Late Quaternary neotectonic joints: Confirmation of the connection between jointing and contemporary tectonic stress

Abstract

Identification of neotectonic joints has been on the basis of correlating the orientations of vertical joints to the horizontal maximum compressive stress direction as determined from geophysical measurements. To date no study has explicitly linked neotectonic‐joint azimuths in late Quaternary sediments to maximum horizontal stress trajectories as determined geophysically. Late Quaternary coastal aeolianites from southeastern coastal Saurashtra, western India host neotectonic joints. The morphology of the neotectonic joints matches earlier contentions regarding their vertical orientations. The joints are planar irregular, show step overs between interacting joints and refraction while traversing across palaeosols‐aeolianite boundaries. Comparisons with geophysically determined maximum horizontal stress directions show that these neotectonic joints propagated in to the same direction as the SH of the contemporary tectonic stress field confirming the utility of neotectonic joints as inexpensive tools for measuring maximum horizontal stress. However, multiple joint sets suggest that even the neotectonic stress field can be complex.