAULTS III: DYNAMICS & KINEMATICS
21.1 Introduction
Remember that the process of making a fault in unfractured, homogeneous rock mass could be
described by the Mohr’s circle for stress intersecting the failure envelope.
op
nvel
ur ee
σs fail
2θ
σn
σ3 * σ1 *
Under upper crustal conditions, the failure envelope has a constant slope and is referred to as the
Coulomb failure criteria:
σs = So + σn* µ, where µ = tan φ.
What this says is that, under these conditions, faults should form at an angle of 45° - φ/2 with respect to
σ1. Because for many rocks, φ ≈ 30°, fault should form at about 30° to the maximum principal stress, σ1:
σ1 45 - φ/2
45 + φ/2
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Furthermore the Mohr’s Circle shows that, in two dimensions, there will be two possible fault
orientations which are symmetric about σ1.
σ1 45 - φ/2
45 + φ/2
Such faults are called conjugate fault sets and are relatively common in the field. The standard
interpretation is that σ1 bisects the acute angle and σ3 bisects the obtuse angle between the faults.
21.2 Anderson’s Theory of Faulting
Around the turn of the century, Anderson realized the significance of Coulomb failure, and
further realized that, because the earth’s surface is a “free surface” there is essentially no shear stress parallel to
the surface of the Earth. [The only trivial exception to this is when the wind blows hard.]
Therefore, one of the three principal stresses must be perpendicular to the Earth’s surface, because
a principal stress is always perpendicular to a plane with no shear stress on it. The other two principal
stresses must be parallel to the surface:
σ1 vertical,
σ2 vertical, or
σ3 vertical
This constraint means that there are very few possible fault geometries for near surface deformation.
They are shown below:
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45 - φ/2
Thrust faults
dip < 45°

σ1
σ3
45 + φ/2
σ3 Normal faults
dip > 45°
σ1
σ2 σ3 Strike-slip
σ1
Anderson’s theory has proved to be very useful but it is not a universal rule. For example, the
theory predicts that we should never see low-angle normal faults near the Earth’s surface but, as we shall
see later in the course, we clearly do see them. Likewise, high-angle reverse faults exist, even if they are
not predicted by the theory.
There are two basic problems with Anderson’s Theory:
• Rocks are not homogeneous as implied by Coulomb failure but commonly

have planar anisotropies. These include bedding, metamorphic foliations,
and pre-existing fractures. If σ1 is greater than about 60° to the planar anisotropy
then it doesn’t matter; otherwise the slip will probably occur parallel to the
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anisotropy.
• There is an implicit assumption of plane strain in Anderson’s theory -- no

strain is assumed to occur in the σ2 direction. Thus, only two fault directions
are predicted. In three-dimensional strain, there will be two pairs of conjugate
faults as shown by the work of Z. Reches.
four possible fault σ2

sets in 3D strain
σ3 σ1
Listric faults and steepening downward faults would appear to present a problem for Anderson’s
theory, but this is not really the case. They are just the result of curving stress trajectories beneath the
Earth’s surface:
Because the stress trajectories curve, the faults must curve. The only
requirement is that they intersect the surface at the specified angles
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21.3 Strain from Fault Populations
Anderson’s law is commonly too restrictive for real cases where the Earth contains large numbers
of pre-existing fractures of various orientations in a variety of rock materials. Thus, structural geologists
have developed a number of new techniques to analyze fault populations. There are two basic ways to
study populations of faults: (1) to look at them in terms of the strain that they produce — e.g. kinematic
analysis, or (2) to interpret the faults in terms of the stress which produced them, or dynamic analysis.
Both of these methods have their advantages and disadvantages and all require knowledge of the sense
of shear of all of the faults included in the analysis.
21.3.1 Sense of Shear
Brittle shear zones have been the focus of increasing interest during the last decade. Their
analysis, either in terms of kinematics or dynamics, require that we determine the sense of shear. Because
piercing points are rare, we commonly need to resort to an interpretation of minor structural features
along, or within the shear zone itself. In general, these features include such things as (listed roughly in
order of decreasing reliability):
• sigmoidal extension fractures

• steps with mineral fibers
• shear zone foliations (“brittle S–C fabrics”)
• drag folds
• Riedel shears (with sense-of shear indicators)
• tool marks
21.3.2 Kinematic Analysis of Fault Populations
The simplest kinematic analysis, which takes it’s cue from the study of earthquake fault plane
solutions is the graphical P & T axis analysis. Despite their use in seismology as “pressure” and
“tension”, respectively, P and T axes are the infinitesimal strain axes for a fault. Perhaps the greatest
advantage of P and T axes are that, independent of their kinematic or dynamic significance, they are a
simple, direct representation of fault geometry and the sense of slip. That is, one can view them as simply
a compact alternative way of displaying the original data on which any further analysis is based. The
results of most of the more sophisticated analyses commonly are difficult to relate to the original data;
such is not the problem for P and T axes. For any fault zone, you can identify a movement plane, which
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is the plane that contains the vector of the fault and the pole to the fault. The P & T axes are located in the
movement plane at 45° to the pole:
P-axis
b-axis
mo
pole to fault plane

vem
ent
e
lan
pla
lt p
ne
T-axis
fau
striae & slip sense (arrow

shows movement of
hanging wall)
21.3.3 The P & T Dihedra
MacKenzie (1969) has pointed out, however, that particularly in areas with pre-existing fractures
(which is virtually everywhere in the continents) there may be important differences between the principal
stresses and P & T. In fact, the greatest principal stress may occur virtually anywhere within the
P-quadrant and the least principal stress likewise anywhere within the T-quadrant. The P & T dihedra
method proposed by Angelier and Mechler (1977) takes advantage of this by assuming that, in a population
of faults, the geographic orientation that falls in the greatest number of P-quadrants is most likely to
coincide with the orientation of σ1. The diagram, below, shows the P & T dihedra analysis for three
faults:
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3 3 3 3 3 2 2
3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 0
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 0
3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 2
3 3 3 3 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
3 3 3 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
3 3 3 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3
3 3 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
3 2 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3
3 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3
1 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 3
1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 3
1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 3
1 2 2 2 3 3 3
In the diagram, the faults are the great circles with the arrow-dot indicating the striae. The conjugate for
each fault plane is also shown. The number at each grid point shows the number of individual P-quadrants
that coincide with the node. The region which is within the T-quadrants of all three faults has been
shaded in gray. The bold face zeros and threes indicate the best solutions obtained using Lisle’s (1987)
AB-dihedra constraint. Lisle showed that the resolution of the P & T dihedra method can be improved by
considering how the stress ratio, R, affects the analysis. The movement plane and the conjugate plane
divide the sphere up into quadrants which Lisle labeled “A” and “B” (see figure below). If one principal
stress lies in the region of intersection of the appropriate kinematic quadrant (i.e. either the P or the T
quadrant) and the A quadrant then the other principal stress must lie in the B quadrant. In qualitative
terms, this means that the σ3 axis must lie on the same side of the movement plane as the σ1 axis.
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movement plane
σ3
O
B
A
pole to fault
A σ1
B
fault plane
S
conjugate plane
σ3
possible positions of σσ3 given σσ1

as shown
21.4 Stress From Fault Populations1
Since the pioneering work of Bott (1959), many different methods for inferring certain elements of
the stress tensor from populations of faults have been proposed. These can be grouped in two broad
categories: graphical methods (Compton, 1966; Arthaud, 1969; Angelier and Mechler, 1977; Aleksandrowski,
1985; and Lisle, 1987) and numerical techniques (Carey and Brunier, 1974; Etchecopar et al., 1981; Armijo
et al., 1982; Angelier, 1984, 1989; Gephart and Forsyth, 1984; Michael, 1984; Reches, 1987; Gephart, 1988;
Huang, 1988).
21.4.1 Assumptions
Virtually all numerical stress inversion procedures have the same basic assumptions:
1. Slip on a fault plane occurs in the direction of resolved shear stress (implying
that local heterogeneities that might inhibit the free slip of each fault plane --
including interactions with other fault planes -- are relatively insignificant).
2. The data reflect a uniform stress field (both spatially and temporally)—this
1
This supplemental section was co-written John Gephart and Rick Allmendinger and is adapted from the
1989 Geological Society of America shortcourse on fault analysis.
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requires that there has been no post-slip deformation of the region which
would alter the fault orientations.
While the inverse techniques may be applied to either fault/slickenside or earthquake focal
mechanism data, these assumptions may apply more accurately to the latter than the former. Earthquakes
may be grouped in geologically short time windows, and represent sufficiently small strains that rotations
may be neglected. Faults observed in outcrop, on the other hand, almost certainly record a range of
stresses which evolved through time, possibly indicating multiple deformations. If heterogeneous stresses
are suspected, a fault data set can easily be segregated into subsets, each to be tested independently. In
any case, to date there have been many applications of stress inversion methods from a wide variety of
tectonic settings which have produced consistent and interpretable results.
21.4.2 Coordinate Systems & Geometric Basis
Several different coordinate systems are use by different workers. The ones used here are those
of Gephart and Forsyth (1984), with an unprimed coordinate system which is parallel to the principal
stress directions, and a primed coordinate system fixed to each fault, with axes parallel to the pole, the
striae, and the B-axis (a line in the plane of the fault which is perpendicular to the striae) of the fault, as
shown below:
X1'
3
cos-1 13
X3
X1
X3' 1
striae
fault
[note -- for the convenience of

drawing, both sets of axes are
X2 X2' shown as left handed]
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cos -1 β 13 X3
σσ3
X1 '
X1
σσ1 fault
pole striae
X3 '
lt
fau
ne
pla
X2
σσ2
X2'
The relationship between the principal stress and the stress on the one fault plane shown is given
by a standard tensor transformation:
σij′ = βik βjl σ kl .
In the above equation, b ik is the transformation matrix reviewed earlier, skl are the regional stress
magnitudes, and sij' are the stresses on the plane. Expanding the above equation to get the components of
stress on the plane in terms of the principal stresses, we get:
σ11′ = β11β11σ1 + β12β 12σ2 + β13β13σ3 [normal traction],
σ12′ = β11β21σ1 + β12β 22σ2 + β13β23σ3 [shear traction ⊥ striae],
and σ13′ = β11β31σ1 + β12β 32σ2 + β13β33σ3 [shear traction // striae].
From assumption #1 above we require that σ12' vanishes, such that:
0 = β11β21σ1 + β12β 22σ2 + β13β23σ3 .
Combining this expression with the condition of orthogonality of the fault pole and B axis:
Economic Geo. _ JH
Lecture 2 1 167
0 = β11β 21 + β12β22 + β13β 23 .
yields
σ2 − σ1 β13 β23
≡ R=−
σ3 − σ1 β12 β22 . (21.1)
where the left-hand side defines the parameter, R, which varies between 0 and 1 (assuming that σ1 ≥ σ2 ≥
σ3) and provides a measure of the magnitude of σ2 relative to σ1 and σ3. A value of R near 0 indicates that
σ2 is nearly equal to σ1; a value near 1 means σ2 is nearly equal to σ32. Any combination of principal stress
and fault orientations which produces R > 1 or R < 0 from the right-hand side of (21.1) is incompatible
(Gephart, 1985). A further constraint is provided by the fact that the shear traction vector, σ13′, must have
the same direction as the slip vector (sense of slip) for the fault; this is ensured by requiring that σ13′ > 0.
Equation (21.1) shows that, of the 6 independent components of the stress tensor, only four can be
determined from this analysis. These are the stress magnitude parameter, R, and three stress orientations
indicated by the four βij terms (of which only three are independent because of the orthogonality relations).
21.4.3 Inversion Of Fault Data For Stress
Several workers have independently developed schemes for inverting fault slip data to obtain
stresses, based on the above conditions but following somewhat different formulations. In all cases, the
goal is to find the stress model (three stress directions and a value of R) which minimizes the differences
between the observed and predicted slip directions on a set of fault planes.
The first task is to decide: What parameter is the appropriate one to minimize in finding the
optimum model? The magnitude of misfit between a model and fault slip datum reflects either: (1) the
minimum observational error, or (2) the minimum degree of heterogeneity in stress orientations, in order
to attain perfect consistency between model and observation. Two simple choices may be considered:
Many workers (e.g. Carey and Brunier, 1974; Angelier, 1979, 1984) define the misfit as the angular
difference between the observed and predicted slip vector measured in the fault plane (referred to as a
2
An similar parameter was devised independently by Angelier and coworkers (Angelier et al., 1982;
Angelier, 1984, 1989):
σ2 − σ3
Φ= .
σ1 − σ 3
In this case, if Φ = 0, then σ 2 = σ3, and if Φ = 1, then σ2 = σ1. Thus, Φ = 1 – R.
Economic Geo. _ JH
Lecture 2 1 168
“pole rotation” because the angle is a rotation angle about the pole to the fault plane). This implicitly
assumes that the fault plane is perfectly known, such that the only ambiguity is in the orientation of the
striae (right side of figure below). Such an assumption may be acceptable for fault data from outcrop for
which it is commonly easier to measure the fault surface orientation than the orientation of the striae on
the fault surface. Alternatively, one can find the smallest rotation of coupled fault plane and striae about
any axis that results in a perfect fit between data and model (Gephart and Forsyth, 1984)—this represents
the smallest possible deviation between an observed and predicted fault slip datum, and can be much
smaller than the pole rotation, as shown in the left-hand figure below (from Gephart, in review). This
“minimum rotation” is particularly useful for analyzing earthquake focal mechanism data for which
there is generally similar uncertainties in fault plane and slip vector orientations.
conjugate plane
σ2 σ2
fault 15.3°
σ3 plane σ3
fault
4.8° plane
calc. striae
striae
σ1 σ1
minimum rotation pole rotation
Because of the extreme non-linearity of this problem, the most reliable (but computationally
demanding) procedure for finding the best stress model relative to a set of fault slip data involves the
application of an exhaustive search of the four model parameters (three stress directions and a value of R)
by exploring sequentially on a grid (Angelier, 1984; Gephart and Forsyth, 1984). For each stress model
examined the rotation misfits for all faults are calculated and summed; this yields a measure of the
acceptability of the model relative to the whole data set—the best model is the one with the smallest sum
of misfits. Following Gephart and Forsyth (1984), confidence limits on the range of acceptable models
Economic Geo. _ JH
Lecture 2 1 169
can then be calculated using statistics for the one norm misfit, after Parker and McNutt (1980). In order to
increase the computational efficiency of the inverse procedure, a few workers have applied some approx-
imations which enable them to linearize the non-linear conditions in this analysis (Angelier, 1984; Michael,
1984); naturally, these lead to approximate solutions which in some cases vary significantly from those of
more careful analyses. The inversion methods of Angelier et al. (1982, eq. 9 p. 611) and Michael (1984)
make the arbitrary assumption that the first invariant of stress is zero (σ11 + σ22 + σ33 = 0). Gephart (in
review) has noted that this implicitly prescribes a fifth stress parameter, relating the magnitudes of
normal and shear stresses (which should be mutually independent), the effect of which is seldom evaluated.
Following popular convention in inverse techniques, many workers (e.g. Michael, 1984; Angelier
et al., 1982) have adopted least squares statistics in the stress inversion problem (e.g. minimizing the sum
of the squares of the rotations). A least squares analysis, which is appropriate if the misfits are normally
distributed, places a relatively large weight on extreme (poorly-fitting) data. If there are erratic data (with
very large misfits), as empirically is often the case in fault slip analyses, then too much constraint is
placed on these and they tend to dominate a least squares inversion. One can deal with this by rejecting
anomalous data (Angelier, 1984, suggests truncating the data at a pole rotation of 45°), or by using a
one-norm misfit, which minimizes the sum of the absolute values of misfits (rather than the squares of
these), thus placing less emphasis on such erratic data, and achieving a more robust estimate of stresses
(Gephart and Forsyth, 1984).
21.5 Scaling Laws for Fault Populations
Much work over the last decade has shown that fault populations display power law scaling
characteristics (i.e., “fractal”). In particular, the following features have been shown to be scale invariant:
• trace length vs. cummulative number

• displacement vs. cummulative number
• trace length vs. displacement
• geometric moment vs. cummulative number
If the power law coefficients were known with certainty, then these relationships would have important
predictive power. Unfortunately, there are very few data sets which have been sample with sufficient
completeness to enable unambiguous determination of the coefficients.
Economic Geo. _ JH
Lecture 2 2 170
Faults IV: Mechanics of Thrust Faults
LECTURE 22—FAULTS IV: MECHANICS OF THRUST FAULTS
22.1 The Paradox of Low-angle Thrust Faults
In many parts of the world, geologists have recognized very low angle thrust faults in which
older rocks are placed over younger. Very often, the dip of the fault surface is only a few degrees. Such
structures were first discovered in the Alps around 1840 and have intrigued geologists ever since. The
basic observations are:
1. Faults are very low angle, commonly < 10°;
2. Overthrust blocks of rock are relatively thin, ~ 5 - 10 km;
3. The map trace of individual faults is very long, 100 - 300 km; and
4. The blocks have been displaced large distances, 10s to 100s of km.
What we have is a very thin sheet of rock that has been pushed over other rocks for 100s of kilometers.
This process has been likened to trying to push a wet napkin across a table top: There’s no way that the
napkin will move as a single rigid unit.
The basic problem, and thus the “paradox” of large overthrusts, is that rocks are apparently too
weak to be pushed from behind over long distances without deforming internally. That rocks are so
weak has been noted by a number of geologists, and was well illustrated in a clever thought experiment
by M. King Hubbert in the early 1950's. He posed the simple question, “if we could build a crane as big
as we wanted, could we pick up the state of Texas with it?” He showed quite convincingly that the
answer is no because the rocks that comprise the state (any rock in the continental crust) are too weak to
support their own weight.
22.2 Hubbert & Rubey Analysis
In 1959, Hubbert along with W. Rubey wrote a classic set of papers which clearly laid out the
mechanical analysis of the paradox of large overthrusts. I want to go through their analysis because it is a
superb illustration of the simple mechanical analysis of a structural problem.
Economic Geo. _ JH
Lecture 2 2 171
The simplest expression of the problem is to imagine a rectangular block sitting on a flat surface.
When we push this block on the left side, the friction along the base, which is a function of the weight of
the block times the coefficient of friction, will resist the tendency of the block to slide to the right. The
basic boundary conditions are:
σ xx
σ zx z
X
σ zz
Note that indices used in the diagram above are the standard conventions that were used when we
discussed stress.
When the block is just ready to move, the applied stress, σxx, must just balance the shear stress at
the base of the block, σzx . We can express this mathematically as:
z x
∫0
σ xx dz = ∫ σ zx dx
0
(22.1)
We can get an expression for σzx easily enough because it’s just the frictional resistance to sliding,
which from last time is
σs = µ σn ,
or, in our notation, above
σzx = µ σzz . (22.2)
The normal stress, σzz, is just equal to the lithostatic load:
σzz = ρ g z .
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Lecture 2 2 172
So,
σzx = µ ρ g z .
We can now solve the right hand side of equation 22.1 (p. 171):
z x
∫0
σ xx dz = ∫ µρgz dx
0
and
z
∫σ 0
xx dz = µρgzx .
Now we need to evaluate the left side of the equation. Remember that we want to find the
largest stress that the block can support without breaking internally as illustrated in the diagram below.
σ1
σ xx
The limiting case then, is where the block does fracture internally, in which case there is no shear on the
base. So, in this limiting case
σ1 = σxx and σ3 = σzz .
Now to solve this problem, we need to derive a relationship between σ1 and σ3 at failure, which we can
get from Mohr’s circle for stress. From the geometry of the Mohr’s Circle, below, we see that:
σ1 − σ 3  σ1 + σ 3 S 
= + o  sin φ
2  2 tan φ 
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Lecture 2 2 173
σ1 - σ3
So
2
φ σ3 σ1
So σ1+ σ3
tan φ 2
Solving for σ1 in terms of σ3 we get:
σ1 = Co + K σ3 , (22.3)
where
1 + sin φ
Co = 2 So K and K= . (22.4)
1 − sin φ
So,
σxx = σ1 = Co + K σ3 = Co + K σzz .
But σzz = ρgz, so
σxx = Co + K ρgz .
Now, we can evaluate the left side of equation 22.1 (p. 171):
z
∫σ 0
xx dz = µρgzx
∫ (C + Kρgz ) dz = µρgzx
z
o
0
Economic Geo. _ JH
Lecture 2 2 174
Kρgz 2
Co z + = µρgzx .
2
Dividing through by z and solving for x, we see that the maximum length of the block is a linear function
of its thickness:
Co Kz
x= + . (22.5)
µρg 2 µ
Now, let’s plug in some realistic numbers. Given
φ = 30°
µ = 0.58
So = 20 Mpa
ρ = 2.3 gm/cm3,
we can calculate that

Co = 69.4 Mpa
K = 3.
With these values, equation 20-5 becomes:
xmax = 5.4 km + 2.6 z .
Thus,
Thickness Maximum Length
5 km 18.4 km
10 km 31.4 km
22.3 Alternative Solutions
These numbers are clearly too small, bearing out the paradox of large thrust faults which we
stated at the beginning of this lecture. Because large thrust faults obviously do exist, there must be
something wrong with the model. Over the years, people have suggested several ways to change it.
Economic Geo. _ JH
Lecture 2 2 175
1. Rheology of the basal zone is incorrect—In our analysis, above, we assumed that friction
governed the sliding of the rock over its base. However, it is likely that in some rocks, especially shales or
evaporites, or where higher temperatures are involved, plastic or viscous rheologies are more appropriate.
This would change the problem significantly because the yield strengths in those cases is independent of
the normal stress.
2. Pore Pressure—Pore pressure could reduce the effective normal stress on the fault plane [σzz*
= σzz - Pf] and therefore it would also reduce the frictional resistance due to sliding, σzx (from equation
20-2). There is, however, a trade off because, unless you somehow restrict the pore pressure to just the
fault zone, excess fluid pressure will make the block weaker as well (and we want the block as strong as
possible).
Hubbert and Rubey proposed that pore pressure was an important part of the answer to this
problem and they introduced the concept of the fluid pressure ratio:
Pf pore fluid pressure

λf = =
ρgz lithostatic stress
1.0
λλ f
= λ
f
0.9 z = 5 km 435
λ b = 0. = λ f
λ b λ b
0.435
λ b=
Fluid Pressure in fault zone,
0.8
0.7
z = 10 km
0.6
0.5
[after Suppe, 1985]
0 50 100 150 200

Maximum length, x (km)
max
The graph above show how pore pressure in the block (plotted as λ b) and pore pressure along the fault
(λf) affect the maximum length of the block. For blocks 5 and 10 km thick, two cases are shown, one
where there is no difference in pore pressure between block and fault, and the other where the pore
pressure is hydrostatic (assuming a density, ρ = 2.4 gm/cm3 ). The diagram was constructed assuming Co
Economic Geo. _ JH
Lecture 2 2 176
50 MPa and K = 3.
3. Thrust Plates Slide Downhill—This was the solution that Hubbert and Rubey favored
(aided by pore pressure), but the vast amount of seismic reflection data in thrust belts which has been
collected since they wrote their article shows that very few thrust faults move that way. Most major
thrust faults moved up a gentle slope of 2 - 10°.
There are major low-angle fault bounded blocks that slide down hill. The Heart Mountain
detachment in NW Wyoming is a good example.
4. Thrust Belts Analogous to Glaciers—Several geologists, including R. Price (1973) and D.

Elliott (1976) have proposed that thrust belts basically deform like glaciers. Like gravity sliding, the
spreading of a glacier is driven by its own weight, rather than being pushed from behind by some
tectonic interaction. Glaciers, however, can flow uphill as long as the topographic slope is inclined in the
direction of flow.
thrust faulting
horizontal extension at toe
("spreading")
This model was very popular in the 1970’s, but the lack of evidence for large magnitude horizontal
extension in the rear of the thrust belt, or “hinterland” has made it decline in popularity.
5. Rectangular Shape Is Not Correct—This is clearly an important point. Thrust belts and
individual thrust plates within them are wedge-shaped rather than rectangular as originally proposed by
Hubbert and Rubey. Many recent workers, including Chapple (1978) and Davis, Suppe, & Dahlen (1983,
and subsequent papers) have emphasized the importance of the wedge.
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Lecture 2 2 177
The wedge taper is defined the sum of two angles, the topographic slope, α, and the slope of the
basal décollement, β, as shown above. Davis et al. (1983) proposed that the wedge grows “self-similarly”,
maintaining a constant taper.
topographic slop
e, α
e, β
llement slop
basal déco
In their wedge mechanics, they propose the following relation between α and β when the wedge is a
critical taper:
α + β=
(1 − λ ) µ+ β
(1 − λ )k + 1
where µ is the coefficient of friction, λ is the Hubbert-Rubey pore pressure ratio, and k is closely related to
the “earth pressure coefficient” which was derived above in equations 20-3 and 20-4.
If the basal friction increases, either by changing the frictional coefficient, µ, or by increasing the
normal stress across the fault plane (which is the same as decreasing λ), the taper of the wedge will
increase. Note that, as λ → 1, α → 0. In other words, when there is no normal stress across the fault
because the lithostatic load is entirely supported by the pore pressure, there should be no topographic
slope.
If the wedge has a taper less than the critical taper, then it will deform internally by thrust faulting
in order to build up the taper. If its taper is greater than the critical taper, then it will deform by normal
faulting to reduce the taper.
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Lecture 2 3 178
Fold geometries
LECTURE 23—FOLDS I: GEOMETRY
Folding is the bending or flexing of layers in a rock to produce frozen waves. The layers may be
any planar feature, including sedimentary bedding, metamorphic foliation, planar intrusions, etc. Folds
occur at all scales from microscopic to regional. This first lecture will probably be mostly review for you,
but it’s important that we all recognize the same terminology.
23.1 Two-dimensional Fold Terminology
Antiform
Folds that are convex upward:
Synform
Folds that are concave upward:
To use the more common terms, anticline and syncline, we need to know which layers are older
and which layers are younger. Many folds of metamorphic and igneous rocks should only be described
using the terms antiform and synform.
Anticline Syncline
oldest rocks in the youngest rocks in the

center of the fold center of the fold
younger
older
It may, at first, appear that there is no significant difference between antiforms and anticlines and synforms
and synclines, but this is not the case. You can easily get antiformal synclines and synformal anticlines,
Economic Geo. _ JH
Lecture 2 3 179
Fold geometries
for example:
Synformal anticline old

er
Folds that are concave upward, yo

but the oldest beds are in the un
ge
middle: r
Folds can also be symmetric or asymmetric. The former occurs when the limbs of the folds are
the same length and have the same dip relative to their enveloping surface. In asymmetric folds, the
limbs are of unequal length and dip:
Symmetric folds:
limb
enveloping surface
Asymmetric folds:
limb
enveloping surface
Overturned folds:
W E
the tops of the more steeply dipping beds are facing or verging to the east
in this picture
In asymmetric and overturned folds the concept of vergence or facing is quite important. This is the
direction that the shorter, more steeply dipping asymmetric limb of the fold faces, or the arrows in the
above pictures.
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Lecture 2 3 180
Fold geometries
Numerous different scales folds can be superimposed on each other producing what are known
as anticlinoria and synclinoria:
anticlinoria synclinoria
Two final terms represent special cases of tilted or folded beds:
Monocline Homocline
23.2 Geometric Description of Folds
23.2.1 Two-dimensional (Profile) View:
The most important concept is that of the hinge, which is the point or zone of maximum curvature
in the layer. Other terms are self-explanatory:
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Lecture 2 3 181
Fold geometries
hinge zone hinge point
amplitude
inflection
lim
point
b
wavelength
Note that the amplitude is the distance from the top (or bottom) of the folds to the inflection point.
23.2.2 Three-dimensional View:
In three dimensions, we can talk about the hinge line, which may be straight or curved, depending
on the three-dimensional fold geometry. The axial surface contains all of the hinge lines. It is more
commonly referred to as the “axial plane” but this is a special case where all of the hinge lines lie in a
single plane.
crest line -- the line which lies hinge line -- the line connecting all
along the highest points in a the points of maximum curvature
folded layer in a single layer
trough line -- the line which lies

along the lowest points in a
axial surface -- the surface containing folded layer
all of the hinge lines of all of the layers
In practice, you specify the orientation of the hinge line by measuring its trend and plunge. This information,
alone, however, is insufficient to totally define the orientation of the fold. For example, all of the folds
below have identical hinge lines, but are clearly quite different:
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Lecture 2 3 182
Fold geometries
To completely define the orientation of a fold you need to specify both the trend and plunge of the hinge
line and the strike and dip of the axial surface. The orientation of the axial surface alone is not sufficient
either.
Most of the time, you will be representing the fold in two-dimensional projections: cross-sections,
structural profiles or map views. In these cases what you show is the trace of the axial surface, or the
axial trace. This is just the intersection between the axial surface and the plane of your projection.
23.3 Fold Names Based on Orientation
The hinge line lies within the axial plane, but the trend of the hinge line is only parallel to the
strike of the axial surface when the hinge line is horizontal. If the hinge line is not horizontal, then we say
that the fold is a plunging fold. The following table give the complete names for fold orientations:
Dip of the Axial Surface
90 0
upright inclined recumbent
sub-horizontal
Plunge of the Hinge Line
ed
plunging
lin
ec
R
sub-vertical
90
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Lecture 2 3 183
Fold geometries
23.4 Fold Tightness
Another measure of fold geometry is the interlimb angle, shown in the diagram below.
interlimb angle
With this concept, there are yet more descriptive terms for folded rocks:
Name Interlimb Angle

Flat lying, Homocline 180°
Gentle 170 - 180°
Open 90 -170°
Tight 10 - 90°
Isoclinal 0 - 10°
Economic Geo. _ JH
Lecture 2 3 184
Fold geometry & kinematics
LECTURE 24 — FOLDS II: GEOMETRY & KINEMATICS
24.1 Fold Shapes
We have been drawing folds only one way, with nice smooth hinges, etc. But, there are many
different shapes that folds can take:
Chevron folds Kink Bands
Cuspate folds Box folds
Disharmonic folds
Economic Geo. _ JH
Lecture 2 4 185
24.2 Classification Based on Shapes of Folded Layers
One way of quantifying fold shape is by construction dip isogon diagrams. Dip isogons are lines
which connect points of the same dip on different limbs of folds:
Construction of dip isogons:
lines of constant dip

dip isogon
By plotting dip isogons, you can identify three basic types of folds:
Class 1:
Inner beds more curved than outer beds. Dip Isogons fan outward
1A -- isogons on limbs make an 1B -- isogons are everywhere 1C -- isogons on limbs make an

obtuse angle with respect to perpendicular to the beds, on acute angle with respect to the
the axial surface both innner and outer surfaces. axial surface
These are Parallel folds
Class 2: Inner and outer surfaces Class 3: Inner surface is less curved
have the same curvature. Dip isogons than the outer surface. Dip isogons
are parallel to each other and to the fan inwards
axial surface. These are Similar folds
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Lecture 2 4 186
24.3 Geometric-kinematic Classification:
24.3.1 Cylindrical Folds
Cylindrical folds are those in which the surface can be generated or traced by moving a line
parallel to itself through space. This line is parallel to the hinge line and is called the fold axis. Only
cylindrical folds have a fold axis. Thus, the term fold axis is properly applied only to this type of fold.
If you make several measurements of bedding on a perfectly cylindrical fold and plot them as
great circles on a stereonet, all of the great circles will intersect at a single point. That point is the fold
axis. The poles to bedding will all lie on a single great circle. This is the practical test of whether or not a
fold is cylindrical:
Fold axis Fold axis
ß diagram π diagram
There are two basic types of cylindrical folds:
Parallel Folds -- In parallel folds, the layer thickness, measured perpendicular to bedding
remains constant. Therefore, parallel folds are equivalent to class 1B folds described above. Some special
types of parallel folds:
Concentric folds are those in which all folded layers have the same center of curvature and the
radius of curvature decreases towards the cores of the folds. Therefore, concentric folds get tighter
towards the cores and more open towards the anticlinal crests and synclinal troughs. The Busk method
Economic Geo. _ JH
Lecture 2 4 187
of cross-section construction is based on the concept of concentric folds. These types of folds eventually
get so tight in the cores that the layers are “lifted-off” an underlying layer. The French word for this is
“décollement” which means literally, “unsticking”.
flow of
weak rocks
Kink Folds have angular axes and straight limbs. The layers do not have a single center of
curvature. As we will see later in the course, these are among the easiest to analyze quantitatively
γ
γ
The axis of the kink has to bisect the

angles between the two dip panels or
the layer thickness will not be preserved
Similar Folds -- The other major class of cylindrical folds is similar folds. These are folds in
which the layer thickness parallel to the axial surface remains constant but thickness perpendicular to the
layers does not. They are called similar because each layer is “similar” (ideally, identical) in curvature to
the next. Thus, they comprise class 2 folds. In similar folds, there is never a need for a décollement
because you can keep repeating the same shapes forever without pinching out the cores:
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Lecture 2 4 188
Similar Folds
24.3.2 Non-Cylindrical Folds
These folded surfaces cannot be traced by a line moving parallel to itself. In practice what this
means is that the fold shape changes geometry as you move parallel to the hinge line. Thus, they are
complex, three dimensional features. Some special types:
Conical folds -- the folded surfaces in these folds are in the shape of a cone. In other words, the
folded layers converge to a point, beyond which the fold does not exist at all.
There is a very distinct difference between plunging cylindrical fold and conical folds. The conical fold
simply does not exist beyond the tip of the cone. Thus, the shortening due to fold of the layers changes
along strike of the hinge. Conical folds are commonly found at the tip lines of faults.
Sheath folds -- These are a special type of fold that forms in environments of high shear strain,
such as in shear, or mylonite, zones. They are called “sheath” because they are shaped like the sheath of a
knife.
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Lecture 2 4 189
Sheath folds are particularly useful for determining the sense of shear in mylonite zones. The upper plate
moved in the direction of closure of the sheath. They probably start out as relatively cylindrical folds and
then get distorted in the shear zone.
24.4 Summary Outline
• Cylindrical
Parallel
Concentric
Kink
Similar
• Non-cylindrical
Conical
Sheath
24.5 Superposed Folds
Multiple deformations may each produce their own fold sets, which we label F1 , F2, etc., in the
order of formation. This superposition of folds can produce some very complex geometries, which can be
very difficult to distinguish on two dimensional exposures. Ramsay (1967; Ramsay & Huber, 1985) have
come up with a classification scheme based on the orientations of the fold axis (labeled F 1, below) and
axial surface (the black plane, below) of the first set of folds with respect to the fold axis (labeled b2,
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Lecture 2 4 190
below) and the sense of displacement of the layer during the second folding (labeled a2, below). With this
approach, there are four types of superposed fold geometries:
Type 0:
fold axis
of 1
b2
+ =
a2
axial plane
of 1
Type 1:
+ =
Type 2:
+ =
Type 3:
+ =
Type 0 results in folds which are indistinguishable from single phase folds. Type 1 produces the
classic “dome and basin” or “egg-carton” pattern. Type 2 folds in cross-section look like boomerangs.
Type 3 folds are among the easiest to recognize in cross-section.
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Lecture 2 5 191
Fold Kinematics
LECTURE 25—FOLDS III: KINEMATICS
25.1 Overview
Kinematic models of fold development can be divided into five types:
1. Gaussian Curvature,
2. Buckling,
3. Layer parallel shear,
4. Shear oblique to layers, and
5. Pure shear passive flow.
The first two treat only single layers while the third and fourth address multilayers. The final one treats
layers as passive markers, only. All are appropriate only to cylindrical folds. Thus, you should not think
of these as mutually exclusive models. For example, you can have buckling of a single layer with shear
between layers.
25.2 Gaussian Curvature
The curvature of a line, C, is just the inverse of the radius of curvature:
1
C= .
rcruvature
In any surface, you can identify a line (really a family of parallel lines) with maximum curvature and a
line of minimum curvature. These two are called the “principal curvatures.” The product of the
maximum and minimum curvatures is known as the Gaussian curvature, a single number which describes
the overall curvature of a surface:
CGauss = Cmax Cmin .
There is a universal aspect to this: the Gaussian curvature of a surface before and after a deformation remains
constant unless the surface is stretched or compressed (and thereby distorted internally). Although few people
realize it, we deal with this fact virtually daily: corrugated cardboard boxes get their strength from the
fact that the middle layer started out flat before it folded and sandwiched between the two flat outer
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Fold Kinematics
layers. Because its Gaussian curvature started out at zero, it must be zero after folding, meaning that
bending it perpendicular to the folds is not possible without internally deforming the surface. Corrugated
tin roofs are the same. In general, by folding a flat layer in one direction, you give the layer great
resistance to bending in any other direction.
Because bedding starts out flat or nearly so, its minimum curvature after folding must be zero if
the layer is not to have significant internal deformation. In other words, the fold axis must be a straight line.
The folds which meet this criteria are cylindrical folds; non-cylindrical folds do not because their hinge
lines (the line of minimum curvature) are not straight. [Now you see why we distinguish between axes
and hinges!]
line of minimum curvature

A non-cylindrical folded layer in
which Gaussian curvature is not
equal to zero after folding
line of maximum curvature
25.3 Buckling
Buckling applies to a single folded layer of finite thickness, or to multiple layers with high
cohesive strength between layers:
A B
perpendicular before and after
deformation, so no shear parallel
to the folded layer
C D
A' B'
C' neutral surface D'
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Fold Kinematics
Note how in the above picture the outer arc gets longer (i.e. A'B' > AB) and the inner arc gets shorter
(C'D' < CD). In the middle, there must be a line that is the same length before and after the folding. In
three dimensions, this is called the neutral surface.
Bedding thickness remains constant; thus, the type of fold produced is a parallel or class 1b fold.
Because a line perpendicular to the layer remains perpendicular, there can be no shear strain parallel to
the layer. In an anticline-syncline pair, the maximum strains would be in the cores of the folds, with zero
strain at the inflection point on the limbs:
You can commonly find geological evidence of buckling of individual beds during folding:
veins, boudings, normal faults, etc.
thrust faults, stylolites, etc.
25.4 Shear Parallel to Layers
There are two end member components to this kinematic model. The only difference between
them is the layer thickness:
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Fold Kinematics
• Flexural Slip -- multiple strong stiff layers of finite thickness with low
cohesive strength between the layers
• Flexural Flow -- The layer thickness is taken to be infinitesimally thin.
Because they’re basically the same, we’ll mostly concentrate on flexural slip.
no shear in
the hinge
ψψ
opposite sense of shear on the limbs
Because shear is parallel to the layers, it means that one of the two lines of no finite and no infinitesimal
elongation will be parallel to the layers. Thus, the layers do not change length during the deformation.
The slip between the layers is perpendicular to the fold axis. You can think of this type of deformation as
“telephone book” deformation. When you bend a phone book parallel to its binding, the pages slide past
one another but the individual pages don’t change dimensions; they are just as wide (measured in the
deformed plane) as they started out.
Note that the sense of shear changes only across the hinge zones but is consistent between
anticlinal and synclinal limbs:
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Fold Kinematics
When you have an incompetent layer, such as a shale, between two more competent layers which are
deforming by this mechanism, the shear between the layers can produce drag folds, or parasitic folds, on
the limbs of the larger structure:
Because the layers of flexural slip (as opposed to flexural flow) folds have finite thickness, you
can see that they must deform internally by some other mechanism, such as buckling. Thus, buckling and
flexural slip are not by any means mutually exclusive.
25.4.1 Kink folds
Kink folds are a special type of flexural slip fold in which the fold hinges have infinite curvature
(because the radius of curvature is equal to zero).
γi if layer thickness is constant, then

γe γi = γe
no shear in horizontal layers, only in dipping layers
If the internal kink angle γi < γe then you will have thinning of the beds in the kink band; if γi > γe then
the beds in the kink band will thicken.
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Fold Kinematics
25.4.2 Simple Shear during flexural slip

δ 
For kink bands: tan ψ = 2 tan [δ = dip of bedding]
 2
δ 
average slip = s = 2 h tan
 2
π
For curved hinges: tan ψ = δ = 0.0175 δ
180°
π
average slip = s = hδ
180°
The following graph show the relationship between bedding dip and shear on the limbs for kink and
curved hinge folds:
∞ at δ = 180°
3
kink folds
2
tan ψψ curved hinges
60° 120° 180°

dip, δδ
25.5 Shear Oblique To Layers
This type of mechanism will produce similar folds. In this case, the shear surfaces, which are
commonly parallel to the axial surfaces of the folds, are parallel to the lines of no finite and infinitesimal
elongation.
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Fold Kinematics
To make folds by simple shear without reversing the shear sense, you have to have heterogeneous
simple shear zone with the layer dipping in the same direction as the sense of shear in the zone.
25.6 Pure Shear Passive Flow
In this type of mechanism, the layers, which have already begun to fold by some other mechanism
behave as passive markers during a pure shear shortening and elongation. The folds produced can be
geometrically identical to the previous kinematic model:
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Fold Kinematics
volume constant, pure shear
volume reduction, no extension pure shear

(e.g. pressure solution)
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Fold Dynamics
LECTURE 26—FOLDS IV: DYNAMICS
26.1 Basic Aspects
There are two basic factors to be dealt with when one attempts to make a theoretical analysis of
folding:
1. Folded layers do not maintain original thickness during folding, and
2. Folded rocks consist of multiple layers or “multilayers” in which different

layers have different mechanical properties.
These two basic facts about folding have the following impact:
1. There is layer-parallel shortening before folding and homogeneous shortening

during folding. The latter will tend to thin the limbs of a fold and thicken the
hinges.
2. In multilayers, the first layers that begin to fold will control the wavelength of
the subsequent deformation. Incompetent layers will conform to the shape, or
the distribution and wavelength, of the more competent layers.
26.2 Common Rock Types Ranked According to “Competence”
The following list shows rock types from most competent (or stiffest) at the top to least at the
bottom:
Sedimentary Rocks Metamorphic Rocks
dolomite meta-basalt
arkose granite
quartz sandstone qtz-fspar-mica gneiss
greywacke quartzite
limestone marble
siltstone mica schist
marl
shale
anhydrite, halite
26.3 Theoretical Analyses of Folding
In general, theoretical analyses of folding involve three assumptions:
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Fold Dynamics
1. Folds are small, so gravity is not important
2. Compression is parallel to the layer to start
3. Plane strain deformation
26.3.1 Nucleation of Folds
If layers of rock were perfect materials and they were compressed exactly parallel to their layering,
then folds would never form. The layers would just shorten and thicken uniformly. Fortunately (at least
for those of us who like folds) layers of rock are seldom perfect, but have irregularities in them. Folds
nucleate, or begin to form, at these irregularities.
Bailey Willis, a famous structural geologist earlier in this century performed a simple experiment
while studying Appalachian folds. He showed that changes in initial dip of just 1 - 2° were sufficient to
nucleate folds.
As folds begin to form at irregularities, a single wave length will become dominant. Simple
theory shows that the dominant wavelength is a linear function of layer thickness:
E
for elastic deformation: Ld = 2πt 3
6 Eo
η
for viscous deformation: Ld = 2πt 3
6ηo
where Ld = dominant wavelength

t = thickness of the stiff layer
E = Young’s modulus of the stiff layer
Eo = Young’s modulus of the confining medium
η = viscosity modulus of the stiff layer
ηo = viscosity modulus of the confining medium
Viscous deformation will also depend on the layer parallel shortening:
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Fold Dynamics
η( S − 1)
Ld = 2πt
6ηo (2 S 2 )
3
λ1
S=
λ3
where λ is the quadratic elongation. Thus, the thicker the layer, the longer the wavelength of the fold:
For a single layer,

Ld
4≤ ≤6,
t
and for multilayers:
Ld
≈ 27 .
t
26.3.2 Growth of Folds
At what stage does this theory begin to break down? Generally around limb dips of ~15° [small
angle assumptions were used to derive the above equations]. For more advanced stages of folding, it is
common to use a numerical rather than analytical approach.
A general result of numerical folding theory: As the viscosity contrast between the layers decreases,
layer parallel shortening increases and folding becomes less important:
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Fold Dynamics
ηο
= 42 : 1
η
ηο
η
ηο
= 5:1
η
26.3.3 Results for Kink Folds
Experimental work on kink folds indicates that kinks form in multilayers with high viscosity
contrast and bonded contacts (i.e. high frictional resistance to sliding along the contacts). Compression
parallel to the layers produces conjugate kink bands at 55 - 60° to the compression. Loading oblique to
the layering (up to 30°) produces asymmetric kinks.
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Linear Minor Structures 203
LECTURE 27—LINEAR MINOR STRUCTURES
27.1 Introduction to Minor Structures
Minor structures are those that we can see and study at the outcrop or hand sample scale. We
use these features because they contain the most kinematic information. In other words, the strain and
strain history of the rock is most commonly recorded in the minor structures.
There are several types of minor structures, but they fall into two general classes: linear and
planar, which we refer to as lineations and foliations, respectively.
Lineations Foliations
mineral fibers veins
minor fold axes stylolites
boudins joints
intersection lineations cleavage
rods & mullions S-C fabrics
The lineations and foliations in a rock comprise what is known as the rock fabric. This term is analogous
to cloth fabric. Rocks have a texture, an ordering of elements repeated over and over again, just like cloth
is composed of an orderly arrangement of threads.
27.2 Lineations
Any linear structure that occurs repeatedly in a rock is called a lineation; it is a penetrative linear
fabric. Lineations are very common in igneous and sedimentary rocks, where alignment of mineral
grains and other linear features results from flow during emplacement of the rock. However, we’re most
interested in those lineations which arise from, and reflect, deformation. Of primary importance is to
remember that there is no one explanation for the origin of lineations.
27.2.1 Mineral Lineations
These are defined by elongations of inequant mineral grains or aggregates of grains.
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common minerals:
hornblende
sillimanite
feldspar
quartz
biotite
Mineral lineations can form in

Folds
parallel to the hinge
perpendicular to the hinge
anywhere in between
Fault zones -- parallel to the slip direction
Regional metamorphism
The preferred orientation of elongate mineral grains can form by three different mechanisms:
1. Deformation of grains -- straining the grains into ellipsoidal shapes
2. Preferential growth -- no strain of the mineral crystal but may, nonetheless, reflect the
regional deformation
3. Rigid body rotation -- the mineral grains themselves are not strained but they rotate as
the matrix which encloses them is strained.
It is, occasionally, difficult to tell these mechanisms apart.
27.2.2 Deformed Detrital Grains (and related features)
This category differs from the previous only in that pre-existing sedimentary features, or features
formed in sedimentary rocks are deformed. The basic problem with their interpretation is that such
features commonly have very different mechanical properties than the matrix of the rock. thus the strain
of the deformed object which you measure may not reflect the strain of the rock as a whole.
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common features:
ooids
pebbles
reduction spots
27.2.3 Rods and Mullions
Rods are any elongate, essentially monomineralic aggregate not formed by the disruption of the
original rock layering. They are generally cylindrical shaped and striated parallel to their length. They
are almost always oriented parallel to fold hinge lines and occur in the hinge zones of minor folds. Rods
are thought to form by metamorphic or fluid flow processes during tectonic deformation.
Mullions are elongate bodies of rock, partly bounded by bedding planes and partly by newer
structures. They generally have a cylindrical, ribbed appearance and are oriented parallel to the fold
hinges. They form at the interface between soft and stiff layers.
soft (e.g. argillite)
stiff (e.g. quartzite)
27.3 Boudins
Boudin is the French word for sausage. They are formed by the segmentation of pre-existing
layers and appear similar to links of sausages. The segmented layers certainly can be, but need not be,
sedimentary layering. The segmentation can occur in two or three dimensions.
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Chocolate tablet boudinage
For simple boudinage (upper right), the long axis of the boudin is perpendicular to the extension
direction. Chocolate tablet boudinage forms when you have extensions in two directions.
The shapes of boudins in cross section are a function of the viscosity contrast between the layers:
low
viscosity "pinch & swell"
contrast
"fish mouths"
high
viscosity
contrast
27.4 Lineations Due to Intersecting Foliations
A type of lineation can form when two foliations, usually bedding and cleavage, intersect. When
this occurs in fine-grained, finely bedded rocks, the effect is to produce a multitude of splinters. The
resulting structure is called pencil structure. There are good examples at Portland Pt. quarry. Pencils
are usually oriented parallel to fold hinges.
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Planar Minor Structures I: Cleavage 207
LECTURE 28—PLANAR MINOR STRUCTURES I
28.1 Introduction to Foliations
The word foliation comes from the Latin word folium which means “leaf” (folia = leaves). In
structural geology, we use foliation to describe any planar structure in the rocks. Under the general term
foliation there are several more specific terms:
• bedding
• cleavage
• schistosity
• gneissic layering
These collective foliations were sometimes referred to in older literature as “S-surfaces”. Geologists
would determine the apparent relative age relations between foliations and then assign them numbers
from oldest to youngest (with bedding, presumably being the oldest, labeled S0). In the last decade, this
approach has fallen out of favor because, among other things, we know that foliations can form
simultaneously (as well will see with “S-C fabrics” in a subsequent lecture). Furthermore, structural
geologists used to correlate deformational events based on their relative age (e.g. correlating S3 in one are
with S3 in another are 10s or 100s of kilometers away). With the advent of more accurate geochronologic
techniques, we now know that such correlation is virtually worthless in many cases.
28.2 Cleavage
Many rocks have the tendency to split along certain regular planes that are not necessarily
parallel to bedding. Such planes are called cleavage. Roofing slates are an excellent example. Cleavage
is a type of foliation that can be penetrative or non-penetrative. An important point to remember is that:
rock cleavage ≠ mineral cleavage
The two are generally unrelated.
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28.2.1 Cleavage and Folds
Cleavage is commonly seen to be related in a systematic way to folds. When this occurs, the
cleavage planes are nearly always parallel or sub-parallel to the axial surfaces of the folds. This is known
as axial planar cleavage.
If examined in detail, the cleavage usually is not exactly parallel to the axial surface every where but
changes its orientation as it crosses beds with different mechanical properties. This produces a fanning of
the cleavage across the fold. In a layered sandstone and shale sequence, the cleavage is more nearly
perpendicular to bedding in the sandstone and bends to be at a more acute angle in the shale. This is
known as cleavage refraction.
sandstone
shale
Cleavage Fanning & Refration
As we will see next time, cleavage refraction is related to the relative magnitudes of strain in the different
layers and the orientation of the lines of maximum shear strain. As a side light, cleavage refection can be
used to tell tops in graded beds. This property can be very useful in metamorphic terranes where the
grading includes only medium sand and finer.
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fining upward
cleavage is steep in the
coarse beds but shallows
upward as the grain size
gets smaller
fining upward
Sharp "kink" in the cleavage

at the boundaries between
the graded sequences
Cleavage can also be very useful when doing field work in a poorly exposed region with overturned
folds. If the cleavage is axial planar, then the cleavage with dip more steeply than bedding on the upright
limbs of the folds but will dip more gently than bedding on the overturned limbs:
dips more steeply dips more gently

than bedding than bedding
inferred position and

form of overturned
anticline
cleavage dips more

steeply than bedding
28.3 Cleavage Terminology
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Cleavage can take on a considerable variety of appearances, but at its most basic level, there are
two types of cleavage:
• Continuous cleavage occurs in rocks which have an equal tendency to cleave (or
split) throughout, at the scale of observation. In other words, the cleavage is penetrative.
• Spaced or Discontinuous cleavage it not penetrative at the scale of observation.
28.3.1 Problems with Cleavage Terminology
Because of its economic importance (i.e. in quarries, etc.) some of the names for various types of
cleavage are very old and specific to a particular rock type. Furthermore, cleavage terminology has been
overrun with genetic terms, which are still used by some, long after the particular processes implied by the
name have been shown to not be important. The following is an incomplete list of existing terms which
should not be used when describing cleavage because they are all genetic:
• fracture cleavage
• stylolitic or pressure solution cleavage
• Shear foliation
• strain-slip cleavage
These terms have their place in the literature, but only after you have proven that a particular process is
important.
28.3.2 Descriptive Terms
Anastomosing
Conjugate
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S2 S2
S1
Crenulation
symmetric asymmetric
Crenulation is particularly interesting. In it, a pre-existing alignment of mineral grains is deformed

into microfolds. This is accompanied by mineral differentiation such that the mineral composition in the
zones of second foliation (or crenulation cleavage, labeled “S2” above) is different than that part of the
rock between the cleavage planes. Crenulation cleavage has been called “strain slip cleavage” but that
term has now thankfully fallen into disuse.
28.4 Domainal Nature of Cleavage
Most cleaved rocks have a domainal structure at one scale or another which reflects the mechanical
and chemical processes responsible for their formation.
cleavage domains
microlithons
The rocks tend to split along the cleavage domains, which have also been called “folia”, “films”, or
“seams”.
In fine-grained rocks, cleavage domains are sometimes called “M-domains” because mica and
other phyllosilicates are concentrated there, whereas the lenticular microlithons are the “QF-domains”
because of the concentration of quartz and feldspar. As in the discussion of crenulation cleavage, above,
we see that mineralogical and chemical differentiation is a common aspect of cleavage.
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28.4.1 Scale of Typical Cleavage Domains
anastomosing
spaced slaty
crenulation
10 cm 1 cm 1 mm 0.1 mm 0.01 mm
limit of resolution of the

optical microscope
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Cleavage & Strain 213
LECTURE 29—PLANAR MINOR STRUCTURES II:

CLEAVAGE & STRAIN
29.1 Processes of Foliation Development
There are four basic processes involved in the development of a structural foliation:
1. Rotation of non-equant grains,
2. Change in grain shape through pressure solution,
3. Plastic deformation via dislocation mechanisms, and
4. Recrystallization.
The first two are the most important in the development of cleavage at low to moderate metamorphic
grades and will be the focus of this lecture.
29.2 Rotation of Grains
This process in very important in compaction of sediments and during early cleavage development.
The basic idea is:
After strain, particles are the same length

but have rotated to closer to perpendicular
with the maximum shortening direction
There are two similar models which have been devised to describe this process. Both attempt to predict
the degree of preferred orientation of the platy minerals (how similarly oriented they are) as a function of
strain. The preferred orientation is usually displayed as poles to the platy particles; the more oriented
they are, the higher the concentration of poles at a single space on the stereonet.
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29.2.1 March model
rotation of purely passive markers that have no mechanical contrast with the confining medium.
We solved this problem already for two-dimensional deformation when we talked about strain.
Sz tan θ xz
tan θ xz′ = tan θ xz =
Sx Rxz
In three dimensions it is a little more complex but still comprehensible:
(
tan δ ′ = tan δ Rxy2 sin 2 φ yz + Rxz2 sin 2 φ yz )
where φyz is the azimuth with respect to the y axis, δ and δ' are the dips of the markers before and after the
strain, and R is the ellipticity measured in a principal plane of the strain ellipse (i.e. a plane that contains
two of the three principal axes, as indicated by the subscripts).
29.2.2 Jeffery Model
Rotation of rigid bodies in a viscous fluid (the former modeled as rigid ellipsoidal particles). For
elongate particles, there is little difference between the Jeffery and March models. For example, detrital
micas in nature have aspect ratios between 4 and 10. For this range of dimensions, the Jeffery model
predicts 12 to 2 % lower concentrations than a March model.
Both of these models work only for loosely compacted material (i.e. with high porosity). At
lower porosities, the grains interfere with each other, resulting in lots of kinking, bending and breaking of
grains.
29.2.3 A Special Case of Mechanical Grain Rotation
In 1962, John Maxwell of Princeton proposed that the cleavage in the Martinsburg Formation at
the Delaware Water Gap was formed during dewatering of the sediments and thus this theory of cleavage
formation has come to be known as the dewatering hypothesis. He noted that the cleavage was parallel
to the sandstone dikes in the rocks:
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Maxwell suggested that expulsion of water from the over-pressured sandstone during dewatering resulting
in alignment of the grains by mechanical rotation. We now know that this is incorrect for the Martinsburg
because
1. Cleavage in the rocks there is really due to pressure solution, and
2. Internal rotations during strain naturally results in sub-parallelism of cleavage and the
dikes.
Mechanical rotation does occur during higher grade metamorphism as well. The classic example
is the rolled garnet:
29.3 Pressure Solution and Cleavage
We’ve already talked some about the mechanical basis for pressure solution. The basic observation
in the rocks which leads to an interpretation of pressure solution is grain truncation in the microlithons:
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Most people associate pressure solution with carbonate rocks, but it is very common in siliceous rocks as
well.
There are two general aspects that pressure solution and related features that you can observe in
the rocks:
local overgrowths and vein formation

means limited fluid circulation.
Volume is more-or-less conserved
more commonly, you see no evidence

for redeposition, which means bulk
circulation and volume reduction were
important
In the Martinsburg Formation that Maxwell studied, a volume reduction of greater than 50% has been
documented by Wright and Platt.
29.4 Crenulation Cleavage
Crenulation cleavage is probably a product of both pressure solution and mechanical rotation. It
has two end member morphologies:
Discrete -- truncation of grains against

the cleavage domains. Very strong
alignment of grains within cleavage
domains
Zonal -- initial fabric is continuous

across the cleavage domains. Clearly
a case of microfolding
Both types of the same characteristics:
1. No cataclastic textures in cleavage domains (i.e. they are not faults),
2. There is mineralogical and chemical differentiation. Quartz is lacking from the cleavage
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domains and there is enrichment of Al2O3 and K2O in the cleavage domains relative to
the microlithons,
3. Thinning and truncation are common features, and
4. No intracrystalline plastic deformation.
Probably what occurs is rotation of phyllosilicates by microfolding accompanied by pressure solution of

quartz and/or carbonate.
29.5 Cleavage and Strain
There are two opposing views of how cleavage relates to strain:
1. J. Ramsay, D. Wood, S. Treagus -- Cleavage is always parallel to the XY plane of the finite
strain ellipsoid (i.e. it is perpendicular to the Z-axis). Thus, there can be no shear
parallel to the planes.
Z = principal axis of shortening
cleavage
The basis for this assertion is mostly observational. These workers have noted in
many hundreds of instances that the cleavage is essentially perpendicular to the strain
axes as determined by other features in the rock.
2. P. Williams, T. Wright, etc. -- cleavage is commonly close to the XY-plane but can deviate
significantly and, at least at some point during its history, may be parallel to a plane of
shear.
There are two issues here which are responsible for this debate:
First, at high strains the planes of maximum shear are very close to the planes of maximum
elongation (the X-axis). Thus it is very difficult in the field to measure angles precisely enough that you
can resolve the difference between a plane of maximum shear and a principal plane.
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Second, cleavage becomes a material line. If the deformation is by pure shear then it could be
that cleavage remains perpendicular to the Z-axis. However, in a progressive simple shear, it cannot
remain perpendicular to the Z-axis all the time (because it is a material plane) and thus must experience
shear along it at some point.
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Shear Zones, Transposition 219
LECTURE 30—SHEAR ZONES & TRANSPOSITION
30.1 Shear Zone Foliations and Sense of Shear
Within ductile shear zones, a whole array of special structures develop. Because of the progressive
simple shear, the structures that develop are inherently asymmetric. it is this asymmetry that allows us to
determine the sense of shear in many shear zones.
30.1.1 S-C Fabrics
C = cisaillement (shear)
S = schistosité
S-C fabrics are an example of two planar foliations which formed at the same time (although
there are many examples of the S-foliation forming slightly or considerably earlier than the C-foliation).
The S planes are interpreted to lie in the XY plane of the finite strain ellipsoid and contain the maximum
extension direction (as seen in the above figure). The C-planes are planes of shear. As the S-planes
approach the C-planes they curve into and become sub-parallel (but technically never completely parallel)
to the C-planes.
Two types of S-C fabrics have been identified:
• Type I -- found in granitoid rocks rich in quartz, feldspar, and biotite. Both the S- and
C-planes are well developed.
• Type II -- form in quartzites. The foliation is predominantly comprised of C-planes,

with S-planes recorded by sparse mica grains (see below)
30.1.2 Mica “Fish” in Type II S-C Fabrics
The S-planes are recorded by mica grains in rock. In general, the cleavage planes of all the mica
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grains are similarly oriented so that when you shine light on them (or in sunlight) they all reflect at the
same time. This effect is referred to somewhat humorously as “fish flash”.
S-planes
(001)
C-planes
(001)
fine-grained "tails" of recrystallized mica
30.1.3 Fractured and Rotated Mineral Grains
Minerals such as feldspar commonly deform by fracture rather than by crystal plastic mechanisms.
One common mode of this deformation is the formation of domino blocks. The fractured pieces of the
mineral shear just like a collapsing stack of dominos:
note that the sense of shear

on the microfaults is opposite
to that of the shear zone
30.1.4 Asymmetric Porphyroclasts
There are two basic types of asymmetric porphyroclasts:
reference plane
σσ- type δδ - type
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In the σ-type, the median line of the recrystallizing tails does not cross the reference plane, whereas in the
δ-type, the median line of the recrystallizing tails does cross the reference plane. The ideal conditions for
the development of asymmetric porphyroclasts are:
1. Matrix grain size is small compared to the porphyroclasts,
2. Matrix fabric is homogeneous,
3. Only one phase of deformation,
4. Tails are long enough so that the reference plane can be constructed, and
5. Observations are made on sections perpendicular to the foliation and parallel to the
lineation.
30.2 Use of Foliation to Determine Displacement in a Shear Zone
Consider a homogeneous simple shear zone:
d
γ = tan ψ
x ψψ
d = γ x
θθ'
In the field, we can’t measure ψ directly, but we can measure θ', which is just the angle between the
foliation (assumed to be kinematically similar to S-planes) and the shear zone boundary. If the foliation is
parallel to the XY plane of the strain ellipsoid then there is a simple relationship between θ' and γ:
2
tan 2θ ′ =
γ
Although it is trivial in the case of a homogeneous shear zone, we could compute the displacement
graphically by plotting γ as a function of the distance across the shear zone x and calculating the area
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under the curve (i.e. the integral shown):
y ψψ y d
shear strain, γγ
y
d = ∫ γ dy
0
For a heterogeneous shear zone -- the usual case in geology -- the situation is more complex, but
you can still come up with a graphical solution as above. The basic approach is to (1) measure the angle
between the foliation and the shear zone boundary, θ', at a number of places, (2) convert those measurements
to the shear strain, γ, (3) plot γ as a function of perpendicular distance across the shear zone, and (4)
calculate the displacement from the area under the resulting curve:
foliation θ'3
y θ'2 y d
θ'1
shear strain, γγ
30.3 Transposition of Foliations
In many rocks, you see a compositional layering that looks like bedding, but in fact has no
stratigraphic significance. The process of changing one foliation into another -- thereby removing the
frame of reference provided by the first foliation -- is known as transposition. There are two basic
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processes involved:
1. Isoclinal folding of the initial foliation (i.e. bedding) into approximate parallelism with
the axial surfaces, and
2. attenuation and cutting out of the limbs by simple shear.
younger
macroscopically, the bedding trends E-W, with

the younger and older relations as indicated
older
On the outcrop, the bedding trends N-S. If

the fold hinges are very obscure, then you
may interpret the layering as a normal
stratigraphicsequence
Obscuring of the fold hinges is an important part of the process of transposition:
This sequence of deformation

would produce transposed
layering in which all of the beds
(really just a single bed) were
right side up
Transposition is most common in metamorphic rocks, but can also occur in mélanges. It is
difficult to recognize where extreme deformation is involved. In general one should look for the
following:
• look for the fold hinges
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• look for cleavage parallel to compositional layering

• Walk the rocks out to a less deformed area.
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Thrust Systems: Tectonics
LECTURE 31—THRUST SYSTEMS I: OVERVIEW & TECTONIC

SETTING
31.1 Basic Thrust System Terminology
Before starting on the details of thrust faults we need to introduce some general terms. Although
these terms are extensively used with respect to thrust faults, they can, in fact, be applied to any low
angle fault, whether thrust or normal.
Décollement -- a French word for “unsticking”, “ungluing”, or “detaching”. Basically, it is a

relatively flat, sub-horizontal fault which separates deformed rocks above from undeformed rocks, below.
Thin-skinned -- Classically, this term has been applied to deformation of sedimentary strata
above undeformed basement rocks. A décollement separates the two. My own personal use applies the
term to any deformation with a décollement level in the upper crust. This definition includes décollement
within shallow basement. In general, the term comes from Chamberlain in 1910 and 1919; he termed the
Appalachians a “thin-shelled” mountain range. John Rodgers, a well known Yale structural geologist
gave the term its present form in the 1940’s.
Thick-skinned -- Again, the classic definition involves deformation of basement on steep reverse
faults. My own definition involves décollement at middle or deep crustal levels, if within the crust at all.
Allochthon -- A package of rocks which has been moved a long way from their original place of
deposition. The word is commonly used as an adjective as in: “these rocks are allochthonous with respect
to those…”
Autochthon -- Rocks that have moved little from their place of formation. These two terms are
commonly used in a relative sense, as you might expect given that the plates have moved around the
globe! You will also see the term “parautochthon” used for rocks that probably have moved, but not as
much as some other rocks in the area you are studying.
Klippe -- An isolated block of rocks, once part of a large allochthon, which has become separated
from the main mass, usually by erosion but sometimes by subsequent faulting.
Fenster -- This is the German word for “window”, and it means literally that: a window or a
hole through an allochthon, in which the underlying autochthon is exposed. A picture best illustrates
these last two terms:
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Map
view
window klippe
(fenster)
cross-
section
31.2 Tectonic Setting of Thin-skinned Fold & Thrust Belts
Long linear belts of folds and thrusts, known as foreland thrust belts, occur in virtually all major
mountain belts of the world. Characteristically, they lie between the undeformed craton and the main
part of the mountain belt itself. Some well-known examples include:
• Valley & Ridge Province (Appalachians)
• Jura Mountains (Alps)
• Canadian Rockies (Foothills, Front & Main Ranges)
• Sub-Himalayan Belt
• Subandean belt
Foreland thrust belts occur in two basic types of plate settings:
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31.2.1 Andean Type:
Forearc Back Arc (retroarc) Craton
Hinterland
Accretionary Foreland
Foreland
Wedge Basin
sub
duc
tion
zon
e
This type of foreland thrust belt is sometimes called an antithetic belt because the sense of shear is
opposite to that of the coeval plate margin subduction zone.
31.2.2 Himalayan Type:
Hinterland
suture
Foreland
Foreland
(peripheral)
Basin
Tibet
Indian con
tinental cru
st
The Himalayan type is sometimes called a synthetic thrust belt because the sense of shear is the same as
the plate margin that preceded it. At this point, we need to introduce two additional terms:
Foreland is a stable area marginal to an orogenic belt toward which rocks of the belt were folded
and thrusted. It includes thin-skinned thrusting which does not involve basement. In active mountain
belts, such as the Andes or the Himalaya, the foreland is a region of low topography.
Hinterland refers to the interior of the mountain belt. There, the deformation involves deeper
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structural levels. In active mountain belts, the hinterland is a region of high topography which includes
everything between the thrust belt and the magmatic arc (where there is one). “Hinterland” in particular
is a poorly defined term about which there is no general agreement. You should always state what you
mean by it.
31.3 Basic Characteristics of Fold-thrust Belts
1. Linear or arcuate belts of folds and low-angle thrust faults
2. Form in subhorizontal or wedge-shaped sedimentary prisms
3. Vergence (or facing) generally toward the continent
4. Décollement zone dips gently (1 - 6°) toward the interior of the mountain belt
5. They are the result of horizontal shortening and thickening.
1000's km
miogeocline hinge shelf
100 - 600 km
2 - 15 km
The typical fold-thrust belt in North America and many other parts of the world is formed in a passive
margin sequence (or “miogeocline”) deposited on a rifted margin.
This geometry is responsible for numbers one through four in the list above because:
• miogeocline is laterally continuous
•wedge-shape responsible for the vergence
• planar anisotropy of layers produces décollement
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31.4 Relative and Absolute Timing in Fold-thrust Belts
A general pattern in mountain belts is that deformation proceeds from the interior to the exterior
(or from hinterland to foreland):
Interior Exterior
oldest faults
youngest fault
This progression has been demonstrated both directly and indirectly. The more interior faults are seen to
be folded and deformed by the more exterior ones and the erosion of the individual thrust plates produces
an inverted stratigraphy in the foreland basin in which deposits derived from the oldest thrust plate are
found at the bottom of the sedimentary section.
The duration of thrust belts is quite variable. In the western North America, the thrust belt
spanned nearly 100 my; in the Andes it has been active for only the last 10 - 15 my, and in Taiwan it is
only 4 my old.
Rates of shortening in foreland thrust belts is similarly variable. In general, they range from
mm/yr to cm/yr. Antithetic thrust belts are 1 to 2 orders of magnitude slower than plate convergence
rates whereas synthetic thrust belts are 30 - 70% of the total convergence rate.
31.5 Foreland Basins
The horizontal shortening of the rocks in a thrust belt is accompanied by vertical thickening. This
thickening means that there is more weight resting on the upper part of the continental lithosphere than
there was before. Thus, the lithosphere bends or flexes under this load, just like a diving board does
when you stand on the end of it. As we will see in a few lectures (last week of classes), this large scale,
broad wavelength deformation of the lithosphere is known as flexural isostasy.
The loading by the thrust belt produces an asymmetric depression, with its deepest point right
next to the belt. Material eroded from the uplifted thrust belt is deposited in the depression, forming a
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type of sedimentary basin known as a foreland basin.
asymmetric
load asymmetric load foreland basin
foreland basin forebulge
depression of basement under the load (exaggerated)
The Cretaceous deposits of western Wyoming and eastern Idaho are perhaps some of the best known
foreland basin deposits.
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Thrust Systems: Basic Geometries
LECTURE 32—THRUST SYSTEMS II: BASIC GEOMETRIES
32.1 Dahlstrom’s Rules and the Ramp-flat (Rich Model) Geometry
The basic geometries of fold and thrust belts are summarized in three “rules” proposed by
Dahlstrom (1969, 1970), based on his work in the Canadian Rockies:
1. Thrusts tend to cut up-section in the direction of transport
2. Thrusts parallel bedding in incompetent horizons and cut across bedding in

competent rocks
3. Thrusts young in the direction of transport
Deformation following these rules produces a stair step or “ramp and flat” geometry. This geometry was
first recognized by J. L. Rich (a former Cornellian) in 1934:
trace of future thrust fault
hanging wall anticline
hanging
wall ramp
footwall flat
hanging wall flat ll ramp
footwa
footwall flat
normal thickness structurally thickened
normal thickness
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The important points to remember about this “ramp-flat” model are:
• structural thickening occurs only between the footwall and the hanging wall
ramps
• thrusts cut up-section in both the footwall and the hanging wall ramps
• Stratigraphic throw is not a good indication of the amount of thrust displacement
• Anticline is only in the hanging wall, not the footwall
• Thrust puts older rocks on younger rocks
Suppe calls this process “Fault bend folding”. He has made it more quantitative by assuming a strict kink
geometry. In his terminology, the dipping beds located over the footwall ramp are referred to as the
“back-limb” and those over the hanging wall ramp the “forelimb”. These limbs define kink bands which
help you find where the ramps are located in the subsurface. Suppe has derived equations to show that
the forelimb dips (or “fore-dips”) should be steeper than the back limb dips (or “back-dips”).
It is important to remember that the conclusions we have listed above do not depend on having a
kink geometry. You get the same results with curved folds and listric faults.
32.2 Assumptions of the Basic Rules
Before we get too carried away with this elegantly simple geometry, lets explore an important
underlying assumptions of Dahlstrom’s rules:
• Thrusts cut through a previously undeformed, flat-lying sequence of layered sedimentary

rock. As long as this is true, a thrust fault will place older rocks over younger
rocks. However, you can easily conceive of geometries where this will not be
true:
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Prior folding
older-over-younger
Prior thrusting younger-over-older
older-over-younger
Thrusting along an unconformity
younger-over-older
32.3 Types of Folds in Thrust Belts
The hanging-wall anticline shown above is not the only type of fold which can form in thrust
belts. In general, there are four types which are commonly found:
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I. Fault Bend Folds (also “hanging wall” II. Fault Propagation Folds
or “ramp” anticlines) (also “tip-line folds”)
mode I
tip line
mode II
IV. Detachment Folds (also “Lift-off” or

“pop-up” folds)
III. Wedge Fault-folds
32.4 Geometries with Multiple Thrusts
32.4.1 Folded thrusts
In general, younger faults will form at lower levels and cut into undeformed layering. When
they move over ramps, they will deform any older thrusts higher in the section as illustrated in the
diagram below. This provides one of the best ways to determine relative ages of faults.
older thrust fault folded by

movement over the ramp in
the younger thrust fault
younger thrust fault with primary ramp
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32.4.2 Duplexes
Commonly, a fault will splay off of an older thrust fault but then will rejoin the older fault again.
This produces a block of rock complete surrounded by faults, which is known as a horse. Several horses
together make a duplex.
trajectory of next fault
horse
roof thrust
direction of transport
4 3 2 1
floor thrust
numbers indicate sequence of formation
Notice that the sequence of formation of the horses is in the direction of transport (i.e. from the hinterland
to the foreland). This is mostly observational. If the horses formed in the other direction, then you would
see “beheaded” anticlines:
trajectory of next fault
direction of transport
"beheaded anticlines"
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The exact shape of a duplex depends upon the height of the ramps, the spacing of the ramps, and
the displacement of the individual horses. For example, as shown on the next page, if the displacement is
equivalent to the initial spacing of the ramps you get a compound antiformal structure known as an
antiformal stack:
Formation of an antiformal stack by movement on a series of horses, each with displacement equivalent to the initial spacing
between the ramps. The top section formed first.
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32.4.3 Imbrication
Imbrication means the en echelon tiling or stacking of thin slices of rocks. Imbricate zones are
similar to duplexes except that they do not all join up in a roof thrust. There are two basic types of
imbrications, illustrated below:
Hanging Wall Imbrication:
Footwall Imbrication:
32.4.4 Triangle Zones
At the leading edge of a thrust belt, one commonly sees a curious syncline (or monocline). The
best documented example is in the southern Canadian Rockies, where the Alberta syncline forms the
eastern edge of the orogen:
?
The problem with Extra space
frontal synclines: ?
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The problematical space is triangular in shape so it is known as a triangle zone. The solution to this
dilemma of frontal synclines is to fill the space with a type of duplex:
displacement
goes to zero
shaded area is the triangle zone
This duplex differs from the ones that we discussed above, in that the roof thrust has the opposite sense
of shear than the floor thrust, where as in “normal” duplexes they have the same sense of shear. For this
reason, triangle zones have sometime been referred to as passive roof duplexes. You can best visualize
the kinematics of this structure by imagining driving a wedge into a pack of cards:
There is more than academic reasons to be interested in triangle zones. They can be prolific hydrocarbon
traps, and to date have been among the most productive parts of fold-thrust belts.
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Thrust Systems: Thick-skinned
LECTURE 33—THRUST SYSTEMS III: THICK-SKINNED

FAULTING
33.1 Plate-tectonic Setting
The two classic areas displaying thick-skinned structures are the Rocky Mountain Foreland (“Lara-
mide Province”) of Wyoming, Colorado, and surrounding states, and the Sierras Pampeanas of western
Argentina. Both of these areas are associated with flat subduction beneath the continent and a gap in arc
magmatism:
be ed
ic
ar lcan
st n
lt
ru in
th -sk
vo
Thick-skinned Province
c
in
no
(deforms most of crust)

th
little or no asthenospheric wedge between the two plates
Note that coeval thin and thick-skinned deformation can be found in both the Argentine and western US
examples. Some workers have proposed that the flat subduction is related to, or caused by, subduction of
buoyant pieces of oceanic crust such as ridges and oceanic plateaus; this relationship has not been
definitely proven.
There are parts of many other mountain belts in the world which have thick-skinned style geome-
tries. It is not clear that flat subduction plays a role in many of these cases. These include:
• Mackenzie Mountains, Canada

• Wichita-Arbuckle Mountains, Oklahoma, Texas
• Foreland of the Atlas Mountains, Morocco
• Iberian-Catalán Ranges, Spain
• Cape Ranges, South Africa
• Tien Shan, China
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33.2 Basic Characteristics
1. Involve crystalline basement;
2. Commonly occur in regions of thin sedimentary cover;
3. Structural blocks commonly only two or three times longer than they are
wide;
4. Blocks exhibit a variety of structural orientations;
5. Bounding structures commonly reverse faults with a wide variety of dips (<5°
to 80°);
6. Broad flat basins separate the mountain blocks.
33.3 Cross-sectional Geometry
In the western United States, there has, for many years, been a debate about the structural
geometry of the uplifts in vertical sections. Several hypotheses have been proposed, but the can be
grouped in two basic categories:
“Upthrust” Hypothesis
33.3.1 Overthrust Hypothesis
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A large amount of seismic reflection and borehole data basically confirm that the overthrust model is
more correct. In the Rocky Mountain foreland, the deepest overhang of basement over Paleozoic strata
that has been drilled is ~14,000 ft (the total depth of the hole was 19,270 ft).
33.3.2 Deep Crustal Geometry
Insight into the deep crustal geometry of thick-skinned uplifts has come from three basic sources
of information:
• seismic reflection profiling

• earthquake hypocenters and focal mechanisms
• inferences from the dip slope of the blocks.
The COCORP deep seismic reflection profile across the Wind River Mountains of western Wyoming
provided the most complete look at the deep structure of the uplift. That profile showed a 36°-dipping
thrust fault which could be traced on the seismic section to times of 8 - 12 s (24 - 36 km). More recent
processing and a reinterpretation of that seismic line indicates that the fault may have a listric geometry
and flatten at between 20 and 30 km depth. This listric geometry would help explain the dip slope of the
range.
Earthquake focal mechanisms from the still-active Sierras Pampeanas of western Argentina uni-
formly show thrust solutions with dips between 30 and 60°. There is virtually no evidence for seismic
faulting on near vertical planes or with normal fault geometries. The earthquakes also provide important
insight into the crustal rheology during deformation. They occur as deep as 35 - 40 km in the crust,
indicating that virtually the entire crust is deforming by brittle mechanisms, at least at short time scales.
These depths are deeper than would be predicted from power law creep equations, unless the strain rate
was unusually fast, the heat flow were abnormally low, or the lithology were unusually mafic. All three
of these are reasonable possibilities for this part of the Andean foreland.
Finally the dip slope observed on many thick-skinned blocks is useful because it suggests that the
blocks have been rotated. This rotation can be accomplished by listric faults or faults with bends in them.
The scale of the ramp part of the fault, or the depth at which the fault flattens, can be deduced from the
scale of the dip slope.
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33.4 Folding in Thick-skinned Provinces
Older views of folds in thick-skinned regions suggested that the folds were formed by “draping”
of the sedimentary section over faulted basement, hence the term “drape folds”. This interpretation,
however, runs into problems, particularly if the fault beneath the sedimentary section is thought to be
steep. It would require one of the following geometries:
or
décollement at Ductile or brittle thinning

sediment-basement of the steep limb of the
interface structure
The most successful modern view is that the folds are fault-propagation folds, formed at the tip of a
propagating thrust fault. In this scenario, overturned beds beneath basement overhangs can be interpreted
to have formed when the fault propagated up the anticlinal axis, leaving an overturned syncline in the
footwall.
propagation path for next

increment of thrust movement
This syncline will be
left in the footwall
present tipline
33.4.1 Subsidiary Structures
A very important family of structures are formed because the synclines underlying many of the
uplifts are very tight and their deformation can no longer be accommodated by strictly layer-parallel slip.
These structures are known as out-of-the-syncline or “crowd” structures. Basically, in the core of a
syncline, there is not enough room so some of the layers get “shoved out”.
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"rabbit ear"
structure
out-of-the-syncline
thrusts
Similar structures can occur on a larger scale, where they are called out-of-the-basin faults. And example
of this latter type of structure would be Sheep Mountain on the east side of the Bighorn Basin in northwestern
Wyoming:
out-of-the-basin major uplift

structure
major basin
33.5 Late Stage Collapse of Uplifts
In the Rocky Mountain foreland, at least, and perhaps in other thick-skinned provinces which are
no longer active, it is common to see the uplifts “collapse” by normal faulting. Thus, certain major
structural blocks such as the Granite Mountains of central Wyoming have relatively little morphologic
expression because most the structural relief has been destroyed by normal faulting.
In map and cross-section, this looks like:
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Map Cross-section
A'
A' A
33.6 Regional Mechanics
In the Rocky Mountain foreland, basement surfaces define regional “folds” at 100 - 200 km length
scales. A model by Ray Fletcher suggests that the wavelength of the first order flexures should be four to
six times the thickness of the highly viscous upper layer (i.e. the upper crust). In a rough sense, this
model fits the basic observations from Wyoming if one uses a reasonable depth to the frictional crystal
plastic transition zone. It is not highly successful everywhere.
Just like thrust belts, thick-skinned uplifts load the crust, producing subsidence and creating a
sedimentary basin. The mechanics of these basins, known as broken foreland basins, is somewhat
different, however, because one must model a broken beam, rather than an unbroken elastic beam.
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Extensional Systems I
LECTURE 34—EXTENSIONAL SYSTEMS I
34.1 Basic Categories of Extensional Structures
There are three basic categories of extensional structures. They differ primarily in how deep they
affect the lithosphere:
1. Gravity slides (i.e. landslides, etc.)

2. Subsiding passive margins (Gulf coast growth structures)
3. Tectonic rift provinces
• Oceanic spreading centers (e.g. Mid-Atlantic Ridge)
• Intracontinental rifts (e.g. Basin and Range)
All are produced by essentially vertical σ1 and horizontal σ 3.
34.2 Gravity Slides
Subaerial gravity slides include landslides, slumps, etc., as well as much larger scale regional
denudation features. Only the last one is commonly preserved in the geologic record.
break away
rotated surface
scarp
normal faults
thrust faults
commonly intensely
brecciated internally fault comes back to ground
surface in down-dip direction
These can occur at all different scales. The underlying similarity is that the fault cuts the ground surface
at both its up-dip and its down-dip termination so that only very shallow levels of the crust are involved.
Although commonly caused by tectonic deformation, these are not, themselves considered to be “tectonic
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structures”. At the very largest scales, gravity slides are difficult to distinguish from thrust plates in
mountain belts.
34.2.1 The Heart Mountain Fault
One of the largest known detachment structures is located in northwestern Wyoming and is
called the Heart Mountain fault.
Yellowstone
region of the Heart

Mountain fault
approximate orientation
of cross-section, below
Wyoming
bedding plane detachment overrode former land surface
O
regional slope < 2°
K at Heart Mtn., there is an
Ordovician apparent thrust relation
Bighorn (Ordovician/Cretaceous)
dolomite
110 km
The mechanism of emplacement of the detachment is still much debated. It is possible that it was
emplaced very rapidly.
34.2.2 Subaqueous Slides
Gravity slides of unlithified or semi-lithified sediments on submarine slopes produces a very

intensely deformed rock which has been termed an olistostrome. These are also known as “sedimentary
mélanges”, the term mélange being French for mixture. Mélanges can also be tectonic in origin, forming
at the toe of an accretionary prism in a subduction zone.
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34.3 Growth Faulting on a Subsiding Passive Margin
Passive continental margins with high sedimentation rates commonly experience normal faulting
related primarily to the local loading by the additional sediments. The Gulf Coast is an excellent example.
Such structures are commonly called “down-to-the-basin” faults. You should be careful to distinguish
them from rift-stage structures describe in detail in the next lecture.
sedimentation
growth faults detached within
drift phase sediments
rift phase extensional basins

subsidence
In detail, an individual growth fault looks like:
synthetic faults antithetic faults
true listric fault syn-fault deposits much

geometry thicker in hanging wall
fault pa
roll-over anticline showing rallels b
edding
"reverse drag"
(Jurassic salt in
the Gulf Coast)
The key to recognizing growth structures is that sediments of the same age are much thicker on the
hanging wall than they are on the footwall. This means that the fault was moving while the sediments
accumulated preferentially in the depression made by the fault.
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34.4 Tectonic Rift Provinces
34.4.1 Oceanic Spreading Centers
The largest tectonic rift provinces in the world are represented by the earth’s linked oceanic
spreading centers. These are sometimes inaccurately referred to as “Mid-ocean ridges” because the
spreading center in the Atlantic happens to be in the middle of the ocean. We know about the structure
of the oceanic spreading centers primarily from studies of their topography (or really their bathymetry).
That topography represents an important interplay between structure, magmatism, and thermal subsid-
ence.
Slow spreading (e.g. Mid-Atlantic Ridge)
isolated volcanoes
rough topo due mostly
to normal faulting
Intermediate spreading (e.g. Galapagos Rise)

continuous volcanic axis
smoother topography
Fast spreading (e.g. East Pacific Rise)

axial high
smooth topography
At slow spreading rates (~2.5 cm/yr), normal faulting dominates the topography. There is a
distinct rift valley. Even though there are greater local reliefs, overall the ridge is lower because there is a
smaller thermal component to the topography.
At intermediate spreading rates (7 cm/yr half rates), volcanic processes become more important as
magma can reach the surface every where along the axis. There is still a subdued rift valley due to
normal faulting but the topography is smoother and higher.
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At high spreading rates (~15 cm/yr) the regional topography is dominated by thermal effects and
abundant volcanism, with little or no axial rift valley.
34.4.2 Introduction to Intracontinental Rift Provinces
Intracontinental rift provinces form within continental crust (hence the prefix “intra”). They may
lead to the formation of an ocean basin, but there are many examples which never made it to that stage.
Such rifts are call failed rifts or aulacogens. Many such features are found at hot spot triple junctions
formed during the breakup of the continents:
arm
led
fai
Hot spot
Pre-Breakup Post-Breakup
Most intracontinental rifts have a gross morphology similar to that of their oceanic counterparts. This
reflects the importance of lithospheric scale thermal processes in extensional deformation. Generally, the
regional thermal upwarp is much larger than the zone of rifting.
extended region with "basin &

range" style morphology
marginal highs
thinned crust and lithosphere
50 - 800 km
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Extensional Systems II
LECTURE 35—EXTENSIONAL SYSTEMS II
35.1 Basic Categories of Extensional Structures
Until about 15 years ago, our understanding of extensional deformation was dominated by Ander-
son’s theory of faulting. The resulting geometric model is known as the horst and graben model:
graben horst graben
Faults in this model are planar and dip at 60° (assuming an angle of internal friction of 30°). Superficially,
this model appeared to fit the observations from many rifted areas (e.g. the Basin and Range, Rhine
Graben, etc.).
The basic problems with it are:
• non-rotational, even though tilted beds are common in rift provinces

• only small extensions are possible, and we now know of extensions >100%
These problems forced people to seek alternative geometries
35.2 Rotated Planar Faults
In this geometry, the faults are planar but they rotate as they move, much as a stack of dominoes
collapses. For that reason it is commonly called the domino model. The resulting basins which form at
the top of the dominoes are call asymmetric half graben because they are bounded by a fault only on
one side. This model produces the commonly observed rotations in rift provinces:
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x
θ φ
If you know the dip of the rotated bedding and the dip of the fault, you can calculate the horizontal
extension assuming a domino model from the following equation (from Thompson, 1960):
x-w sin (φ + θ)
% extension = 100 = - 1 100 .
w sin φ
When the faults rotate to a low angle, they are no longer suitably oriented for slip. Then, a new
set of faults may form at a high angle. Several episodes of rotated normal faults can result in very large
extensions.
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35.3 Listric Normal Faults
In listric normal faults, only the bedding in the hanging wall rotates. This is in contrast with the
domino model in which the faults and bedding in both hanging wall and footwall rotate.
problem: how does block deform to fill space?
The shape of a listric block poses interesting space problems. How does the hanging wall deform to fill
the space. The solutions to this problem are illustrated below.
solution 1: simple shear of hanging wall solution 2: decreasing slip down dip
solution 3: oblique of vertical simple shear of hanging wall
In both the listric and the rotated planar faults cases, the dip of bedding is directly related to the percent
horizontal extension. For the same bedding dip, the amount of extension predicted by the rotated planar
faults is much greater than that predicted by the listric faults as shown schematically by the graph below
[the graph is not accurate, but is for general illustration purposes only].
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90°
listric fault
Dip of Bedding, θ
45° rotated planar fault
100 200
% Extension
35.4 Low-angle Normal Faults
Planar, or very gently listric, normal faults which formed initially at a low angle (in contrast to
faults rotated to a low angle) and move at a low angle are called low angle normal faults. These faults
are very controversial because they are markedly at odds with Anderson’s Law of faulting. Given the
weakness of rocks under tension, it seems likely that they move under their own weight and over
virtually friction-free surfaces (which could be simulated by pore pressure close to lithostatic, i.e. λ ≈ 1).
Their mechanics are still poorly known and much debated. These faults accommodate more extension
than high-angle normal faults, but less than either of the geometries discussed above.
All of the above structural styles can be combined in a single extensional system. The picture, below, is
similar to cross-sections drawn across many of the metamorphic core complexes in the western U.S.
upwarp due to unloading

of the footwall
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35.5 Review of Structural Geometries
The following table, after Wernicke and Burchfiel, summarizes the structural styles discussed
above:
Rotational Non-rotational
Planar Faults (domino style) High-angle & low-angle

fault & strata both rotated normal faults
Curved Faults (listric-style) compaction after

fault HW strata only rotated faulting
35.6 Thrust Belt Concepts Applied to Extensional Terranes
35.6.1 Ramps, Flats, & Hanging Wall Anticlines:
35.6.2 Extensional Duplexes:
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35.7 Models of Intracontinental Extension
A major question is, “what happens in the middle and lower crust in extensional terranes?”
Because extensional provinces are generally characterized by high heat flow and therefore probably a
weak plastic rheology at relatively shallow depths, it is not at all clear that the faults that we see at the
surface should continue deep into the crust. There are now four basic models:
35.7.1 Horst & Graben:
35.7.2 “Brittle-ductile” Transition & Sub-horizontal Decoupling:
35.7.3 Lenses or Anastomosing Shear Zones:
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35.7.4 Crustal-Penetrating Low-Angle Normal Fault:
35.7.5 Hybrid Model of Intracontinental Extension
volcanoes, high topography, post-

rift thermal subsidence strata
mechanic al (cold) rifting of the
upper crust, syn-rift strata
ductile stretching
of the lower crust
crust Thermal lithospheric

thinning
mantle
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Strike-slip Provinces
LECTURE 36—STRIKE -SLIP FAULT SYSTEMS
36.1 Tectonic setting of Strike-slip Faults
There are three general scales of occurrence of strike-slip faults:
1. Transform faults
1a. Oceanic transforms
1b. Intracontinental transforms
2. Transcurrent faults
3. Tear faults
36.1.1 Transform faults
Oceanic transforms occur at offsets of oceanic spreading centers. Paradoxically, the sense of
shear on an oceanic transform is just the opposite of that implied by the offset of the ridge. this arises
because the ridge offset is probably inherited form the initial continental break-up and is not produced by
displacement on the transform.
Oceanic transform
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36.2 Transcurrent Faults and Tear Faults
Large strike-slip faults within continents which are parts of plate boundaries are call intraconti-
nental transforms. Examples include:
• San Andreas fault (California)

• Alpine fault (New Zealand)
• North Anatolian fault (Turkey)
Other large intra-continental strike-slip faults —called transcurrent faults by Twiss and Moores—
are not clearly the plate boundaries include
• Altyn Tahg fault (China)

• Atacama fault (Chile)
• Garlock fault (California)
• Denali fault (Alaska)
All of these structures have a characteristic suite of structures associated with them.
A tear fault is a relatively minor strike-slip fault, which usually occurs in other types of structural
provinces (e.g. thrust or extensional systems) and accomodates differential movements of individual
allochthons. when a tear fault occurs within a thrust plate, it usually is confined to the hanging wall and
does not cut the footwall:
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fault does not continue into underlying plate
A wrench fault is basically a vertical strike slip fault whereas a strike slip fault can have any
orientation but must have slipped parallel to its strike.
36.3 Features Associated with Major Strike-slip Faults
In general there are three types of structures, all of which can occur along a single major strike
slip fault:
1. Convergent -- the blocks move closer or converge as they slide past each
other
2. Divergent -- the blocks move apart as they move past one another
3. Parallel -- they neither converge nor diverge.
36.3.1 Parallel Strike-slip
clay cake
Much of our basic understanding of the array of structures that develop during parallel strike-slip faulting
comes from experiments with clay cakes deformed in shear, as in the picture, above. These experiments
show that strike-slip is a two stage process involving
• pre-rupture structures, and

• post-rupture structures.
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1 Pre-rupture Structures
1. En echelon folds:
45°
The folds in the shear zone form initially at 45° to the shear zone walls, but then rotate to smaller angles.
2. Riedel Shears (conjugate strike-slip faults):
φ
90 -
2
φ
2
90 - φ R
(synthetic)
R' (antithetic)
The initial angles that the synthetic and antithetic shears form at is controlled by their coefficient of
internal friction. Those angles and the above geometry mean that the maximum compression and the
principal shortening axis of infinitesimal strain are both oriented at 45° to the shear zone boundary.
With continued shearing they will rotate (clockwise in the above diagram) to steeper angles.
Because the R' shears are originally at a high angle to the shear zone they will rotate more quickly and
become inactive more quickly than the R shears. In general, the R shears are more commonly observed,
probably because they have more displacement on them.
Riedel shears can be very useful for determining the sense of shear in brittle fault zones.
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3. Extension Cracks: In some cases, extension cracks will form, initially at 45° to the shear zone:
45°
These cracks can serve to break out blocks which subsequently rotate in the shear zone, domino-style:
Note that the faults between the blocks have the opposite sense of shear than the shear zone itself.
2 Rupture & Post-Rupture Structures
A rupture, a new set of shears, called “P-shears”, for symmetric to the R-shears. These tend to
link up the R-shears, forming a through-going fault zone:
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P-shears
φ R
2 (synthetic)
R' (antithetic)
36.3.2 Convergent-Type
Convergent type structures have sometimes been referred to as transpressional structures, a

horrible term which is both genetic and confuses stress and strain.
In convergent structures, you see
• enhanced development of the en echelon folds

• development of thrust faults sub-parallel to folds axes
• formation of “flower structures”
In map view: In cross-section:
cross-section
A T
36.3.3 Divergent Type
In the divergent type, extensional structures dominate over compressional. It has the following
characteristics:
• folds are absent
• development of normal faults
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• formation of “inverted flower structures”
In cross-section:
A T
Extensional basins formed along strike-slip faults are called “pull-apart” basins.
36.4 Restraining and Releasing bends, duplexes
You can have both convergent and divergent structures formed along a single strike-slip fault
system. They usually form along bends in the fault:
rhombochasm or
"extensional pull-apart basin
(releasing)
bend"
right step in a right-
lateral fault system
"contractional
left step in a right- (restraining) (e.g. Transverse Ranges
lateral fault system bend" in S. California)
Restraining or releasing bends can be the site of formation of strike-slip duplexes, in which the faults can
either be contractional or extensional, repsectively. Extensional or contractional structures can also be
concentrated at the overlaps in en echelon strike-slip fault segments:
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thrust faults in overlap region normal faults in overlap region
36.5 Terminations of Strike-slip Faults
Transform faults, either oceanic or intracontinental, can only terminate at a triple-junction. Tran-
scurrent faults may terminate in a splay of strike-slip faults sometimes referred to as a horsetail structure:
In this way, the deformation is dtributed throughout the crust. Alternatively, they may terminate in an
imbricate fan of normal faults (for a releasing bend) or thrust faults (for a restraining bend).
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Vertical Motions: Isostasy
LECTURE 37—DEFORMATION OF THE LITHOSPHERE
So far, we’ve mostly talked about “horizontal tectonics”, that is horizontal extension or horizontal
shortening. Yet the most obvious manifestation of deformation is the mountains! That is the vertical
displacements of the lithosphere.
There are two parts to the topographic development question:
1. What are the mechanisms by which mountains are uplifted? and
2. Once they are uplifted, how do they evolve?
37.1 Mechanisms of Uplift
37.1.1 Isostasy & Crust-lithosphere thickening
Imagine that you have an object (an iceberg, piece of wood, etc.) floating in water:
ρ
ρ topography ice
ice
ρ
water
The way to get more topography is to make the ice (or wood) thicker. The topography itself and the ratio
of the part of the iceberg above and below water is a direct function of the ratio of the densities of ice and
water. This basic principle is known as isostasy.
There are two basic models for isostasy. The Pratt model assumes laterally varying densities; the
Airy model assumes constant lateral densities:
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Pratt Model Airy Model
[identical topo]
2.67 2.59 2.52 2.57 2.62 2.76 2.75 2.75 2.75 2.75 2.75 2.75
3.3 gm/cm 3
3.3 gm/cm 3
compensation level
We now know that, in general, Airy Isostasy applies to the majority of the world’s mountain belts. Thus
most mountain belts have roots, just like icebergs have roots.
37.1.2 Differential Isostasy
Two relations make it simple to calculate the isostatic difference between two columns of rock:
1. The sum of the changes in mass in a column above the compensation level is
zero:
∆( ρw hw ) + ∆( ρs hs ) + ∆( ρc hc ) + ∆( ρm hm ) = 0
where “w” refers to water, “s” to sediments, “c” to crust, and “m” to mantle.
2. The changes in elevation of the surface of the earth, ∆E, equals the sums of the
changes in the thickness of the layers:
∆E = ∆hw + ∆hs + ∆hc + ∆hm
This gives us two equations and two unknowns. Thus, if we know the densities and the changes in
elevations, we can predict the changes in crustal thicknesses.
Take as an example the Tibetan Plateau, which is 5 km high. If we assume a crustal density of
2.75 gm/cm3 and a mantle density of 3.3 gm/cm3 then:
∆E = ∆hc + ∆hm = 5 km
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and
∆( ρc hc ) + ∆( ρm hm ) = 2.75∆hc + 3.3∆hm = 0 .
Solving for ∆hc:

∆hc (2.75 − 3.3) = 5 ∗ 3.3
and
∆hc = 30 km .
What this means is that the crust beneath the Tibetan Plateau should be 30 km thicker than a crust of
equivalent density, whose surface is a sea level. The base of the crust beneath Tibet should be 25 km
deeper than the base of the crust at sea level (because of the 5 km elevation). Note that the root is about five
times the size of the topographic high.
37.1.3 Flexural Isostasy
So far in our discussion of isostasy we’ve made the implicit assumption that the crust has no
lateral strength. Thus, when we increase the thickness by adding a load, you get vertical faults:
load
lithosphere
The Earth usually doesn’t work that way. More commonly, you see:
load
lithosphere
In other words, the lithosphere has finite strength and thus can distribute the support of the load over a
much broader area. The bending of the lithosphere is call flexure and the process of distributing the load
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is called flexural isostasy. The equations which, to a first order, describe flexure are:
 x  −x
z = zo cos  + sin   exp 
x
 α α  α 
Where x is the distance from the center of the load, z is the vertical deflection at x, and zo is the maximum
deflection at x = 0. zo , α, and related constants are given by the following equations:
Voα 3
zo =
8D
1
 4D 4
α= 
 ( ρ m − ρ w )g 
and
 Ehe3 
D= 2 
12(1 − υ ) 
This last equation is what really determines the amplitude and wavelength of the deflection. D is known
as the flexural rigidity, a measure of a plate’s resistance to bending. The flexural rigidity is in fact the
plate’s bending moment divided by its curvature. A high flexural rigidity will result in only very gentle
flexure.
As you can see from the above equation, D depends very strongly on he, the thickness of the plate
being bent, or in the case of the earth, the effective thickness of the elastic lithosphere; it varies as the cube
of the thickness. In simple terms, thin plates will flex much more than thick plates will.
If a mountain range sits on a very strong or thick plate, the load is distributed over a very broad
area and the mountains do not have a very big root.
In the Himalayan-Tibetan system we see both types of isostasy:
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Himalayas Tibet
flexural isostasy local isostasy
55 km
India
70 km
In general, the degree to which flexural vs. local isostasy dominate depend on a number of factors,
including heat flow, the age of the continental crust being subducted and the width of the mountain belt.
37.2 Geological Processes of Lithospheric Thickening
37.2.1 Distributed Shortening:
37.2.2 “Underthrusting”:
37.2.3 Magmatic Intrusion:
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37.3 Thermal Uplift
Because things expand when they are heated, their density is reduced. This has a profound effect
on parts of the Earth’s lithosphere which are unusually hot, thin, or both. Thermal uplift is most
noticeable in rift provinces such as the oceanic spreading centers or intracontinental rifts where the
lithosphere is being actively thinned and the asthenosphere is unusually close to the surface. It can also,
however, be an important effect in compressional orogens with continental plateaus such as the Andes or
the Himalaya.
For the oceanic spreading centers, the change in elevation with time can be computed from:
ρa  
1
2α (Tw − Ta )   ,
kt 2
∆E =
ρa − ρw  π 
 
where, α is the coefficient of thermal expansion, k is the thermal diffusivity (8 x 10-7 m2 s-1 ), Tw is the
temperature of seawater, Ta is the temperature of the asthenosphere (~1350°C), and t is time. In continental
areas the maximum regional elevation which you commonly can get by thermal uplift alone is between
1.5 and 2.0 km.
37.4 Evolution of Uplifted Continental Crust
Once uplifted what happens to all that mass of rock in mountain belts? There are some simple
physical reasons why mountain belts don’t grow continuously in elevation. At some point the gravitational
potential of the uplifted rocks counteracts and cancels the far field tectonic stresses and then the mountain
belt grows laterally rather than vertically.
Generally, the higher parts of mountain ranges, especially in the Himalaya and the Andes are in a
delicate balance between horizontal extension and horizontal compression. Small changes in plate interac-
tions, rheology of the crust, or erosion rates can cause the high topography to change from one state to
another.
We used to think of orogenies as being all “compressional” or all extensional. However, with this
understanding of the simple physics of mountain belts, it is clear the you can easily find normal faults
forming in the interior of the range at the same time as thrust faults are active along the exterior margins.
Peter Molnar makes an excellent analogy between mountain belts and medieval churches. Both
are built up high enough so that they would collapse under their own weight if it weren’t for their
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external lateral supports. In the case of the churches, flying buttresses keep them from collapsing. In the
case of mountain belts, plate convergence and the horizontal tectonic stresses that it generates, keeps the
mountains from collapsing.
Many people now think that a very common sequence of events is for large scale intracontinental
rifting to follow a major mountain building episode. When the horizontal compression that built the
mountains is removed, the uplifted mass of rocks collapses under its own weight, initiating the rifting.
This sequence of events is observed, for example in the Mesozoic compressional deformation and the
Cenozoic Basin and Range formation in the western United States.
It is important to realize that there can be two type of extension in over-thickened crust: (1) a
superficial effect just due to the topography, and (2) a crustal-scale effect in which the positive buoyancy
of the root contributes significantly to the overall extension.
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Index 272
A boudinage, chocolate tablet .................206

activation energy...................................127 boudins ...........................................203, 205
Alberta syncline.....................................237 Bowden...................................................114
albite twins .............................................120 Britain, coast of ..........................................5
allochthon...............................................225 brittle.........................................................98
Alpine fault ............................................258 “brittle-ductile transition” ...................131
Amontons........................................113-114 Brunton compass.....................................15
analytical methods ....................................3 buckling ...........................................192-193
Anderson’s theory..........................159-160 Burgers vector........................................122
Anderson’s theory of faulting .............250 Busk method ..........................................186
Andes ..............................................241, 270
angle of internal friction........ 107, See also C
fracture calcite.......................................................120
angular shear ...........................................40 Canada....................................................239
annealing ................................................126 Canadian Rockies..................226, 231, 237
anticline...................................................178 Cape Ranges...........................................239
antiform ..................................................178 Cartesian coordinates .................10, 14, 17
Appalachians .........................................134 cataclasis ...................................................98
Appalachians .........................................225 Cauchy’s Law.....................................64, 68
Argentina........................................239, 241 CDP ......................................................23-24
asperities.................................................114 Chamberlain, T. C. ................................225
asthenosphere ........................................270 characteristic equation............................73
asymmetric half graben......... 250, See also China.......................................................239
extensional structures cleavage ...................................203, 207-208
asymmetric porphyroclasts ..........220-221 anastomosing...................................210
Atacama fault.........................................258 conjugate...........................................210
Athy’s Law .........104, See also compaction crenulation................................211, 216
Atlas Mountains ....................................239 climb..........................................................98
augen.......................................................152 Coble creep.............................................119
aulacogens..............................................249 COCORP.................................................241
autochthon..............................................225 COCORP...................................................25
axes............................................................12 coefficient of friction .............................112
coefficient of internal friction110, See also
B fracture
b-value ........................................................6 coefficient of thermal expansion.........102
basalt .......................................................103 cohesion ..........................................110, 112
Basin and Range ............................250, 271 cold working..........................................125
Basin and Range ........................................3 Colorado .................................................239
bedding...................................................207 Colorado Plateau...................................135
bending moment ...................................268 columnar joints ......................................103
Bighorn Basin.........................................243 compaction......................................103-104
bond confining pressure.....................95, 97, 107
attraction...................................100, 102 continuum mechanics.............................36
force...................................................101 coordinate transformation .....................71
length ................................................102 cosine.........................................................17
potential energy........................100-102 cracks, modes I, II, III............................133
repulsion...................................100, 102 creep ..........................................................94
boudinage...............................................206 creep curve ...............................................95
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Index 273
Crenulation cleavage ............................216 pinning..............................................124

cross product.......................................18-19 screw .................................................123
crust.........................................................131 self stress field..................................123
crystal plastic ...................................98, 146 strain hardening ..............................123
curvature ................................................191 dislocations..............................119, 121-122
cylindrical fold.........................................12 displacement gradient tensor...........71-72
displacement vector................................37
D Distortion..................................................33
Dahlstrom...............................................231 Dix equation.............................................25
décollement....................................177, 187 dolomite..................................................120
décollement....................................225, 228 dome and basin .....................................190
defects .....................................................117 dominos ..................................................220
impurities .........................................118 dot product...............................................18
interstitial..........................................118 drag folds................................................195
linear..................................................121 ductile .......................................................98
planar ................................................119 dummy suffix notation...........................69
point ..................................................118 duplex ...................235, See also thrust belt
substitution ......................................118 extensional........................................254
vacancies...........................................118 passive roof238, See also triangle zone
deformation bands................................119 dynamic analysis...................................161
deformation lamellae............................119
deformation map...................................129 E
deformation paths...................................55 earthquake..................................................6
deformation, crystal plastic .127, 146, 152 earthquake................................................95
Delaware Water Gap ....................116, 214 east-north-up convention.......................11
Denali fault.............................................258 eigenvalues...............................................73
denudation .............................................245 eigenvectors .............................................73
deviatoric stress.......................................65 Einstein summation convention ......69-70
diagenesis ................................104, 116-117 elastic.........................................................93
diffractions ..........................................27-28 elastic deformation................................100
diffusion.....................98, 118, 125-126, 129 electrical conductivity.............................68
diffusion ellipticity...................................................50
diffusion coefficient ........................148 en echelon...............................................134
erosional ...........................................147 engineering mechanics.............................1
diffusion creep...............................127, 129 exfoliation...............................................136
crystal lattice ....................119, 126, 129 Experimental..............................................3
grain boundary................116, 119, 126 extension...................................................39
Dilation ...............................................33, 41 domino model..................................250
dip and dip direction..............................15 down-to-the-basin...........................247
dip isogon...............................................185
direction cosines..........................14, 16, 82 F
dislocation glide ..............................98, 123 fabric........................................................203
dislocation failed rifts................................................249
jogs.....................................................124 failure envelop........ 108, 110, 113, See also
climb..................................................125 fracture
edge ...................................................123 fault bend folding232, See also thrust belt
glide............................................125-126 fault plane solutions..............................161
glide and climb .........................125-127 fault rock.................................................146
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fault rocks...............................................144 multilayers........................................199

fault scarp...............................................147 neutral surface .................................193
fault-line scarp .......................................147 nucleation .........................................200
fault-propagation folds.........................242 passive flow......................................197
faults........................................................133 theoretical analysis..........................199
anastomosing...................................141 viscous ..............................................200
blind ..................................................149 folds
branch line........................................142 anticlinoria........................................180
conjugate sets...................................158 asymmetric.......................................179
dip slip ..............................................143 axial surface...............................181-182
emergent...........................................147 axial trace..........................................182
footwall.............................................141 axis.....................................................192
hanging wall ....................................141 class 1 ................................................185
hinge fault ........................................144 concentric..........................................186
left lateral (sinistral)........................143 conical ...............................................188
listric..................................................141 cylindrical.........................................186
listric..................................................160 dip isogon.........................................185
normal...............................................143 drag ...................................................195
oblique slip.......................................143 enveloping surface..........................179
piercing points.................................142 facing.................................................179
planar ................................................141 hinge..................................................180
reverse...............................................143 interlimb angle.................................183
right lateral (dextral).......................143 isoclinal.............................................183
rotational ..........................................144 kink............................................187, 195
scissors ..............................................144 non-cylindrical.................................188
sense-of-slip......................................151 parallel ..............................................186
separation .........................................142 parasitic.............................................195
slip vector .........................................142 plunging ...........................................182
surface trace .....................................142 reclined .............................................182
tip line ...............................................141 recumbent.........................................182
wrench ..............................................143 sheath ................................................188
fenster......................................................225 similar ...............................................187
flat irons..................................................148 superposed.......................................189
flexural rigidity......................................268 symmetric.........................................179
flexure .....................................................267 synclinoria........................................180
Flinn diagram...........................................59 vergence............................................179
fluid inclusions ......................................138 foliation...........................................203, 207
fluid pressure.104, See also pore pressure folium......................................................207
fluid pressure ratio................................175 footwall...................................................232
fluids .........................................................96 force.............................................................2
fold axis...................................................186 force...........................................................61
folding foreland...........................................227, 235
“competence”...................................199 foreland basin ........................................230
buckling ............................................193 broken ...............................................244
dominant wavelength.....................200 foreland basins.......................................229
elastic.................................................200 foreland thrust belts....226, See also thrust
flexural flow.....................................194 belt
flexural slip.......................................194 FORTRAN................................................70
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Index 275
fractal dimension.......................................5 hydrostatic pressure ...............................65

fractals......... 4, 6, See also scale invariance
fracture............................................106, 126 I
brittle.................................................106 Iberian-Catalán Ranges ........................239
Coulomb ....................................110-111 Idaho .......................................................230
ductile ...............................................106 indicial notation.......................................13
ductile failure...................................111 interval velocity.......................................25
tensile ................................................108 isostasy....................................................265
transitional tensile...........................109 Airy.............................................265-266
fractures, pre-existing...........................112 differential........................................266
Fresnel Zone.............................................27 flexural...............................229, 267-269
Fresnel zone .............................................27 local ...................................................269
friction..............................................113-114 Pratt...................................................265
G J
Garlock fault ..........................................258 Jeffery Model..........................................214
Gaussian curvature ...............................191 jelly sandwich ........................................131
geometry..................................................2-3 joint sets ..................................................134
geothermal gradient..............................129 joint systems...........................................134
Gibbs notation..........................................12 joints........................................................133
gneissic layering ....................................207 butting relation ................................135
graded beds............................................208 cooling...............................................136
grain boundaries ...................................119 cross joints ........................................134
grain size.........................................110, 129 sheet structure..................................136
Granite Mountains ................................243 systematic joints ..............................134
gravity slides..........................................245 twist hackles.....................................135
Griffith Cracks .......................................109 joints........................................................203
Griffith cracks ........................................110 joint zone ..........................................134
growth faulting.. 247, See also extensional Jura Mountains ......................................226
structures
Gulf Coast...............................................247 K
kinematic analysis.................................161
H kinematic analysis...................................33
hand sample...............................................4 kinematics...................................................2
hanging wall ..........................................232 klippe ......................................................225
Heart Mountain detachment ...............176
Heart Mountain fault............................246 L
Herring Nabarro creep .........................119 laboratory .................................................97
Himalaya ................................................270 landslides................................................245
hinterland .......................................227, 235 Laramide Province................................239
homocline .......................................180, 183 latitude......................................................10
horse......................235, See also thrust belt left-handed coordinates 11, See also right-
horsetail structure .................................264 handed coordinates
horst and graben....................................250 linear algebra ...........................................67
hot working............................................125 lineation ..................................................203
Hubbert & Rubey ..................................170 lines ...........................................................14
hydraulic fracturing..............................112 listric normal faults ...............................252
hydrostatic pressure .............................175 lithosphere..............................................130
Economic Geo. _ JH
Index 276
lithosphere......................................229, 270
lithostatic pressure ..................................65 N
longitude...................................................10 neutral surface .......................................193
low angle normal faults........................253 New England .........................................136
Newton .....................................................61
M Newtonian fluid ......................................93
Mackenzie Mountains ..........................239 non-penetrative .........................................4
magnitude ..................................................2 North Anatolian fault ...........................258
magnitude, earthquake ............................6 north-east-down convention ...........11, 14
Mandelbrot, B. ...........................................5 numerical methods ...................................3
mantle .....................................................131
March model..........................................214 O
Martinsburg Formation................214, 216 oceanic spreading centers ....................248
material properties....................................1 Oklahoma ...............................................239
mean stress...............................................65 olistostrome............................................246
mechanics ................................................2-3 olivine .....................................................130
mélange...................................................246 optical microscope ....................................4
mélanges.................................................223 orientation ..................................................2
metamorphic core complexes..............253 orientations...............................................14
metamorphic foliation ..........................113 orthogonality relations ...........................82
metamorphism ......................................117
mica “fish” .............................................219 P
mica fish..................................................152 P and T axes ...........................................161
microlithon.....................................215, 217 P-shears...................................................151
microlithons ...........................................211 P-shears...................................................261
mid-ocean ridges...................................248 P-waves.....................................................22
migration .............................................25-26 paleocurrent indicators ..........................12
mineral fibers .................................152, 203 paleomagnetic poles ...............................12
mineral lineations..................................152 parallelogram law ...................................18
minor structures ....................................203 parasitic folds.........................................195
miogeocline ............................................228 parautochthon........................................225
Modulus of Rigidity................................89 particle path .............................................37
Mohr’s Circle............................................82 particle paths............................................34
Mohr’s Circle, 3-D ...................................86 passive margin...............................228, 247
Mohr’s Circle, finite strain .....................47 pencil structure......................................206
Mohr’s circle, for stress.........................106 penetrative..................................................4
Mohr’s Circle, for stress................107, 111 permeability ...........................................112
Mohr’s Circle, stress......78-79, 85, See also piercing points.......................................142
stress pitch...........................................................15
moment, earthquake.................................6 plagioclase..............................................120
monocline ...............................................180 plane strain...............................................58
Morocco ..................................................239 plane trigonometry ...................................8
Mother Lode...........................................138 planes ........................................................14
movement plane....................................161 plastic, perfect..........................................94
mullions..................................................203 plate convergence rates ........................229
multiple.....................................................30 point source..............................................27
multiples...................................................29 Poissons Ratio..........................................89
mylonite..................................................146 poles ....................................................12, 14
Economic Geo. _ JH
Index 277
pore fluid ..................................................97 S-surfaces................................................207

pore fluid pressure................................175 S-waves.....................................................22
pore pressure ..........................105, 111-112 sag ponds................................................148
pore space.................................................96 San Andreas fault..................................258
porosity....................................103-104, 112 sandstone dikes .....................................214
power law creep ....................................127 scalar ..............................................17-18, 67
pressure solution....................115-117, 126 scalar product ..... 18, See also dot product
pressure solution....................213, 215-217 scale .......................................................3, 36
grain size...........................................117 scale invariance..........4-5, See also fractals
impurities .........................................117 scale
temperature......................................117 global.....................................................3
principal stresses .....................................63 macroscopic..........................................3
pure shear.................................................54 map.....................................................3-4
mesoscopic ...........................................4
Q microscopic ..........................................4
quadrangle map ........................................4 provincial..............................................3
quadratic elongation..... 39, See also strain regional .................................................3
submicroscopic ....................................4
R schistosity ...............................................207
R-shears ..................................................151 secular equation.......................................73
R-shears ..................................................261 sedimentary basin .................................104
rake............................................................15 seismic reflection
reflection coefficient................................21 artifacts................................................29
reflectivity.................................................23 fold.......................................................24
rheology....................................................87 shear strain ...............................................40
Rhine Graben .........................................250 shear stress .............................................158
Rich, J. L..................................................231 shear zone...............................................140
Riedel Shears..........................150, 152, 260 displacement....................................221
rift provinces..........................................249 sense-of-shear ..................................219
right-hand rule..............................15, 19-20 sheath folds ....................................152, 188
Right-handed coordinates11, See also left- Sheep Mountain ....................................243
handed coordinates Sierras Pampeanas ........................239, 241
rigid body deformation..........................33 sign conventions
rock bursts..............................................136 engineering.........................................61
Rocky Mountain Foreland ...................239 geology................................................61
Rocky Mountain foreland ....................243 simple shear ...........................................139
Rodgers, J................................................225 simple shear .............................................54
rods..........................................................203 sine.............................................................17
rotation........................................................1 slickenlines .............................................152
Rotation.....................................................33 slickensides ............................................152
rotation......................................................34 slip system..............................................123
left-handed .........................................34 slip vector ...............................................142
right-handed ......................................34 soil mechanics........................................105
rupture stress ...........................................96 Spain........................................................239
spalling....................................................136
S spherical coordinates..................10, 14, 17
S-C fabrics...............................................152 stacking.....................................................24
S-C fabrics...............................203, 207, 219 stereographic projection.........................12
Economic Geo. _ JH
Index 278
strain.........................................................1-2 principal plane...................................86

strain........................................................100 shear ....................................................77
strain..........................................................68 spherical..............................................66
strain ellipse .............................................42 triaxial .................................................65
strain ellipsoid .......................................217 uniaxial ...............................................65
strain hardening ....................................123 units.....................................................61
strain rate....................................................3 stretch........................................................39
strain rate................. 92-93, 96-97, 127, 129 striae........................................................152
strain softening ......................................125 strike and dip...........................................14
strain strike-slip, convergent ..........................259
angles .............................................39-40 strike-slip, convergent type .................262
coaxial .................................................54 strike-slip, divergent.............................259
continuous..........................................34 strike-slip, divergent type....................262
discontinuous.....................................35 strike-slip, en echelon folds .................260
finite ....................................................53 strike-slip, parallel.................................259
heterogeneous....................................35 strike-slip, transpression ......................262
homogeneous.....................................35 structural domains ..................................36
infinitesimal .......................................53 stylolites..................................................115
lines .....................................................39 stylolites..................................................203
lines of no finite elongation .............51 sub-grain walls ......................................126
maximum angular shear ..................49 Sub-Himalayan Belt..............................226
non-coaxial .........................................54 Subandean belt ......................................226
non-commutability............................58 subduction, flat......................................239
non-rotational ....................................54 subgrain boundaries .............................119
principal axes.....................................48 syncline ...................................................178
pure shear...........................................54 synform...................................................178
rotational ............................................54
simple shear .......................................54 T
superposition .....................................58 tangent vector ........................................122
volume ................................................39 tear fault....... 258, See also strike-slip fault
volumetric ........................................103 temperature............................................117
stress.........................................................1-2 temperature......................96, 102, 127, 129
stress................................100, 107, 110, 114 tension gashes........................................139
stress...............................................61, 67-68 tensor transformation .......................70, 81
stress field.................................................86 tensor
stress tensor.........................................63-64 antisymmetric ....................................72
stress trajectory........................................87 asymmetric.........................................72
stress vector..............................................61 infinitesimal strain ............................72
stress invariants............................................73
axial .....................................................65 principal axes...............................73, 83
biaxial..................................................65 symmetric...........................................72
deviatoric............................................64 tensors.......................................................68
differential..........................................95 Terzaghi..................................................105
effective.............................................105 Texas........................................................170
isotropic ............................................106 Texas........................................................239
mean...............................................64-65 Theoretical..................................................3
normal.................................................77 thermal conductivity...............................68
principal..............................................63 thermal diffusivity ................................270
Economic Geo. _ JH
Index 279
thermal expansion.................................270 unit vector ...............................13-14, 16, 19

thermal subsidence ...............................248 universal gas constant ..........................127
thermodynamics........................................3
thrust belt V
Andean-type ....................................227 vacancies.............118, 125, See also defects
antiformal stack ...............................236 Valley & Ridge Province ......................226
antithetic ...................................227, 229 vector.......................................13, 14, 17, 67
basic characteristics.........................228 vector product.. 19, See also cross product
Dahlstrom’s rules .....................231-232 addition...............................................18
duration ............................................229 cross product.................................18-19
folded thrusts...................................234 dot product.........................................18
Himalayan-type...............................227 magnitude ..........................................13
imbrication .......................................237 scalar multiplication .........................17
ramp and flat geometry..................231 subtraction..........................................18
rates ...................................................229 veins ........................................115, 133, 137
synthetic....................................227, 229 antitaxial ...........................................138
timing................................................229 sigmoidal ..........................................139
triangle zones...................................237 syntaxial............................................138
types of folds in ...............................233 "tension" gashes...............................139
thrust faults ............................................170 veins ........................................................203
gravity gliding .................................176 velocity......................................................26
gravity sliding..................................176 pullup/pushdown ............................29
paradox of ........................................170 rock......................................................22
wedge shape ....................................176 vergence..................................................179
thrusts viscosity ..................................................200
out-of-the-syncline ..........................242 viscosity ....................................................93
thick-skinned ...........................225, 239 viscous, perfect ........................................94
thin-skinned .....................................225 void ratio ................................................104
Tibetan Plateau ...............................266-267 Von Mises...............................................111
Tien Shan................................................239
tool marks...............................................152 W
topography, pre-glacial ........................136 wavelength...............................................26
traction vector..........................................61 wedge taper............................................177
traction vectors ........................................62 wedge, critical taper..............................177
transcurrent fault...................................258 Wichita-Arbuckle Mountains..............239
transform, intracontinental .. 258, See also Wind River Mountains.........................241
strike-slip fault window...................................................225
transformation matrix........................82-83 wrench fault ...........................................259
transformation of axes............................81 Wyoming.........230, 239, 241, 243-244, 246
translation.............................................1, 33
transposition ...................................222-223 Y
trend and plunge.....................................15 yield stress...........................................96-97
triangle zone...........................................238 Young’s modulus ..................................200
triple-junction ........................................264 Young’s Modulus....................................89
twin glide................................................120
twin lamellae...................................119-120
Economic Geo. _ JH

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Lecture 1 5 116

Pressure Solution & Crystal Plasticity

solution of material at there may be a thin

This process is probably relatively common during diagenesis.

15.1.2 Environmental constrains on Pressure Solution

Upper Temperature Limit for Pressure Solution

These temperatures are somewhere in lower greenschist facies of metamorphism.

15.2 Mechanisms of Crystal Plasticity

15.2.1 Point Defects

To general types of point defects are possible:

Substitution Impurity -- Atom of a similar

Vacancy -- Atom missing

Interstitial Impurity -- Atom of a much smaller

There are two types of diffusion:

• Crystal lattice diffusion (Herring Nabarro creep) -- This type is important

• Grain boundary diffusion (Coble creep) -- This type occurs at lower

15.2.3 Planar Defects

• Deformation bands -- planar zones of deformation within a crystal

• Deformation lamellae -- similar to deformation bands; poorly understood

The last three are illustrated, below:

Narrow band in which there has

LECTURE 16—DEFORMATION MECHANISMS IV: DISLOCATIONS

1 6 . 1 Basic Concepts and Terms

rug has now moved one full "unit" to the right

than to try and break all of them simultaneously.

Note that there is no record in the crystal of the passage of a

• Burgers vector -- slip vector parallel to the direction of movement. It is

"Cut-away" view of part of a dislocation loop

1 6 . 2 Dislocation (“Translation”) Glide

When the movement of a dislocation is confined to a single, crystallographically determined

1 6 . 3 Dislocations and Strain Hardening

2. Dislocation Pinning (pile-up): This occurs when an impurity point defect

1 6 . 4 Dislocation Glide and Climb

If there are a sufficient number of vacancies in a crystal, when a dislocation encounters an

The main process is dislocation glide and climb.

1 6 . 5 Review of Deformation Mechanisms

• Elastic deformation -- Very low temperature, small strains

• Fracture -- Very low temperature, high differential stress

• Pressure Solution -- Low temperature, fluids necessary

• Dislocation glide -- Low temperature, high differential stress

• Dislocation glide and climb -- Higher temperature, high differential stress

• Grain boundary diffusion -- Low temperature, low differential stress

• Crystal lattice diffusion -- High temperature, low differential stress

LECTURE 17—FLOW LAWS & STATE OF STRESS I N THE

1 7 . 1 Power Law Creep

The variables are:

e = strain rate [s-1]

Substituting in the actual values:

After working through the math, you get:

σ1 - σ3 = 0.236 GPa = 236 MPa .

Max Shear Stress (Mpa)

Power Law Creep Curves

Again, the variables are:

e = strain rate [s-1]

• differential stress is plotted against temperature for a constant grain size;

• differential stress is plotted against grain size for a constant temperature;

0.1 Lattice diffusion

0 800 1600 T (°C)

1 7 . 4 State of Stress in the Lithosphere

• The crust is dominantly composed of quartz and feldspar bearing rocks.

• The mantle is composed of olivine.

Differential Stress (MPa) Lithospheric Column

• Temperature is the fundamental control on deformation in the lower crust -- Again,