Influence of multiple detachments on structural vergence and evolution of the thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belt in the eastern Sichuan Basin: Insights from numerical modeling

Abstract

The thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belt with multiple detachments in the eastern Sichuan Basin is characterized by a series of fault-detachment folds with a backward preferred structural vergence, which is rare in nature and can't be explained well by the classic critically taper theory. Here, three discrete element simulations were conducted to study the influence of multiple detachments on the structural vergence and evolution of the eastern Sichuan thin-skinned fold and thrust belt. The experimental results reveal that multiple detachment layers affected the bulk mechanical strength and facilitated a dually vergent thrust wedge with a backward preferred structural vergence. The addition of intermediate detachment layers influences structural vergence and fault activity of thrust wedges. With the increase in intermediate weak layers, the preferred structural vergence of these model results progressively moved from forward to nearly symmetric and eventually to backward. These results exhibit first-order structural similarities to the structural vergence and fault activity in the eastern Sichuan fold and thrust belt, which indicates that the influence of the internal distribution of weak layers within the eastern Sichuan Basin should not be ignored. The limited Cambrian evaporite layer and the widespread Silurian shale and Lower-Middle Triassic evaporite layers had significant impacts on the deformation of the fold-and-thrust belt in the eastern Sichuan basin. Consequently, we propose a kinematic model for the coupled geodynamic processes of the eastern Sichuan fold-and-thrust belt. The framework of the eastern Sichuan Basin with a number of backward fault-detachment folds was formed by Mesozoic northwestward propagation, and Cenozoic eastward propagation reactivated the folding and thrusting. The Huayingshan fault was affected by the limited Cambrian evaporite layer.