Abstract
This study contributes to the understanding of shear failure development on the basis of macroscopic field data collected in latest Pleistocene–Holocene pyroclastic and fluvio-lacustrine deposits in the Pasto Valley, SW Colombia. Here there is a pervasive system of microfaults and joints. Right-lateral strike-slip microfaults strike N065°, whereas left-lateral strike-slip microfaults strike N120°. Three main joint sets strike N, N065° and N020° in decreasing order of frequency. Stress computation gives a horizontal σ 1 trending ∼N060° and a horizontal σ 3 trending ∼N150°, consistent with earthquake focal mechanisms and stress inversion of main faults. Synthetic shears dominate resulting from nucleation of older cracks. In the basement cropping out northeast of Pasto, the NE- to ENE-striking Buesaco, Aranda and Pasto Faults show evidence of latest Pleistocene–Holocene right-lateral strike-slip motions. The structures in the Pasto Valley can be interpreted as a Mode III damage zone representing the up-dip propagation of the main faults across the young volcano-sedimentary deposits.
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