Methods for detecting formation mechanisms and determining a final strain value for different scales of folded structures

Linear folding, developing in fold and thrust belts, is treated as a hierarchic system, at each level of which objects are described by special kinematic models. Geometric parameters of natural folded structures are determined by a combination of various mechanisms incorporated in the model, and a value of finite strain. Several case studies demonstrate how such data enables one to solve structural and geodynamic problems for natural objects of different size. Shortening value of two morphological types of folds is determined based on the geometry of competent layers. Application of the method to analyze the folds of the Vorontsov nappe (Greater Caucasus) determines its gravitational origin. Structural cross-sections though several tectonic zones are subdivided into relatively small domains, the geometry of which, particularly in thin-bedded flysch deposits, making it possible to identify the mechanisms of formation of both local and large structures, and also to reconstruct the pre-folded state of each domain and of the entire cross-sections. By aggregation of tectonic domains into large modules and determination of the value of shortening, we have constructed for the first time a 3D model of the present-day structure of the northwestern Caucasus, which is balanced for the whole sedimentary cover. The geometry of large structures makes it possible to validate geodynamic models.