Sheath fold development in monoclinic shear zones

Abstract

We use numerical simulations to investigate the evolution of sheath folds around slip surfaces in simple‐shear‐dominated monoclinic shear zones. A variety of sheath fold shapes develops under general shear, including tubular folds with low aspect ratio eye patterns and tongue‐like structures showing bivergent flanking structures in sections normal to the sheath elongation, which may potentially lead to confusing shear sense interpretations. Not all investigated monoclinic flow end‐members lead to the development of sheath folds sensu stricto (folds with apical angle <90°). The aspect ratio of the eye patterns, Ryz, correlates with the ratio between the principal strain in the Y‐direction and the smaller of the principal strains in the X–Z plane, and thus it could be used in strain analysis.