Paleostress reconstruction of faults recorded in the Nied\u017awiedzia Cave (Sudetes): insights into Alpine intraplate tectonic of NE Bohemian Massif

Jacek Szczygieł,Artur Sobczyk

doi:10.1007/s00531-021-01994-1

Abstract

Brittle structures identified within the largest karstic cave of the Sudetes (the Niedźwiedzia Cave) were studied to reconstruct the paleostress driving post-Variscan tectonic activity in the NE Bohemian Massif. Individual fault population datasets, including local strike and dip of fault planes, striations, and Riedel shear, enabled us to discuss the orientation of the principal stresses tensor. The (meso) fault-slip data analysis performed both with Dihedra and an inverse method revealed two possible main opposing compressional regimes: (1) NE–SW compression with the formation of strike-slip (transpressional) faults and (2) WNW–ESE horizontal compression related to fault-block tectonics. The (older) NE-SW compression was most probably associated with the Late Cretaceous–Paleogene pan-regional basin inversion throughout Central Europe, as a reaction to ongoing African-Iberian-European convergence. Second WNW–ESE compression was active as of the Middle Miocene, at the latest, and might represent the Neogene–Quaternary tectonic regime of the NE Bohemian Massif. Exposed fault plane surfaces in a dissolution-collapse marble cave system provided insights into the Meso-Cenozoic tectonic history of the Earth’s uppermost crust in Central Europe, and were also identified as important guiding structures controlling the origin of the Niedźwiedzia Cave and the evolution of subsequent karstic conduits during the Late Cenozoic.

Highlights

Fault planes provide important geological indicators of former stresses recorded in the Earth’s upper crust, which are used to infer distinct episodes of regional tectonic regimes (Angélier et al 1982)
We present the first results of a paleostress investigation of fault planes within the Niedźwiedzia Cave
In the Niedźwiedzia Cave, we have localized six different fault zones (FZ) numbered I to VI from N to S with associated brittle structures used for paleostress analysis (Fig. 2)

Summary

Introduction

Fault planes provide important geological indicators of former stresses recorded in the Earth’s upper crust, which are used to infer distinct episodes of regional tectonic regimes (Angélier et al 1982). Large and small, have revealed important tectonic insights, as exemplified in the cases of young (alpine) orogens such as the Tatra Mts (Szczygieł 2015a), old Variscan massifs such as the Ardennes (Triantafyllou et al 2019), or those covered with dense vegetation preventing surface studies, such as the South China fold belt (Szczygieł et al 2018). Stable conditions in caves preserve slickensides from long-term erosion effect, rendering them suitable for structural analysis (Szczygieł et al 2015; Triantafyllou et al 2019)

Methods

Results

Conclusion