Section restoration

The earliest attempts to produce restored sections were on foreland fold and thrust belts.

[2] This technique assumed a stratigraphic template with unit thicknesses either constant or smoothly varying across the section.

It is worth mentioning that these deformation algorithms are approximations and idealizations of actual strain paths and deviate from reality (Ramsey and Huber, 1987).

This mechanism deforms an element to accommodate a change in shape by movement on closely spaced parallel planes of slip.

[9] Section restoration involves undeforming a natural example, a form of inverse modelling.

[10] In many cases carrying out forward modelling helps to test out concepts for all or part of the section.

In areas of complex multi-phase or strike slip deformation or where salt is present, this is rarely the case.