An Appalachian View of the Moine Thrust

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Synopsis: Deformation in advance of the Moine thrust sheet was essentially in the cover, and was mechanically similar to that in the western Appalachians. Shearing along zones of décollement in the autochthon eventually guided the crystalline sheet into position. The décollement was not located within a single stratigraphic horizon, but rather, changed position along the strike of the fault. Steep fractures connected different glide zones and nucleated fold culminations during movement of the Moine sheet. The final shape of the Assynt culmination is a result of emplacement across an anticlinal fracture in the platform. Shortening normal to the direction of emplacement is required and may have been accommodated in part by small-scale folds which plunge down the dip of the fault.