INVERSION TECTONICS

Wessex basin

   
• “regional”
• null-points
• footwall short-cuts
• buttressing
• Inversion in
mountain belts
   
   
   
 “Regional”

…the continuous level/orientation

of a horizon through the region
(away from the fault structure)

   
“Regional” for green horizon

   
 For ideal contractional structures…
all parts of the structure move to
ABOVE their regional….. For ideal
extensional structures…… all parts
move to BELOW their regional.

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 Net contraction

Null point
Net extension

   
   
   
   
   
 Footwall
short-cut

   
   
    Beware vertical exag
Inversion or fault-bend fold?
   
Why structural style matters
for regional orogenic studies

   
   
 Inheritance in the Apennines?

Inversion in the Adriatic

Argnani & Gamberi 1997

   
Eastern part of CROP-03

Ultra-reactivation model.
Basement-involved,
low displacements
(8.5 km vs 22 km)

  et al. 2004
Butler  
 Basement involved – but not simply fault reactivation (like Vercors)

Scisciani et al. 2002 (J. Struct Geol)

   
 Thrust nucleates on
pre-existing normal fault

Richard Morgan
Deep water Nigeria
   
More information?

Geological Society (London) Spec Publs:

Inversion Tectonics (44)
Basin Inversion (88)