Publications

Landsat and Radarsat Satellite imagery provide a means to compare the regional structural styles of the frontal zones of the Papuan-Irian Jaya and Pakistan Kirthar fold and thrust belts. Both areas consist of an earlier Mesozoic rift system superposed by folds and thrusts developed during Mid-Tertiary to Recent compression. Difficulty in understanding the influence of the earlier rift system on subsequent development of the fold and thrust belts has lead to contrasting geological interpretations. Structural models are constrained only by surface and limited well data. Both areas have been interpreted as thinskinned thrust systems as well as a result of basin inversion involving fault reactivation together with folding and thrusting. No individual model appears to account for the variety of structural styles found in the two fold and thrust belts.Surface closures provide important exploration leads in both areas, although fold closure at the surface and at the sub-surface reservoir level may not coincide. This paper examines the geometry and development of folds in the frontal zones of the Papuan-Irian Jaya fold and thrust belts with consideration for the regional structural context of the folds. These are compared to the Kirthar thrust belt of Pakistan, which provides an analogue without the vegetation cover of PNG-Irian Jaya.