A paradoxical situation in determining relative competence from wavelength/arclength ratios within buckle folded multilayers

Abstract

By measuring the ratio of wavelength to arclength of folds in closely associated disharmonically folded competent layers, it is possible to determine which layer has undergone a greater layer-parallel strain and has a smaller competence. This method may lead to a paradoxical situation. For example when foliated quartzite and mica schist layers are folded together, the mica schist laminae show a much larger buckle shortening than the quartzite layers. On the other hand, the geometry of folds in quartzite indicates that quartzite was more competent than the mica schist. The structure can be explained by different modes of buckling, general buckling in quartzite layers and internal buckling in strongly anisotropic mica schists.