What are the Limits of Balanced Sections in Fold and Thrust Belts

In this paper the limits of the geological cross-sections are explored as well as their validity depending on the used datasets and multidisciplinary approaches. Selected cross-sections from different orogenic belts are discussed and framed within plate tectonic reconstructions. The Pyrenees formed during convergence between Iberia and Europe producing the inversion of the relatively narrow basin system between the two plates. Contrarily, the Zagros fold belt is a more complicated orogenic chain produced by an initial obduction phase and a later collision between Eurasia and Arabia. The uncertainties and variability of published balanced cross-sections through these orogenic systems need further constrain to solve problems that cannot be interpreted only with existing structural information.The integration of multidisciplinary studies at different scales of work might help constraining the evolution of the orogenic events and might provide solutions for regions that cannot be addressed solely by the construction of the balanced cross-section using structural information.