Abstract
Geophysical problems as forced-fold evolution and fault propagation induce large deformations and many localisation. The continuum mechanics does not seem the more appropriate for their description and it appears more interesting to represent the media as initially discontinuous. To face both phenomena, a non smooth Discrete Element Method is used. Geophysical structures are considered as collection of rigid disks which interact by cohesive frictional contact laws. Numerical geophysical formations are correlated to mechanical properties of structures through observation and mechanical analysis.