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Anticline: Bcharre Lebanon Structural Geology Fold Convex Beds

An anticline is a fold in rock strata that is convex up with the oldest beds at its core. Anticlines form during mountain building as a result of compressional forces. They are important structures for trapping oil and gas deposits, with hydrocarbons accumulating at the crest or high points of anticlines. Doubly plunging anticlines with crests are particularly favorable targets for oil and gas drilling. Anticlines are also associated with other economic mineral deposits like metals.

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101 views

Anticline: Bcharre Lebanon Structural Geology Fold Convex Beds

An anticline is a fold in rock strata that is convex up with the oldest beds at its core. Anticlines form during mountain building as a result of compressional forces. They are important structures for trapping oil and gas deposits, with hydrocarbons accumulating at the crest or high points of anticlines. Doubly plunging anticlines with crests are particularly favorable targets for oil and gas drilling. Anticlines are also associated with other economic mineral deposits like metals.

Uploaded by

Apurbo Maity
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Anticline

Diagram of an anticline.

Anticline with syncline visible at far right- USGS. Note the man standing before the formation,
for scale.

Anticline near Bcharre, Lebanon.


In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core.
The term is not to be confused with antiform, which is a purely descriptive term for any fold that
is convex up. Therefore if age relationships (i.e. younging direction) between various strata are
unknown, the term antiform must be used.
On a geologic map, anticlines are usually recognized by a sequence of rock layers that are
progressively older toward the center of the fold because the uplifted core of the fold is
preferentially eroded to a deeper stratigraphic level relative to the topographically lower flanks.
The strata dip away from the center, or crest, of the fold.
If an anticline plunges (i.e., is inclined to the Earth's surface), the surface strata will form Vs that
point in the direction of plunge. Anticlines are typically flanked by synclines although faulting
can complicate and obscure the relationship between the two. Folds typically form during crustal
deformation as the result of compression that accompanies orogenic mountain building.
Anticline terminology
Any fold whose form is convex upward is an antiform. Antiforms containing progressively
younger rocks from their core outwards are anticlines.
An anticline or antiform has a crest, which is the highest point on a given stratum along the top
of the fold. A hinge in an anticline is the locus of maximum curvature or bending in a given
stratum in the fold. An axis is an imaginary line connecting the hinges in the different strata in a
two-dimensional cross-section through the anticline. Connecting the hinges or points of
maximum curvature in the different layers in three dimensions produces an axial plane or axial
surface. In a symmetrical anticline, a surface trace of the axial plane coincides with the crest.
With an asymmetrical anticline, the surface trace of the axial plane or axis will be offset from the
crest toward the steeper flank of the fold. An overturned anticline is an asymmetrical anticline
with a flank or limb that has been tilted beyond perpendicular so that the beds in that limb are
upside-down.
A structure that plunges in all directions to form a circular or elongate structure is a dome.
Domes are generally formed from one main deformation event, or via diapirism from underlying
magmatic intrusions or movement of upwardly mobile, mechanically ductile material such as
rock salt (salt dome) and shale (shale diapir). The famous Richat Structure is thought to be an
anticline or dome that has been laid bare by erosion.
An anticline which plunges at both ends is termed a doubly-plunging anticline, and may be
formed from multiple deformations, or superposition of two sets of folds, or be related to the
geometry of the underlying detachment fault and the varying amount of displacement along the
surface of that detachment fault. The highest point on a doubly-plunging anticline (or any
geologic structure for that matter) is called the "culmination."
An elongate dome which developed as the sediments were being deposited is referred to as a
pericline.
An anticlinorium is a series of parallel anticlinal folds on a regional-scale anticline. Examples
include the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Purcell Anticlinorium in British Columbia and the
Blue Ridge anticlinorium of northern Virginia and Maryland in the Appalachians[2], or the
Nittany Valley in central Pennsylvania.
Economic significance

Structural trap: anticlinal fold


Doubly-plunging or faulted anticlines, culminations, and structural domes are favored locations
for oil and natural gas drilling; the low density of petroleum causes it to buoyantly migrate
upward to the highest parts of the fold, until stopped by a low-permeability barrier such as an
impermeable stratum or fault zone. Examples of low-permeability seals that contain the
hydrocarbons, oil and gas, in the ground include shale, limestone, sandstone, and even salt
domes. The actual type of stratum does not matter as long as it has low-permeability.
Periclines are important focal points for pooling of hot, metal-laden formational brines, which
can form manto ore deposits, Irish-type lead-zinc deposits and uranium deposits, amongst others.
Culminations in folded strata which are cut by shears and faults are favoured loci for deposition
of saddle-reef style lode gold deposits.
Gallery of anticlines

Tight folds in Weathered marble Nittany Valley in central


limestone and chert, Tight anticline in the anticline at General Pennsylvania is an
Crete, Greece Wills Creek Formation, Carrera Lake, Chile anticlinorium
Pennsylvania

The Tuscarora
Formation forms a clear Anticline in Wills Anticline with well-
Elk Basin is a anticline in Wills Creek or Bloomsburg developed axial planar
breached anticline Mountain at Cumberland Formation at Roundtop cleavage. Carboniferous
Narrows, Maryland Hill, Maryland sand-shale sequence above
Tudes, SE of Potes,
Cantabria, Spain

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