Geometric analysis of hybrid fault-propagation detachment folds

Fault-propagation folds and many detachment folds may be analyzed using a single geometric model. A modification of a previously published approach allows the interpreter to quantitatively predict thrust fault trajectory and displacement from the geometry of an associated fault-propagation/detachment anticline. Because geological and geophysical data typically constrain the mesoscopic and macroscopic forms of folds more completely and more accurately than they constrain faults, this technique offers a useful way to rapidly construct balanced structural cross-sections in detached fold-thrust systems. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.