I reread the manuscript and also had a co-author comment on whether it was a "tough read" as suggested by a reviewer. It was well-written but the latter part, the Discussion, was technical and tried to describe models in words. So, yes, this part was a tough read for non-structural geologist, and possibly made the paper not right for Journal of Geophysical Research. So, we'll have to do substantial revisions yet again, and submit elsewhere.
Chris