Transport-parallel cross folds within a mid-crustal Caledonian thrust stack, northern Scotland

Cross folds are typically associated with zones of anomalous foliation trend that lie at high angles to orogenic strike. This case study concentrates on a region of transport-parallel cross folding developed by buckling during Caledonian ductile thrusting within the Moine and Naver Nappes of northern Scotland. Detailed structural analysis reveals a systematic angular relationship between the trend of tectonic transport, fold axes, and the vergence of minor folds. Large-scale cross folding is considered here to be related to wrench-dominated differential shearing during thrust-sense displacements along an important, possibly out-of-sequence structure, here termed the Ben Blandy Shear Zone. This suggests that patterns of folding within the internal parts of the Caledonian orogen in Scotland are principally controlled by the kinematic constraints imposed by low-angle thrusting. Thus, early, ‘main-phase’ folding is associated with the initiation and propagation of ductile thrusts, whilst later, secondary structures, including cross folds can be related to the development of flow perturbations during displacement along well-established, regionally important detachments.