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AAPG Bulletin

Abstract

(Begin page 1759)

AAPG Bulletin, V. 85, No. 10 (October 2001), P. 1759-1770.

Copyright ©2001. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

Previous HitQuickNext Hit-Previous HitlookNext Hit techniques for evaluating two-dimensional cross sections in detached contractional settings

M. Scott Wilkerson,1 Connie L. Dicken2

1Department of Geology and Geography, DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, 46135; email: [email protected]
2Department of Geology and Geography, DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, 46135; current address: U.S. Geological Survey, MS 954, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, Virginia, 20192

AUTHORS

Scott Wilkerson earned his B.S. degree in geology from Murray State University (1987) and his Ph.D. in structural geology from the University of Illinois (1991). Prior to joining the faculty at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, in 1995, Wilkerson was a member of the Structural Previous HitAnalysisNext Hit Group at Exxon Production Research in Houston, Texas. Wilkerson's present research interests include 2-D and 3-D structural Previous HitanalysisNext Hit of the geometric, kinematic, and mechanical development of contractional fault-related folds.

Connie L. Dicken received her B.A. degree in geology from DePauw University in 1999. She currently works at the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia, on the eastern mineral resources team as a geographic information system supporter and geologist.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledgment is made to the Donors of The Petroleum Research Fund, administered by the American Chemical Society, for support of this research (specific funding was provided by PRF Summer Faculty Research Fellowship #32579-G2 and by PRF Grant #33471-GB2). We also wish to acknowledge support from the DePauw University Presidential Discretionary Fund, the DePauw University Summer Research Program, and the Department of Geology and Geography at DePauw University. We also benefited greatly from conversations with Ted Apotria, Cliff Ando, Mark Fischer, Doug Goff, Rick Gottschalk, Tom Hauge, Jay Jackson, Chris Johnson, Steve Lingrey, Al Tuminas, and especially Tod Harding; and from the reviews of Ted Apotria, Mark Fischer, Rick Groshong, John Shaw, and Bruce Trudgill.

Figures 2, 3, and 4 are also available in PDF format on the AAPG Web site (http://www.aapg.org/datashare) as Datashare 13, suitable for downloading to print as posters.

ABSTRACT

For more than 30 yr, geologists and geophysicists have used balancing techniques to constrain their cross-sectional interpretations in detached contractional settings. The quality of the resulting interpretations commonly directly correlates to the quality of the data, the balancing and interpretational experience of the interpreter, and the time allotted for the interpretation. We demystify the balancing process and present Previous HitquickNext Hit-Previous HitlookNext Hit techniques for quickly and effectively detecting and preventing common cross section balancing Previous HiterrorsNext Hit in detached contractional settings. Common balancing problems are highlighted through close scrutiny of hanging-wall and footwall ramps and flats; such Previous HitanalysisNext Hit helps identify inconsistencies in the numbers of ramps and flats, in the strata and stratal thicknesses in corresponding ramps, and in displacement along the fault. These techniques possess the additional advantages of being useful at any stage of the interpretational process for time or depth sections and being easily comprehensible by students, geologists, geophysicists, and managers alike. The Previous HitquickNext Hit-Previous HitlookTop techniques, however, are not an all-encompassing panacea. They do not guarantee a unique and/or correct cross-sectional interpretation; instead, they serve to focus the interpreter's attention on potentially problematic areas in the cross section that might require explanation and/or reinterpretation.

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