Abstract - The geometry of beds in the volume surrounding a single blind planar fault depends on: (i) the axial ration of the fault surface ellipse, (ii) the ratio between the maximum displacement and the maximum dimension of the fault surface, (iii) the displacement distribution on the fault surface from the point of maximum displacement to zero displacement at the tip-line loop (fault surface displacement profile) and (iv) the rate at which the displacement decreases to zero along a normal to the fault surface (reverse drag displacement profile). These relationships, which are either known or can be estimated, are incorporated in a computer model which generates structural contours on horizons intersected by a planar fault. Structural contour patterns also vary with the pre-faulting dip and strike of beds, the dip and strike of the fault and the level at which a bed intersects the fault surface. When the boundary condition are relaxed to include synsedimentary faults, the ratio of hangingwall to footwall displacement varies systematically with fault dip.
A synthetic structural contour map is matched with that of an
actual fault. Model isopachs, based on simple depositional models, are
generated for synsedimentary units. Cross-sections are generated for synsedimentary
faults by sequential fault growth and sedimentary deposition, and show
features similar to actual cross-sections. The soft-domino model is applicable
primarily to dip-slip tectonic faults with maximum displacements of up
to about 5km; listric faults are not considered.
Journal of Structural Geology 11, 317-328, 1989.