Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-54qdv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-09T23:27:15.896Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Thrust tectonics: a personal view

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

Robert W. H. Butler
Robert W. H. Butler
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Science Laboratories, The University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The structure of fold and thrust belts has been studied for just over one hundred years and has been the subject of a recent international conference at Toulouse, in May 1984. This article reviews some of the recent advances in thrust tectonics from a personal viewpoint, in the light of the Toulouse meeting. Key tools in correctly interpreting thrust systems are the use of balanced (restorable) cross-sections and the resolution of three dimensional fault systems. These analytical methods are now being widely developed and applied to numerous orogenic belts with many surprising results. While our understanding of foreland thrust belts is now probably better than any other structural environment, there is still great uncertainty as to the emplacement-driving mechanisms of these belts. Future work will try to solve these and other outstanding problems and apply the new analytical methods to the interior parts of thrust belts in efforts to restore entire orogens.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 122 , Issue 3 , May 1985 , pp. 223 - 232
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Argand, E. 1911. Les nappes de recouvrement des Alpes pennines et leurs prolongements structuraux. Matériaux pour la Carte géologique de la Suisse, 31.Google Scholar
Argand, E. 1916. Sur l'arc des Alpes occidentales. Eclogue Geologicae Helvetiae 14, 145–91.Google Scholar
Armstrong, R. L. & Dick, H. J. B. 1974. A model for the development of thin overthrust sheets of crystalline rock. Geology 2, 35–40.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bally, A. W. 1981. Thoughts on the tectonics of folded belts. In Thrust and Nappe Tectonics (ed. McClay, K. R. and Price, N. J.), pp. 13–32. Special publications of the Geological Society of London 9.Google Scholar
Bally, A. W., Gordy, P. L. & Stewart, G. A. 1966. Structure, seismic data and erogenic evolution of southern Canadian Rocky Mountains. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology 14, 337–81.Google Scholar
Banks, C. J. & Warburton, J. (in press). Duplex mechanisms in frontal mountain belt structures. Journal of Structural Geology.Google Scholar
Beach, A. 1981. Thrust structures in the eastern Dauphinois Zone (French Alps), north of the Pelvoux massif. Journal of Structural Geology 3, 299–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyer, S. E. & Elliott, D. 1982. Thrust systems. Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists 66, 1196–230.Google Scholar
Brewer, J. A., Cook, F. A., Brown, L. D., Oliver, J. E., Kaufmann, S. & Albaugh, D. S. 1981. COCORP seismic reflection profiling across thrust faults. In Thrust and Nappe Tectonics (ed. McClay, K. R. and Price, N. J.), pp. 501–11. Special publications of the Geological Society of London 9.Google Scholar
Butler, R. W. H. 1982. A structural analysis of the Moine thrust zone between Loch Eriboll and Foinaven, NW Scotland. Journal of Structural Geology 4, 19–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, R. W. H. 1984. Balanced cross-sections and their implications for the deep structure of the northwest Alps: reply. Journal of Structural Geology 6, 607–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, R. W. H. 1985. The restoration of thrust systems and displacement continuity around the Mont Blanc massif, NW external Alpine thrust belt. Journal of Structural Geology (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, R. W. H. & Coward, M. P. 1984. Geological constraints, deep geology and structural evolution of the NW Scottish Caledonides. Tectonics 3, 347–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, R. W. H., Matthews, S. J. & Parish, M. 1985. The NW external Alpine thrust belt and its implications for the geometry of the western Alpine orogen. In Collision Tectonics (ed. Ramsay, J. G., Coward, M. P. and Ries, A. C.). Special publications of the Geological Society of London (in press).Google Scholar
Cadell, H. M. 1888. Experimental researches in mountain building. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 35, 337–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callaway, C. 1883. The age of the Newer Gneissic Rocks of the northern Highlands. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 39, 355–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapple, W. M. 1978. Mechanics of thin-skinned fold and thrust belts. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 89, 1189–98.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cobbold, P. R. & Quinquis, H. 1980. Development of sheath folds in shear regimes. Journal of Structural Geology 2, 119–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collet, L. W. 1927. The Structure of the Alps. London: Edward Arnold & Co. 289 pp.Google Scholar
Cooper, M. A., Collins, D., Ford, M., Murphy, F. & Trayner, P. M. 1984. Structural style, shortening estimates and the thrust front of the Irish Variscides. In The Northern Margins of the Variscides in the North Atlantic Region (ed. Hutton, D. H. W. and Sanderson, D. S.). Special publications of the Geological Society of London (in press).Google Scholar
Cooper, M. A., Garton, M. R. & Hossack, J. R. 1983. The origin of the Basse Normandie Duplex, Boulonnais, France. Journal of Structural Geology 5, 139–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, M. A. & Trayner, P. M. (in press). Thrust surface geometry; implications for thrust belt evolution and section balancing techniques. Journal of Structural Geology.Google Scholar
Coward, M. P. 1980. The Caledonian thrust and shear zones of NW Scotland. Journal of Structural Geology 2, 11–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coward, M. P. & Mcclay, K. R. 1983. Thrust tectonics of south Devon. Journal of the Geological Society of London 140, 215–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coward, M. P. & Potts, G. J. 1983. Complex strain patterns developed at the frontal and lateral tips to shear zones and thrust zones. Journal of Structural Geology 5, 383–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahlstrom, C. D. A. 1969. Balanced cross-sections. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 6, 743–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahlstrom, C. D. A. 1970. Structural geology in the eastern margin of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology 18, 332–406.Google Scholar
Davies, D., Suppe, J. & Dahlen, F. A. 1983. Mechanics of fold-and-thrust belts and accretionary wedges. Journal of Geophysical Research 88, 1153–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Debelmas, J. & Kerckhove, C. 1973. Large gravity nappes in the French-Italian and French-Swiss Alps. In Gravity and Tectonics (ed. DeJong, K. & Scholten, R.), pp. 187–200. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Debelmas, J. & Kerckhove, C. 1980. Les Alpes franco-italiennes. Géologie Alpine 56, 21–55.Google Scholar
Debelmas, J. & Lemoine, M. 1970. The western Alps: palaeogeography and structure. Earth Science Reviews 6, 221–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Douglas, R. J. W. 1950. Callum Creek, Langford Creek and Gap map-areas, Alberta. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Canada 255, 124 pp.Google Scholar
Durney, D. W. & Ramsay, J. G. 1973. Incremental strains measured by systematic crystal growths. In Gravity and Tectonics (ed. DeJong, K. H. and Scholten, R.) pp. 67–96. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Elliott, D. 1976 a. The motion of thrust sheets. Journal of Geophysical Research 81, 949–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, D. 1976 b. The energy balance and deformation mechanisms of thrust sheets. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, A 283, 289–312.Google Scholar
Elliott, D. 1977. Some aspects of the geometry and mechanics of thrust belts. 8th. Annual Seminar of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geology notes.Google Scholar
Elliott, D. 1981. The strength of rocks in thrust sheets. Eos 62, 397.Google Scholar
Elliott, D. & Johnson, M. R. W. 1980. Structural evolution in the northern part of the Moine thrust belt, NW Scotland. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 71, 69–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eltchaninoff-Lancelot, D., Triboulet, S., Doudoux, B., Fudral, S., Rampnoux, J.-P. & Tardy, M. 1982. Stratigraphie et tectoniques des unités delphino-helvétiques comprises entre Mont-Blanc et Belledonne (Savoie-Alpes occidentales). Implications régionales. Bulletin de la Société géologique de France 24, 817–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fischer, M. W. & Coward, M. P. 1982. Strains and folds within thrust sheets: an analysis of the Heilam sheet, NW Scotland. Tectonophysics 88, 291–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallup, W. B. 1951. Geology of the Turner Valley oil and gas field, Alberta, Canada. Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists 35, 797–821.Google Scholar
Geikie, A. 1884. The crystalline rocks of the Scottish Highlands. Nature 30, 29–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goguel, J. 1948. Introduction a l'étude mécanique des déformations de l'ecorce terrestre. Mémoires de la Carte géologique de France, 530 pp.Google Scholar
Goguel, J. 1952. Tectonics (English translation). San Francisco: Freeman. 348 pp.Google Scholar
Heim, A. 1921. Geologie der Schweiz 2/1. Leipzig: Tauchnitz. 259–476.Google Scholar
Hossack, J. R. 1979. The use of balanced cross-sections in the calculation of erogenic contraction: a review. Journal of the Geological Society of London 136, 705–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hossack, J. R. 1983. A cross-section through the Scandinavian Caledonides constructed with the aid of branch line maps. Journal of Structural Geology 5, 103–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hossack, J. R., Deramond, J. & Graham, R. H. (in press). The geological structure and development of the Pyrenees. Journal of Structural Geology.Google Scholar
Hossack, J. R., Garton, M. R. & Nickelson, P. R. (in press). The geological section from the foreland up to the Jotun thrust sheet in the Valdres area, south Norway. In The Caledonian Orogen – Scandinavia and Related Areas (ed. Gee, D. G. and Sturt, B. A.). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Hsu, K. J. 1979. Thin-skinned plate tectonics during neo-Alpine orogenesis. American Journal of Science 279, 353–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hubbert, M. K. & Rubey, W. W. 1959. Role of fluid pressure in mechanics of overthrust faulting. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 58, 362–75.Google Scholar
Jones, P. B. 1982. Oil and gas beneath east-dipping underthrust faults, Alberta foothills. Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geology 66, 586.Google Scholar
Jordan, T. E. 1981. Thrust loads and foreland basin evolution, Cretaceous, western United States. Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geology 65, 2506–20.Google Scholar
Kehle, R. O. 1970. Analysis of gravity sliding and orogenic translation. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 81, 1641–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knipe, R. J. 1985. Footwall geometry and the rheology of thrust sheets. Journal of Structural Geology (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lapworth, C. 1883. The sheet of the Highlands. Geological Magazine 10, 120–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lemoine, M. 1973. About gravity gliding tectonics in the western Alps. In Gravity and Tectonics (ed. DeJong, K. & Scholten, R.) pp. 201–16. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
McClay, K. R. & Price, N. J. (eds). 1981. Thrust and Nappe Tectonics. Special publications of the Geological Society of London 9, 539 pp.Google Scholar
Milnes, A. G., Greller, M. & Muller, R. 1981. Sequence and style of major post-nappe structures, Simplon–Pennine Alps. Journal of Structural Geology 3, 411–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ni, J. & Barazangi, M. 1984. Seismotectonics of the Himalayan Collision Zone: geometry of the under-thrusting Indian plate beneath the Himalayan. Journal of Geophysical Research 89, 1147–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oxburgh, E. R. 1972. Flake tectonics and continental collision. Nature 239, 202–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peach, B. N., Horne, J., Gunn, W., Clough, C. T., Hinxman, L. W. & Cadell, H. M. 1888. Report on the recent work of the Geological Survey in the NW Highlands of Scotland, based on the field notes and maps. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 64, 378–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peach, B. N., Horne, J., Gunn, W., Clough, C. T., Hinxman, L. W. & Teall, J. J. H. 1907. The geological structure of the NW Highlands of Scotland. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain.Google Scholar
Platt, J. P. 1984. Balanced cross-sections and their implications for the deep structure of the NW Alps: Discussion. Journal of Structural Geology 6, 603–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, R. A. 1981. The Cordilleran foreland thrust and fold belt in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains. In Thrust and Nappe Tectonics (ed. McClay, K. R. and Price, N. J.) pp. 427–48. Special publications of the Geological Society of London 9.Google Scholar
Ramberg, H. & Sjostrom, H. 1973. Experimental geodyna-mical models relating to continental drift and orogenesis. Tectonophysics 19, 105–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramsay, J. G. 1963. Stratigraphy, structure and metamor-phism of the western Alps. Proceedings of the Geological Association of London 74, 357–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramsay, J. G. 1980. Shear zone geometry: a review. Journal of Structural Geology 2, 83–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramsay, J. G., Casey, M. & Kligfield, R. 1983. Role of shear in development of the Helvetic fold-thrust belt of Switzerland. Geology 11, 439–42.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramsay, J. G. & Huber, M. I. 1983. The Techniques of Modern Structural Geology l. London: Academic Press, pp. 307.Google Scholar
Reade, T. M. 1908. The mechanics of overthmsts. Geological Magazine 5, 518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rich, J. L. 1934. Mechanics of low angle overthrust faulting illustrated by Cumberland thrust block, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists 18, 1584–96.Google Scholar
Ricou, L. E. & Siddans, A. W. B. 1985. Collison tectonics in the western Alps. In Collision Tectonics (ed. Ramsay, J. G., Coward, M. P. and Ries, A. C.). Special publications of the Geological Society of London (in press).Google Scholar
Schardt, H. 1898. Les regions exotiques du versant nord des Alpes suisses. Bulletin de la Societe vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles 34, pp. 113.Google Scholar
Siddans, A. W. B. 1984. Thrust tectonics – a mechanistic view from the west and central Alps. Tectonophysics 104, 257–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smoluchowski, M. S. 1090. Some remarks on the mechanics of overthrusts. Geological Magazine 6, 204–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soper, N. J. & Barber, A. J. 1979. Proterozoic folds on the northwest Caledonian foreland. Scottish Journal of Geology 15, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soper, N. J. & Barber, A. J. 1982. A model for the deep structure of the Moine thrust zone. Journal of the Geological Society of London 139, 127–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soper, N. J. & Wilkinson, P. 1975. The Moine thrust and the Moine nappe at Loch Eriboll, Scotland. Scottish Journal of Geology 11, 339–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suppe, J. 1983. The geometry and kinematics of fault-bend folding. American Journal of Science 283, 684–721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tornebohm, A. E. 1888. Om Fjallproblemet. Geol. Foren Stockholm Forhandl 10, 328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trumpy, R. 1960. Paleotectonic evolution of the central and western Alps. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 71, 843–908.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vann, I. R., Graham, R. H., Hayward, A. B., Hobson, D. M., Moorcraft, H. M., Banks, C. J. & Warburton, J. (in press). The structure of mountain fronts. Journal of Structural Geology.Google Scholar
Williams, G. & Chapman, T. 1983. Strains developed in the hanging-walls of thrusts due to their slip/propagation rate: a dislocation model. Journal of Structural Geology 5,563–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar