9406216 Thomas Thrust belts worldwide are characterized by large-scale bends in trace: salients and recesses. As thrust belts advance they load the craton edge, producing foreland basins. Most previous studies of foreland basin formation use either salients or straight portions in order to avoid three-dimensional complexities in thrust direction. This study will take advantage of a large subsurface data base to model the development of a recess (the Black Warrior foreland basin) in which convergence of thrusting from different directions has resulted in a complex pattern of structural interference, diverse progradation of sediment wedges and numerous along-strike changes in thrusting, lading and subsidence. Results should help understand these more complex interactions, which will be of use in understanding foreland basins elsewhere.
