3D fold growth in transpression

Abstract

Geological folds in transpression are inherently 3D structures; hence their growth and rotation behavior is studied using 3D numerical finite-element simulations. Upright single-layer buckle folds in Newtonian materials are considered, which grow from an initial point-like perturbation due to a combination of in-plane shortening and shearing (i.e., transpression). The resulting fold growth exhibits three components: (1) fold amplification (vertical), (2) fold elongation (parallel to fold axis), and (3) sequential fold growth (perpendicular to axial plane) of new anti- and synforms adjacent to the initial fold. Generally, the fold growth rates are smaller for shearing-dominated than for shortening-dominated transpression. In spite of the growth rate, the folding behavior is very similar for the different convergence angles. The two lateral directions always exhibit similar growth rates implying that the bulk fold structure occupies an increasing roughly circular area. Fold axes are always parallel to the major horizontal principal strain axis (λ→max, i.e., long axis of the horizontal finite strain ellipse), which is initially also parallel to the major horizontal instantaneous stretching axis (ISA→max). After initiation, the fold axes rotate together with λ→max. Sequential folds appearing later do not initiate parallel to ISA→max, but parallel to λ→max, i.e. parallel to the already existing folds, and also rotate with λ→max. Therefore, fold axes do not correspond to passive material lines and hinge migration takes place as a consequence. The fold axis orientation parallel to λ→max is independent of convergence angle and viscosity ratio. Therefore, a triangular relationship between convergence angle, amount of shortening, and fold axis orientation exists. If two of these values are known, the third can be determined. This relationship is applied to the Zagros fold-and-thrust-belt to estimate the degree of strain partitioning between the Simply Folded Belt and the bordering strike-slip fault-system.