Construct A Fold Cross-Section Using The Kink Method
Construct A Fold Cross-Section Using The Kink Method
Construct A Fold Cross-Section Using The Kink Method
ConstructaFoldCrossSectionUsingtheKinkMethod
ConstructaFoldCrossSectionUsingtheKink
Method
StevenDutch,NaturalandAppliedSciences,UniversityofWisconsinGreenBay
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HowtheKinkMethodWorks
It'sfairlycommonforfoldstoexhibituniformdipsforawideintervalandthenchangedipabruptly.In
otherwordsthefoldexhibitsaseriesofkinksratherthansmoothcurvature.Wecanapproximatesuch
foldsusingthekinkmethod.Itisabitmorecommonthesedaysforfoldstoberepresentedthiswaythan
withtheBuskorarcmethod.
Thebasicmethodistoalloweachdipmeasurementtodefineazonewherethedipisconstant.The
boundariesofthedipzonesarethelinesthatbisectanglesbetweenadjacentdips.Theexamplebelow
beginswiththreedifferentwaystofindthebisector.
Theactualpointherethefoldkinksmaynotcoincideexactlywiththebisector.Whyshouldit?Ifyouhave
twodipsatpoints1and2,thechangeindipcouldcomeanywherebetweenthem,andisnotnecessarily
goingtocoincidewithalinehalfwaybetweenthetwodips.Thismethod,likeallfoldconstruction
techniques,isanapproximation.
Example
Intheexampleatleft,dipdataare
shown.Wewanttoconstructa
crosssectionthatsatisfiesthedata.
Thestratigraphicunitsarecolored
herebutwillnotbecoloredfor
mostoftheremainingdiagrams.It
isoftenbetternottoconsider
stratigraphyuntilafterthecross
sectionisdrawn.
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WefirstfindthelineL12that
bisectstheanglebetweendips1
and2.
Onewayistoconstructlines
perpendiculartodips1and2(in
red).TheyintersectatC12.Bisect
theangleformedbythetwo
perpendiculars(showningreen).
ExtendthedipsouttoL12.When
youcrosstheline,continuewith
thedipontheoppositeside.That
is,usedipangle1ontheleftsideof
lineL12anddipangle2onthe
right.
Here'sanotherway:halfway
betweendatumpoints2and3,
drawlinesparalleltodips2and3
(showninred).Bisecttheangleto
findlineL23
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Extenddips2and3toL23,then
continueontheoppositesideof
thelinewiththeappropriatedip.
Forexample,extenddip2,then
whereitintersectsL23,continue
withdip3.
Wecanalsoextendthelinethat
originatesatdatumpoint1.
BetweenL12andL23ithasdip2,
thenontherightofL23ithasdip3.
Yetanotherapproachistoaverage
twoadjacentdips.Thedesiredline
passesthroughthemidwaypoint
betweenthetwodatumpoints.
Drawaverticallinethroughthat
pointandmeasuretheaverage
anglefromtheverticalline.Pay
carefulattentiontodipdirectionso
thatthelinehastheproperslope.
LinesleftofL34havedip3,tothe
righttheyhavedip4.Continuethe
linesthatoriginatedatdatum
points1and2byextendingthem
throughL34withtheappropriate
dips.
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Dips510arehandledthesameway,sotheremainingillustrationssimplyshowtheresultsforeachpairof
dips.
L45constructed.Linesare
extendedtoL34andthedip
beyondisindicated.Dips4and5
areveryclosetoalreadyexisting
linesandareunlikelytogiveany
newinformation,sowedon'tneed
toconstructlinesthroughdips4
and5fornow.
L56constructed.Therocksat
datumpoint6arestratigraphically
lowerthananywehavesofarseen,
soweextenddip6tolineL56,then
continuetotheleftparalleltothe
previouslydrawnlines.
L67constructed.Therocksat
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datumpoint7areevenlowerthan
thoseatdatumpoint6,sowealso
extenddip7tolineL67,then
continuetotheleftparalleltothe
previouslydrawnlines.
L78constructed.Therocksat
datumpoint8arestilllower,sowe
alsoextenddip8tolineL78,then
continuetotheleftparalleltothe
previouslydrawnlines.
L89constructed.Datumpoint9lies
betweentwoalreadyconstructed
linesandisnotlikelytotellus
anythingwedon'talreadyknow.
Fornowweomitdrawingaline
throughit.
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L910completed.Sincepoint10falls
closetoanalreadydrawnline,
thereisnorealneedtoconstruct
anotherlineforit,either.
TyingtheDiagramtoReality
Itisvirtuallycertainwhenyoudrawacrosssectionusingstrictlygeometricmethodsthatthecontactswill
notmatchexactlywiththeirpredictedpositions.Therearemanyreasonswhynot:
Theunitswillnotbeuniforminthickness
Therearesmallconstructionerrors
Dipsarenotuniformfromplacetoplace
Dipmeasurementshavesmallerrors
Foldsdonothaveidealgeometricalshapes.
Herewehaveindicatedthe
stratigraphy.Itisvirtuallycertain
whenyoudrawacrosssection
usingstrictlygeometricmethods
thatthecontactswillnotmatch
exactlywiththeirpredicted
positions.
Whatweneedtodonowisredraw
thefoldssothecrosssection
matchesboththedipsandthe
stratigraphy.
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Herethecrosssectionlinesare
subdued.
Mostofthetimeyoucanmodify
thefoldshapesbyhandtomatch
thestratigraphywithouttoomuch
trouble.Modifiedcontactsarein
black.
Donotgetdistractedbyyourdipsymbolsorstratigraphiccolors.Theonlyrequirementisthatthe
stratigraphyanddipsmatchonthesurface.Bepreparedtomodifythecolorsanddepartfromthedips
belowthesurfaceifit'scalledfor.Comparethetwodiagramsabovetoseethatthiswasactuallydone.
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Created18October2000,LastUpdate20October2000
NotanofficialUWGreenBaysite
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