Fold-thrust belts are formed as a result of translation of a wedge of sedimentary rocks along a system of interconnected faults that include decollement flats, frontal ramps, and lateral connectors (such as transverse faults, lateral ramps, and zones of displacement transfer). Lateral connectors are commonly aligned across strike of the fold-thrust belt; the transverse alignments of lateral connectors have been called cross-strike structural discontinuities (CSDs). CSDs are common features of fold-thrust belts and are potentially significant in exploration for petroleum, ground water, and ore deposits. The internal geometry and kinematics of the complete length of CSDs are not well known. Lateral connectors and CSDs are as important in the overall make-up of fold-thrust belts as frontal ramps, but the lateral connectors have been much less studied. Detailed studies of structure and stratigraphy within a CSD are designed to address the following important questions: whether or not inter- nal structural components of CSDs are systematically arrayed along the trend or with respect to stratigraphic and/or structural levels; whether or not CSDs are genetically linked to pre-thrust structures (basement faults), to stratigraphic varia- tions caused by synsedimentary pre-thrust structures, and/or structures in the autochthon; and how CSDs function kinematically within a fold-thrust belt.
