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Lecture 4:

Folds



Aims:  To characterize structures that
           accommodate deformation of rocks

 
Along with faulting, folding accommodates deformation of the earth crust.  Folds involves the wavelike contortions of rock layering.  In contrast to faults which corresponds with brittle therefore discontinuous deformation, folding corresponds to  continuous deformation (plastic deformation) as it does not involve fracturation.  As any other rock deforming structures, folds exist in a wide range of scale from microscopic crinkles to domes and basins hundreds of kilometers wide.  Folds may overturn large package of sedimentary strata, they may form traps for hydrocarbone and mineral resources, and they help field geologist to unravel the tectonics history of mountain belts.