LECTURE 1 FOLDS

FOLD TERMINOLOGY

LECTURE PLAN

Axis

Hinge
zone

1) FOLD TERMINOLOGY
2) FOLD CLASSIFICATION
3) STRAIN IN FOLDS
4) SMALL-SCALE STRUCTURES WITHIN FOLDS
5) FOLDS ASSOCIATED WITH FAULTS

SYMMETRIC FOLD
b

(Limb lengths equal)

L im

Close
upwards
(antiform)

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Inflexion
points

Close downwards
(synform)

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Fold axial
plane

PERSON FOR SCALE

FOLD AXIS

1) FOLD TERMINOLOGY
Folds form where tectonic motions cause layers to bend. The line
of maximum curvature is known as the fold axis. Fold limbs occur
on either side of the fold axis. Where multiple layers are involved,
a plane containing all the fold axes for the various layers is known
as the fold axial plane. Folds can close upwards, or downwards,
and these structures are termed antiforms and synforms respectively. If the fold closes sideways, it is known as a recumbent fold.
If the limbs are the same length, the fold is known as a symmetrical fold.

LIMB

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Antiform and synform in Skiddaw Slates ,

Caldew River, Lake District, U.K.

Symmetric fold in Carboniferous sandstones,

Bude , U .K.

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A recumbent of neutral fold in Mesozoic limestones

Haut Giffre , Western Alps

Course Homepage
A recumbent or neutral fold in Mesozoic limestones
Haut Giffre , Western Alps: oblique view.
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Lecture

Geology Department

9 10

Practical 1 2 3 4 5 6 71 8 9 10

Lines of no curvature at the boundary between adjacent antiforms and synforms are known as inflexion lines (inflexion
points in 2 dimensional cross-sections.

Fold wavelength

Inflexion points
Amplitude

The wavelength is the distance between adjacent hinge

lines or inflexion points.

Enveloping
surface

The amplitude is the perpendicular distance between a line

joining the inflexion points of a fold and the extremity of the
folded layer.
All of these terms can be used in the field to describe the geometries of folds, such as this asymmetric anticline in the
French Alps. Note that the layers become overturned on the
steeply-dipping, short limb. The long-limb is almost horizontal. Such folds, where one limb is almost horizontal is known
as a monocline.

Asymmetric fold

(Limb lengths different lengths)

Short Limb

Asymmetric anticline in the French Alps.

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Start of this Lecture

Long Limb

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Fold Axial Trace

(antiform)
Fold Axial Trace
(synform)

If the ages of the layers involved in folding are known

we can use the terms:
1) Anticline - oldest rocks in the core of the fold.
2) Syncline - youngest rocks in the core of the fold.
Non-cylindrical folds occur where the shape of the fold
varies along the fold axis. In reality, all folds are noncylindrical as the amplitude decreases along strike.
However, is some instances it may be advantageous to
consider a fold as cylindrical, for example, where the
fold continues for many kilometers along strike outside
of the area that you are mapping studying.
Amplitude
remains
constant
along strike

NON-CYLINDRICAL FOLD

plunging fold
hinges

Start of this Lecture

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Unit 1 is older than Unit 2

The symbol indicates the
younging direction.

3
2
1

Erosion level

3
2
1

3
2
1

Anticline: Oldest rocks in the fold core

Syncline: Youngest rocks in the core

Non-cylindrical fold, Bude,

SW England

CYLINDRICAL FOLD

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AGE RELATIONSHIPS IN FOLDS

Fold axis plunging

away from viewers
Fold amplitude
decreases away
from viewers
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Rotations about vertical axes during folding

Consider what happens when a plunging fold hinge
forms. The rocks must rotate about a vertical axis as
rocks where the fold dies out are not shortened,
whilst rocks along the fold are. This can be measured
with palaeomagnetism. Magnetic needles of magnetic included in the rock when it forms will no longer
point towards the north magnetic pole after folding.
Measurements of the orientations of such magnetite
needles can reveal the history of rotations during
folding.

3D view of rotations

plunging fold
hinges

Plunging antiform shown on a map

New orientation of
magnetite needles

Rotation
angle

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A large number of names are used to describe specific fold geometries. For example:
Parallel folds- Where the thickness perpendicular
to the folded surface is constant.
Similar folds- Where the thickness of the layer parallel to the axial plane is constant.
Intra-folial folds- folds contained within the layering
or foliation.
Chevron Folds- Angular folds with planar limbs and
sharp hinges.
Isoclinal folds- Fold where the limbs are parallel.
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Anticline

Anticline
Syncline

Syncline

Chevron folds with layers that have constant thickness

(parallel folds) at Hartland Quay, Devon, U.K.

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Fold dies out

into lower layers

Intra-folial folds in Pre-Cambrian quartzites, Moine thrust belt, Scotland.

Parallel fold

(Thickness constant)

Similar fold
(Thickness constant parallel to
the fold axial plane).

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Start of this Lecture

Isoclinal folds in Pre-Cambrian quartzites, Moine thrust belt, Scotland.

CLASSIFICATION BY INTERLIMB ANGLE

2) FOLD CLASSIFICATION
Folds are classified by:a) Their interlimb angles and tightness of the fold.
b) The attitude of their hinge lines
and the attitude of their axial planes or surfaces
c) Shapes of the folded layers

Interlimb angle:
o
Gentle 180~120
o
Open 120~70
o
Close 70-30
o
Tight 0~30
o
Isoclinal 0
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Interlimb angle
c. 40-50 degrees

a) Tightness of folds- The interlimb angle measured between

the inflexion points can be used to measure the tightness of
folds.
Interlimb angles
180-120o
120-70o
70-30o
30-0o
0o
<0o with a -ve angle

Fold in Carboniferous sandstones and

mudstones, Milook Haven, Devon, UK.

Name for fold

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Gentle
Open
Close
Tight
Isoclinal
Ptygmatic

Interlimb angle
c. 120 degrees

Fold in Mesozoic limestones,

Vercors, French Alps

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Start of this Lecture

b) Attitude of the fold- Plunge and plunge direction of the fold

axis and dip and strike of the fold axial plane.
ATTITUDE OF THE AXIAL PLANE

Upright

Recumbent

0-10o RECUMBENT FOLD

10-30o GENTLY INCLINED FOLD
30-60o MODERATELY INCLINED
60-80o STEEPLY INCLINED FOLD
80-90oUPRIGHT FOLD
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Recumbent and upright chevron folds in Carboniferous sandstones and shales,

Devon, U.K.

ATTITUDE OF THE FOLD AXIS

0o HORIZONTAL FOLD
1-10o SUB-HORIZONTAL FOLD
10-30o GENTLY-PLUNGING FOLD
30-60o MODERATELY PLUNGING
60-80o STEEPLY PLUNGING FOLD
80-89o SUB-VERTICAL FOLD
90o VERTICAL FOLD

Dip isogon: line joining points

of equal dip on adjacent layers

Class 1: Convergent dip isogons

c) Shape of folds and the use of dip isogons

Class 2: Parallel dip isogons

Dip isogons- Dip isogons join points of the same dip on folded layers.
The reference datum is the tangent which passes through the fold axis
of the folded surface.
There are 3 main classes of fold:Class 1 Folds- dip isogons converge when traced from the outer to the
inner arc of the fold because the inner arc is more curved than the outer
arc.

Class 3: Divergent dip isogons

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Class 1A- Isogons are strongly convergent.

Dip isogon: line joining points

of equal dip on adjacent layers

Class 1B- Isogons perpendicular to bedding.

Class 1C- Isogons are weakly convergent.
Class 1: Convergent dip isogons

Class 2 Folds- parallel dip isogons which imply that the folded
surfaces are identical.
Class 3 Folds- dip isogons diverge when traced from the outer
to inner arcs because the outer arc of the fold curves more
than the inner arc.

Class 2: Parallel dip isogons

Class 3: Divergent dip isogons

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TLS FOLDS

3) STRAIN IN FOLDS
a) Buckle folds- Also termed Tangential Longitudinal Strain
(TLS). TLS folds develop in massive lithologies which have
poorly defined or nonexistent planar anisotropies such as
bedding or banding. No layer parallel shear occurs.
All strains are pure shear. TLS Folds develop by buckling and
have extensional strains on the outer arc and contractional
strains on the inner arc.

Ex

tension

mpressio
n
Co

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Start of this Lecture

A plane of no strain exists within the folded layer (neutral

surface), which moves towards the inner arc as the fold
tightens. Cleavage, extensional fractures and minor faults can
all accommodate buckling.

FLEXURAL SLIP FOLD

b) Flexural slip folds- These are parallel folds produced by the

slip of layers over each other.
The limbs exhibit low strains as displacements are
accommodated by slip along bedding surfaces. Bedding plane
slip can be recognised by the presence of bedding planes with
either slickenside surfaces on which are striated, or have linear
crystal growths upon them.

CLEAVAGE-BEDDING RELATIONSHIPS
Le

ng

g
nin
the

Cl

ge
va
ea

or
ing
ten

In folded sedimentary sequences some layers may deform by

flexural slip whilst others layers may deform by TLS
mechanisms. Thus, the different layers may exhibit different
strain states. An example of this is cleavage refraction.

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Sh

Flexural flow may occur in finely laminated strata, and the

layers undergo simple shear so that the outer arc of the fold is
rotated with a vergence towards the fold axis.

Layers slide over each other leaving striations

Cleavage forms at right

angles to the shortening
direction during simple
shear

Thus, cleavage can form when folded layers

are deformed by simple shear.

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4) THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SMALL SCALE STRUCTURES

ASSOCIATED WITH MAJOR FOLDS
a) Symmetries of parasitic minor folds
Z, S and M symmetry minor folds can be recognised by
considering the arrangement of short and long limbs of folds.

Vergence of a small parasitic

fold (top to the right) produced
by clockwise rotation.
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Start of this Lecture

1. Undeformed layer

2. Scenario 1 - Fold with parasitic fold.

The vergence is always the same on long

limbs as the overall fold (and opposite on the
short limb).

im
Long l

Sh

lim
t
r
o

lim
g
n
Lo

3. Scenario 2 - Fold with parasitic folds and flanking structures, some of which show opposite vergence.
Flanking structures can make it more
complicated because small folds
produced by flanking structures do
not have to have the correct vergence
for the long and short limbs - they can
be opposite and therefore confusing!
See further reading on flanking
structures.

These shapes emerge form the fold below. The trouble

is if you imagine looking from behind the page the s
looks like a z, and z looks like an s (potentially
confusing!). So we have a convention that we always
describe it as we are looking down the plunge of a
fold.

m-shape

z-shape

s-shape

Diagram of parasitic folds

b

im
Long l

lim
ort

Sh

epahs-m

epahs-s

epahs-z

g
Lon

lim

This is what you would

see looking from behind
the page - the s looks like
a z, and z looks like an s!

Always determined by looking down the plunge of a minor fold.

The sense of symmetry of minor folds varies around the profile
of a major fold. S and Z folds indicate the limbs of folds
whereas M folds indicate the hinge region.

CLEAVAGE-BEDDING RELATIONSHIPS
Le

b) Vergence

ng

g
nin
the
Cl

g
va
ea

Sh
or
ing
ten

Vergence is a term which is used to indicate the sense of

movement and rotation that occurred during deformation.
Vergence of asymmetric fold is defined as the horizontal
direction movement of the upper component of a fold
measured in the profile plane. Vertically plunging folds may
have a sinistral or dextral vergence.

Cleavage forms at right

angles to the shortening
direction during simple
shear

Thus, cleavage can forms when folded

layers are deformed by simple shear.

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S and Z folds change vergence across major folds.

c) Cleavage bedding relationships in major folds
Cleavage/bedding relationships can be used to define where a
particular outcrop is situated in the overall structure.

Vergence of a small parasitic

fold (top to the right) produced
by clockwise rotation.
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Normal Limb- Cleavage is steeper than bedding.

Overturned limb- Bedding is steeper than cleavage.
Fold Hinge- Cleavage and bedding are perpendicular.
The cleavage/bedding intersection lineation is parallel to the
fold axis.
Start of this Lecture

Progressive rotation of cleavage relative to bedding as the amount of folding and strain increases.
Cleavage development in this box is illustrated below.

This angle between bedding and cleavage changes as I increase the amount of shear.

Thus, there is no characteristic angle between bedding and cleavage; it changes as

strain increases. The sense of rotation is always the same though!

Bedding cleavage relationships help you decide whether you are on the short or long limb of a fold.

Cleavage here is steeper than bedding

Long

Cleavage here is less steep than bedding

limb

mb

li
rt

o
Sh

Thus, in an area that is not well-exposed, as below, one can infer the overall vergence of the fold by looking at cleavage-bedding relationships.
Cleavage steeper than bedding

An outcrop surrounded
by no-exposure

Bedding steeper than cleavage

Cleavage steeper than bedding

(a) Normal fault breaks the surface

(c) Normal fault with a listric geometry

Folding occurs associated
with thrusting in two ways.
Fault-bend folds can form
due to curvature of the fault
plane.
Fold-propagation
folds form due to strain
ahead of propagating fault
tips; the fault can be
perfectly planar in this case.

Restored Cross-Section
Thrust trajectory

Reverse drag

Deformed Cross-Section

(a) Normal fault at depth (blind fault)

Footwall Flat

Folding can occur around normal faults even though the area is extending. Reverse drag , where the rocks appear to be deflected in the
wrong sense, occurs due to the elastic/flexural properties of the rocks
during deformation. Normal drag looks like the sketch below, but is
actually quite rare in natural examples compared to reverse drag.
Normal Drag

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Folds can form through drag

associated with strike-slip faults.
Here, the Dead Sea Transform
fault has left-lateral motion
across its north-south trace. This
has produced large anticlines
that oblique to the fault trace in
Sinai and Lebabon

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Hangingwall Flat

Footwall Ramp
Hangingwall Ramp

Fault propagation fold cut by a propagating thrust

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Tip

Close-up of folds
associated with
the Dead Sea
Transform Fault

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These are some of the largest folds on the Earth. Where India has collided with Eurasia, and sheared past it as it indents into Eurasia, the Zagros-Makran
fold belt has formed. Early-formed folds strike E-W, but have been re-folded by the indentation to form enormous arcuate fold belts.
1)

2)

2)

Eurasia
3)

India

Zagros-Makran
Fold Belt
Motion of
India
Half-arrows show left-lateral shear
sense between India and Eurasia.

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3)

Sy
n

cli

ne

4)

ne

icli
Ant

4)

lin

nc
Sy
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Arrows show the plunge directions

of these asymmetric folds

These images are shaded elevation images made from radar topographic data from the Space Shuttle (SRTM data).

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Matterhorn

The famous Morcles Nappe is a fold carried on a

large thrust fault. Cretaceous rocks have been
turned upside down by the folding, so that the
Cretaceous sequence from oldest to youngest
(Valanginian, Hauterivian, Urgonian), is exposed
with the Urgonian at the bottom! (2 famous
mountains are named for reference).

NW

SE
Dents du Midi

Inv
erte

d li

mb

Valanginian

of t

Mo

he

Mo

rcle
s

rcle
s

Thr
u

st

Nap
p

Hau

teriv
i

an

Urg
on

ian

Mt. Blanc Massif

Another view onto

the Morcles Nappe.
The thrust moved
towards the NW.

Urgonian

Hautervian

Valanginian

Urgonian

Morcles Thrust

SE

NW