Abstract Map-making is a fundamental tool for developing geological knowledge. It involves data collection and interpretation and has its roots in the earliest discoveries in Earth Sciences. It is the starting point for stratigraphic and structural interpretations, metamorphic facies, geochronology and modelling studies – and underpins civil engineering. From the beginning, geological mapping rapidly evolved into far more than being a simple spatial catalogue of observable rock types and landforms on the Earth's land-surface; deductive reasoning allowing this knowledge to infer subsurface Earth structure. The same approaches are down-scaled to deduce processes on the grain-scale; or up-scaled to look out to extra-terrestrial objects. This is an introduction to fourteen papers in this Special Publication that celebrates geological mapping, its historical importance and future directions, and its use in applied geology together with developing knowledge of Earth and planetary evolution and processes. Geological mapping has a long tradition of adopting evolving technologies. This introduction considers the challenges faced in synthesizing interpretations, sharing competing interpretations on maps and the role of open-access digital resources in facing these challenges.

Abstract The Moine Thrust Belt in NW Scotland is fundamental for developing an understanding of complex fault systems and continental tectonics. The high-quality geological mapping, exceptional structural interpretation and insight of the late nineteenth century that underpins this is chronicled here. The Geological Survey of Great Britain mapped the thrust belt over a 14 year period, at 1:10 560, but it took five decades for the individual 1:63 360 map sheets to be published. The mapping itself was hampered by access problems, illness and prevailing weather. The deployment of expert staff to this region of few apparent economic resources threatened the status of the Geological Survey. Map publication was hindered by the transition from hand-coloured to full-colour printing, together with the restrictions of publishing to a strict grid that incorporated complex geology outside the thrust belt itself. This history of fieldwork, publication and outreach by the Geological Survey is placed in an environmental and logistical context to identify the challenges not only for the mapping itself but also in sharing the results in publication. The execution of these activities provides lessons for developing coherent interpretation in complex geology and the challenges in charting their uncertainties and alternative explanations.

Abstract Fault mapping is essential for understanding subsurface geological structure. However, effective training of students in developing and understanding fault patterns in 3D seismic imagery is impeded by the time-investment needed to acquire competence using software and then creating depth-structure maps of stratal horizons. Here an exercise is laid out that can achieve the desired experience – using the young fault systems of Afar (Djibouti), where former land-surface-defining basalt flows are offset by arrays of normal faults. The top-basalt surface, displayed on GoogleEarth, is in effect a depth-structure map and the gaps (‘fault-loss’) in this surface approximate to exposed fault surfaces. The mapping exercise is described and illustrated here step-wise. The fault system is gradually mapped out to reveal examples of long-continuous faults, branching patterns, relaying faults and isolated fault segments. Alternative criteria for identifying faults can be examined, with analogies in seismic interpretation. This can inform discussion of the approaches and uncertainties inherent in mapping faults in the subsurface. The study may be extended to consider the pattern of early–syn-rift depositional systems. Collectively these tasks can be progressed within an hour or so, providing effective insights into the structure of normal fault systems that cannot be replicated by conventional fieldwork.

Abstract The outer parts of collision mountain belts are commonly represented by fold and thrust belts. Many of the key concepts in the structural geology of fold and thrust belts have origins in ancient orogens such as the Appalachians and Caledonian chains of Europe, together with the Alps. Impetus in thrust belt research then came from the desire to exploit geological resources that reside in the subsurface, especially arising from hydrocarbon exploration in the foothills of the Canadian Cordillera in the 1960s and 1970s. Notwithstanding decades of exploitation, continental fold and thrust belts are still estimated to hold reserves of 700 billion barrels of oil equivalent. But exploration will focus increasingly on small, hard-to-resolve structures. Basic geological understanding remains as important today as it did for the pioneering explorers in the Canadian foothills. It is a theme that runs throughout this Special Publication.

Abstract In 1888, inspired by fieldwork in what has become known as the Moine Thrust Belt, NW Scotland, Henry Cadell conducted a pioneering series of analogue deformation experiments to investigate the structural evolution of fold–thrust belts. Some experiments showed that imbricate thrusts build up thrust wedges of variable form, without requiring precursor folding. Others demonstrated a variety of fold–thrust structures and how heterogeneities in basement can localize thrust structures. These experiments are described here and used to draw lessons on how analogue deformation experiments are used to inform the interpretation of fold–thrust structures. Early adopters used Cadell's results as guides to structural styles when constructing cross-sections in thrust belts. His models and the host of others created since serve to illustrate part of the range of structural geometries in thrust belts. However, as with much subsequent work, Cadell's use of a deformation apparatus, with a fixed basal slip surface, biases perceptions of fold–thrust belts to be necessarily ‘thin-skinned’ (experimental design bias) and can simply reinforce established interpretations of natural systems (confirmation bias). So analogue deformation experiments may be unreliable guides to the deterministic interpretations of specific fold–thrust structures in the sub surface of the real world.

Abstract Whether thrusts are ramp-dominated and form imbricate fans or run out onto the syn-orogenic surface, forming ‘thrust-allochthons’, is governed by the activity of secondary ‘upper’ detachments along the syn-orogenic surface, activations of which are inhibited by syn-kinematic sedimentation at the thrust front. In the northern Apennines, where thrust systems are ramp-dominated and form an emergent imbricate fan, syn-kinematic sedimentation was abundant and accumulated ahead and above each thrust. In the southern Apennines, the far-travelled Lagronegro allochthon achieved its high displacements (>65 km) while the foredeep basin received little sediment. The imbricate fan at the front of the main Himalayan arc developed within a foredeep that experienced high rates of syn-kinematic sedimentation. In contrast, further west, the Salt Range Thrust emerged into a distal, weakly developed foredeep with significantly reduced rates of sediment accumulation. Displacements were strongly localized onto this thrust (c. 25 km displacement) which activated an upper detachment along the syn-orogenic surface. It is an arrested thrust-allochthon. Lateral variations into the adjacent, ramp-dominated but still salt-detached, Jhelum fold-belt are marked by increases in syn-kinematic sedimentation. As sedimentation styles can vary in space and time, individual thrusts and thrust systems can evolve from being allochthon prone to imbricate dominated.

Abstract The margins to evolving orogenic belts experience near layer-parallel contraction that can evolve into fold–thrust belts. Developing cross-section-scale understanding of these systems necessitates structural interpretation. However, over the past several decades a false distinction has arisen between some forms of so-called fault-related folding and buckle folding. We investigate the origins of this confusion and seek to develop unified approaches for interpreting fold–thrust belts that incorporate deformation arising both from the amplification of buckling instabilities and from localized shear failures (thrust faults). Discussions are illustrated using short case studies from the Bolivian Subandean chain (Incahuasi anticline), the Canadian Cordillera (Livingstone anticlinorium) and Subalpine chains of France and Switzerland. Only fault–bend folding is purely fault-related and other forms, such as fault-propagation and detachment folds, all involve components of buckling. Better integration of understanding of buckling processes, the geometries and structural evolutions that they generate may help to understand how deformation is distributed within fold–thrust belts. It may also reduce the current biases engendered by adopting a narrow range of idealized geometries when constructing cross-sections and evaluating structural evolution in these systems.

Abstract Current tectonic understanding of the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh massif (NPHM) is reviewed, developing new models for the structure and deformation of the Indian continental crust, its thermorheological evolution, and its relationship to surface processes. Comparisons are drawn with the Namche Barwa–Gyala Peri massif (NBGPM) that cores an equivalent syntaxis at the NE termination of the Himalayan arc. Both massifs show exceptionally rapid active denudation and riverine downcutting, identified from very young cooling ages measured from various thermochronometers. They also record relicts of high-pressure metamorphic conditions that chart early tectonic burial. Initial exhumation was probably exclusively by tectonic processes but the young, and continuing emergence of these massifs reflects combined tectonic and surface processes. The feedback mechanisms implicit in aneurysm models may have been overemphasized, especially the role of synkinematic granites as agents of rheological softening and strain localization. Patterns of distributed ductile deformation exhumed within the NPHM are consistent with models of orogen-wide gravitation flow, with the syntaxes forming the lateral edges to the flow beneath the Himalayan arc.

Abstract Archibald Geikie’s (1835–1924) field research led to better understanding of geological relationships and, ultimately, Earth processes. We consider three pieces of research in Scotland, from his early work on Skye through to the execution and impact of his 1860 expedition to the NW Highlands with Murchison, returning to Skye to consider arguments with Judd on igneous relationships. We describe the field locations and place modern interpretations in their historical context. We discuss how methods and approaches for building interpretations in the field were modified and improved through debates. Reliance on a few ‘critical outcrops’ served to anchor interpretation at the expense of understanding more complex exposures. Similar bias appears to have arisen from using simple exploratory transects which were only mitigated by proper mapping approaches. Significant misunderstandings between protagonists appear to have arisen through the reliance of text description rather than diagrammatic illustrations. The vitriolic nature of debate seems to have anchored misinterpretations, obscured interpretational uncertainty and promoted false-reasoning by inhibiting inclusive scientific engagement.

Abstract Following years of sporadic debate, in the early 1880s consensus was reached that thrust tectonics explained hitherto controversial geological field relationships in NW Scotland. This spawned a major research effort there by the Geological Survey of Great Britain that culminated in a series of highly detailed geological maps, preliminary research papers and, eventually, the publication of a memoir to the region. These works became highly influential to early-20th century geoscience, especially structural geology. Not only did they provide the first major synthesis of thrust belt structure, they also provided the basis for descriptions of fault and shear zone processes and deductive methods for unravelling tectonic histories in metamorphic basement. A common misconception is that the results arose from mapping alone, without regard to extant models and theory and this approach is held up as an ideal for fieldwork. Yet the notebooks and writings of the surveyors show the application of learning not only from other research groups but also between themselves. As with modern mapping, the Survey team created interpretations that built on contemporary knowledge. This work in turn has driven subsequent research for over 100 years, in the NW Highlands and in deformed rocks throughout the world.

Abstract Descriptions of structural evolution across thrust belts commonly assume a transition from ductile to brittle deformation, reflecting a progressive reduction in temperature accompanying exhumation. The universality of this model is challenged here using field relationships at Ben Arnaboll, in the northern part of the Moine Thrust Belt. Deformation in the Arnaboll Thrust Sheet, an allochthonous basement body of amphibolite-facies gneisses and pegmatite sheets, carried onto Cambrian sediments, includes widely distributed, low-displacement shears developed under greenschist facies with ingress of water. These ductile deformations post-date the emplacement of the thrust sheet as they link kinematically to breaching thrust structures emanating from the footwall of the Arnaboll Thrust. The thrust itself records a transition from mylonitic (ductile) to strongly localized (brittle) deformation that pre-dates the breaching thrusts and therefore the deformation within the thrust sheet itself. The structure of breaching thrusts charts an up-dip transition from localized slip to distributed shearing analogous to the trishear in fold-thrust complexes, Therefore deformation of the Arnaboll Thrust Sheet shows a return from strongly localized translation-dominated brittle deformation to more broadly distributed ductile deformation. This is likely to have been promoted by the ingress of water and the concomitant reaction-enhanced weakening of the basement.

Abstract The NE margin of the Arabian continent was overthrust by ‘exotic’ sheets of oceanic and continental margin units (the Semail Ophiolite allochthon) in the Late Cretaceous. Although parts of this margin (Saih Hatat Massif) were deeply buried, through subduction, to depths suitable for eclogite-facies metamorphism, other parts are unmetamorphosed (Jebel Akhdar Massif). Hence an almost continuous metamorphic gradient is preserved. This forms an ideal setting within which to relate shallow and deeper-seated tectonic processes within an orogen. Structural data are presented from the Jebal Akhdar Massif, a composite antiformal structure that contains a network of structures that post-date allochthon emplacement. These include down-to-the-NNE layer-extensional shears and steeper faults. Layer-extensional shears contain open to close folds with hinge lines parallel to regional elongation directions. Larger-scale NNE-trending folds include the regional Jebel Nakhl Antiform. The same kinematic style can be traced into the exhumed high-pressure metamorphic terrane of Saih Hatat. Coeval orthogonal layer contraction and layer-thinning and elongation describes bulk constrictional 3D strain. Although this might be indicative of regional transtension, large-scale strike-slip faults, active during the extension, as predicted by general transtensional models are not evident. Consequently, it is inferred that constriction was the result of laterally varying crustal extension whereby top-to-the-NNE extension was locally combined with left-lateral shearing. Exhumation of the metamorphic series occurred under a carapace of extending allochthons, defining an elongate ‘pip’ of material returning to shallow crustal levels. There is, however, an imbalance between net extension and possible contraction within the Arabian continent that requires deformation within a volume of net-divergent tectonics. Thus crustal extension continued after the end of convergent tectonics in the region.

Abstract Although the role of extensional tectonics in the exhumation of high-pressure metamorphic terranes is widely established, the kinematics of such deformation remains ambiguous. This paper outlines new field data from the Attic-Cycladic blueschist belt that suggest that distributed ductile strain plays a significant role in the extension and that, consequently, the role of major detachment faults may have been over-emphasized in previous studies. The high-pressure blueschist terrane (Ermoupolis Unit) of Syros shows abundant evidence of subhorizontal extension, manifest as layer boudinage and ductile thinning without the development of significant internal detachments. The deformation approximates to pure shear stretching that was heterogeneously distributed in space and time. Minor zones of asymmetric shear are interpreted not as through-going extensional shear zones but as structures that maintain compatibility between zones of differential stretching. The progression of deformation is charted through the systematic development of increasingly lower-pressure metamorphic assemblages. However, most of the decompression (potentially from 20 kbar to 6 kbar) occurred within the blueschist stability field, as the rocks were actively extending. Heterogeneous retrogression and concomitant deformation are believed to relate to the local chemistry and availability of hydrous fluids.

Continental lithosphere within sites of relative plate convergence can display a wide range of different styles of contractional deformation. Traditionally, crustal-scale deformation can be described in terms of end-member behaviors—thin-skinned (dominated by substantial detachment horizons) and thick-skinned (dominated by crustal-scale ramps). Consequently, these descriptions have implied different degrees of basement involvement in thrust belts. Additionally, tracts of ductile deformation can be described as approximating to one of two end-member, plane strain models: simple shear and pure shear. While strongly localized high-strain zones require large simple shear components, this need not be the case for broad tracts of continuous ductile deformation. Studies of ancient systems have emphasized the role of simple shear. In contrast, insights from active orogens from geodetic and seismological studies suggest that substantial volumes of the continental lithosphere deform in a continuous fashion that does not approximate to simple shear. Broadly distributed strain involving volumes of weak crust might be promoted by enhanced temperatures and/or the widespread development of weak, hydrated minerals. These rheological controls are likely to evolve during the development of complex orogenic systems and lead to changes in the deformation styles through the continental lithosphere in space and time.

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