Abstract - Fault displacements derived from a seismic reflection survey of an offshore oilfield are projected onto a vertical plane parallel to the fault strike and the displacement values contoured. In addition to those for single faults, displacement diagrams are also constructed for fault arrays by aggregating the displacement values on selected faults. Displacement contours form regular and systematic patterns, even when there is no continuity between the fault surfaces in the array. A system in which linkage between the elements of a fault array is achieved by ductile strain of the intervening rock is referred to as soft-linked and is regarded as the general case. Geometrical coherence, with regular and systematic coherence patterns, exist at all stages in the growth of a fault array, implying a kinematic coherence requiring a high degree of synchronous movement, as opposed to sequential development, on individual elements in the array.
Convential maps and diagrams allow representation of only two
orders of magnitude of fault displacement rather than the five or more
orders of magnitude which may occur. A soft-domino model is presented in
which the role of ductile strains is acknowledged both in accommodating
varying displacements on fault surfaces and in extension on structures
too small to be represented individually, and in which the rotation of
rigid fault blocks is of reduced importance when compared with rigid-domino
models.
In: Extensional Tectonics:Faulting and Related Processes (edited by Holdsworth, R.E. & Turner, J.P.), The Geological Society of London, Key Issues in Earth Sciences, 2(2), 63-73, 2002.