Investigation of a sub-surface lateral ramp in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains (Crowsnest Pass area, S.W. Alberta) using three-dimensional seismic interpretation and physical analog modelling

This investigation aims to acquire a better understanding of the formation and development of lateral ramps and associated structures. Lateral ramps are known to occur in fold and thrust belts world-wide, and are being more commonly identified in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Foothills by in-depth geological investigations with the aid of 3-D seismic processing and interpretation. The investigation described in this report combines the interpretation of a 3-D seismic data set located in the Crowsnest Pass area of south-western Alberta, made available to this research by a sponsor firm in the oil and gas industry, with new physical analog centrifuge modelling, based on the mechanical stratigraphy and fault configuration of the study area, carried out in the Experimental Tectonics Laboratory at Queen's University.; The seismic interpretation reveals an unnamed thrust fault (subsequently correlated to the Whaleback Thrust) that contains a lateral-ramp system (two offset frontal ramps connected by a lateral ramp) in the footwall of the Livingstone Thrust. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...