Tectonics of some spatial arrays

Abstract

Regularity of spatial arrays is a common feature of many structural entities, including joints, folds, salt domes, plutons, faults and lineaments. It is suggested that global-scale linears (fold belts, volcanic chains, continental margins, oceanic ridges etc.) also have an underlying regularity and a tendency to polygonal patterns. The spacing in arrays is controlled by such factors as buckling, fracture mechanics, density and viscosity contrasts, thickness of layers, and convection. The layered structure of the crust, with brittle upper and ductile lower parts, exerts a major influence on the spacing geometry. In this paper, faults, batholiths and global lineaments are analyzed, and they demonstrate the influence of layer - thickness control at three different scales. -from Author