Writing papers with an emphasis on structural geology and tectonics: advices and warnings

Abstract

The objective of this short paper was to provide some advice on how to write a geoscience paper of international standard and to warn against some common pitfalls. It is focused on how to structure a paper and stresses the importance of building its contents around a well-defined problem. Furthermore, the importance of moving away from outdated and counterproductive ways of describing and interpreting deformation is emphasized. In particular, describing structures and tectonic evolution in a poorly founded scheme of multiple deformation phases and making stress interpretations from structurally complex and heterogeneous rocks where rotations and stress perturbations are difficult or impossible to account for are strongly discouraged. Instead, I encourage the use of modern structural geology and tectonics ideas that, among other things, allow for composite and overprinting structures to form progressively and diachronously with a wide variation in style and orientation during a single deformation history. Also, more emphasis should be put on strain and kinematics, toning down the use of stress. After all, stress is only observed through strain and kinematics; going from one to the other is not straightforward in general, and particularly difficult in ductilely deformed rocks.

Transition from contractional to transpressive tectonics: evidence from the Feira Nova Region, Rio Capibaribe Domain, Borborema Province, NE Brazil

“…The transition from thrusting to transpression is supported by the local steepening of the PSZ and of the axial plane of the macroscopic antiformal fold; • The growing GGSZ induced the development of NW-trending folds and reverse shear bands at its terminations. The evolution proposed is in line with propositions that multiple deformation fabrics can be explained by progressive deformation rather than by several temporarily separated events (i.e., polycyclic deformation) (e.g., Holdsworth 1990, Connors and Lister 1995, Forster and Lister 2008, Fossen 2019, Bhattacharya et al 2019).…”

Graphical representation of structural data in the field: A methodological proposal for application in deformed areas

“…Analysis of the spatial location of geological structures acquired in the field using graphical techniques during mapping campaigns is of vital importance for determining the direction of tectonic drag, the kinematics of shear zones and paleostress tensors, and axes of elongation and shortening; and to define the deformation phases recorded by lithological units. This makes it possible to reconstruct geological and tectonic history as well as establish relationships between different geological processes (Turner and Weiss, 1963;McClay, 1987;Passchier et al, 1990;Hatcher, 1995;Hopgood, 1999;Passchier and Trouw, 2005;Babín and Gómez, 2010a;Fossen, 2010;López and Zuluaga, 2012;Compton, 2016;Fossen et al, 2019;Fossen, 2019). Traditionally, to determine the spatial orientation of fabric elements, the horizontal and vertical angular relationships of geological structures are measured using analog geological compasses, and the data thus acquired are recorded in field notebooks.…”

Importance of the peer review process in scientific publications - proposed way of working for a new journal

“…The process can refer to different types of manuscripts, for example, articles, conference papers, books (Foster et al, 2019). These works, respectively scientific publications represent the most important mechanism for disseminating and preserving knowledge within the scientific community (Fossen, 2020). Although there are many forms of scientific publication, the most important is the peer-reviewed journal (Mack, 2018).…”