1. Outline Terminology Ramp and Flat thrusts Animations
Class exercise in cutoffs
General rules for thrusting??

2. See if they have one without erosion
Animations of thrust belts from kontastan
See if they have one without erosion

3. Thrust Belt Anatomy – the Alps
Thrust Fault Terminology
foreland, hinterland
thin-skinned, thick-skinned

4. Thrust Sheet Anatomy
Thrust ramps How does hangingwall deform?
frontal ramp
lateral ramp

5. Original layer cake template
Thrust Fault Terminology

7. Thrust Fault Terminology
Are strata parallel to the thrust…

8. Thrust Fault Terminology
Transport Direction
Foreland
Hinterland
Ramp - flat thrusts propagate very quickly. Subsequent
sliding on the thrust produces distinct types of folds with
angular hinges (called fault-bend folds).

9. Kinematics of Ramp-Flat Thrusts
Open file in 10. thrust folder
(fault bend fold model)

10. Kinematics of Ramp-Flat Thrusts
Open file in 10. thrust folder
(and then duplex model)
Duplex, horses
Note these are all in sequence

11. Orogenic wedges
Concept of critical taper
Many large thrust belts are critically tapered
or are in a steady state (between erosion and
uplift from shortening.
Discuss how changes in taper effect thrust belt evolution
(Uneven erosion like Puli, intersect salt basin like Ebro

12. Kinematics of a thin-skinned thrust belt

13. Class exercise in cutoffs
Class exercise in cutoffs This exercise is designed to help you recognize concordant and discordant contacts in thrust belts (e.g. stratigraphic cutoffs) and use these to infer thrust kinematics. For the handout:
Identify and draw a line along the thrust in the outcrop
Identify and draw in lines that trace stratigraphic contacts
Assuming the rocks are not overturned, determine whether you are looking at a footwall flat, footwall ramp, hangingwall flat or hangingwall ramp. Mark them on the fig
Then determine the direction the hangingwall is moving and add an arrow denoting that direction

14. Class exercise in cutoffs
Class exercise in cutoffs This exercise is designed to help you recognize concordant and discordant contacts in thrust belts (e.g. stratigraphic cutoffs) and use these to infer thrust kinematics. For the handout:
Identify and draw a line along the thrust in the outcrop
Identify and draw in lines that trace stratigraphic contacts
Assuming the rocks are not overturned, determine whether you are looking at a footwall flat, footwall ramp, hangingwall flat or hangingwall ramp. Mark them on the fig
Then determine the direction the hangingwall is moving and add an arrow denoting that direction

15. Interpretation
Find the thrust fault…

16. Print 25 copies of this image for class exercise

17. Interpretation
Find the thrust fault…

18. Identify the flats and ramps…

20. Interpretation Has the fault on the right been subsequently rotated
or otherwise folded?
How must was the thrust on the left rotated to create the geometry seen?

21. Throw, Heave, and Slip Q Heave Q Throw Q Slip
Note that in reality, the over-hanging lip on the hanging-wall collapses onto the top of the footwall
(Throw)2 + (Heave)2 = (Slip)2
SinQ = (Throw/Slip)
CosQ = (Heave/Slip)

22. General Rules of thrust faulting: Rule 1
Older deeper rocks are emplaced above younger shallower rocks, thrusts repeat strata in boreholes and bury rocks in map view

23. General Rules of thrust faulting: Rule 2
Assuming layer-cake stratigraphy, thrusts cut up-section in the direction of transport
Original layer cake template

24. General Rules of thrust faulting: Rule 3
Thrusts propagate in the direction of transport
By that we mean new thrusts break out in front on old ones
Show duplex movie
Transport Direction

25. General Rules of thrust faulting: Rule 4
Hanging wall and footwall cutoffs and cutoff angles should match up and be equal (except where fault slip is consumed by shear in sediments)

26. An astounding duplex . Slip on each slice is about half of its length, making a hindward-dipping sequence.
Duplexes form in response to the strength of the layer being shortened and the layer upon which sliding occurs (the base of the stack. A delicate interplay must thus exist between rock strength and frictional sliding

27. General Rules of thrust faulting: Rule 5
Older thrusts are carried on younger thrusts

28. General Rules of thrust faulting: Rule 6
Higher older thrusts become folded as younger thrusts climb ramps

29. Influence of pore fluid pressures
A paradox in thrust belts is that the thrust sheets themselves are often very broad, yet relatively thin. The Lewis thrust in Montana is a classic example of such a fault, many times wider than it is thick yet with at least 10 km of slip. There is almost no strain at the thrust contact, with < 1m of relatively undeformed shale. The best explanation is that the thrust contact was under very high pore fluid pressure, effectively, the lithostatic load. A great analogy is a plastic puck on an air-hockey table, it has almost no friction due to the air lifting it off the table.

30. Drawing a balanced cross section
In the following exercise, please complete the cross sections of a fault bend fold (an anticline) formed above a simple thrust ramp. The section should
Maintain bedding thickness
The dip of the back limb should be equal to the dip of the thrust
Use interlimb bisectors as axial surfaces (shown as dashed lines)
Pin bends in the fold to bends in the thrust
The thrust steps up from left to right
The thrust is marked by the thicker line on both sides of the section
Be careful drawing in the strata as there are exact solutions (the key is
locating where the bends in the faults are located). A Buff One card makes a
good straight edge.