Cross-section restoration: A tool to simulate deformation. Application to a fault-propagation fold from the Cantabrian fold and thrust belt, NW Iberian Peninsula

Simulation of deformation in sections across tectonic structures can provide important information about the present-day state of such structures. A technique for simulation of deformation, based on cross-section restoration, is presented. The deformation parameters are calculated through a model that provides information in numerical format and the results are illustrated overlapping gridded images and diagrams on top of the sections across the structures in order to visualize their geological significance. The validity of this method has been proved through its application to a structure formed in a contractional regime. The structure analyzed is located in the Cantabrian Mountains, NW Iberian Peninsula, and consists of a fault-propagation fold made up of Carboniferous limestones. The excellent outcrop of this structure allowed a complete geological cross-section reconstruction, and a detailed structural and kinematic analysis in order to obtain an accurate restoration. The results furnished by the restoration technique about the deformation values and patterns are in agreement with small-scale structures observed in the field as well as with the geometry and kinematics of the structure.