Transtensional folding

These theoretical results are applied to structures that developed during oblique continental rifting in the upper crust (seismic/brittle) and the ductile crust. Examples include (1) oblique opening of the Gulf of California, where folds and normal faults developed simultaneously in syn-divergence basins; (2) incipient continental break-up in the Eastern California-Walker Lane shear zone, where earthquake focal mechanisms reflect bulk constrictional strain; and (3) exhumation of the ultrahigh-pressure terrain in SW Norway in which transtensional folds and large magnitude stretching developed in the footwall of detachment shear zones, consistent with constrictional strain. More generally, folds may be misinterpreted as indicating convergence when they can form readily in oblique divergence.