Spatial Characteristics and Controlling Factors of the Strike‐slip Fault Zones in the Northern Slope of Tazhong Uplift, Tarim Basin: Insight from 3D Seismic Data

Abstract

AbstractThe detailed characteristics of the Paleozoic strike‐slip fault zones developed in the northern slope of Tazhong uplift are closely related to hydrocarbon explorations. In this study, five major strike‐slip fault zones that cut through the Cambrian‐Middle Devonian units are identified, by using 3D seismic data. Each of the strike‐slip fault zones is characterized by two styles of deformation, namely deeper strike‐slip faults and shallower en‐echelon faults. By counting the reverse separation of the horizon along the deeper faults, activity intensity on the deeper strike‐slip faults in the south is stronger than that on the northern ones. The angle between the strike of the shallower en‐echelon normal faults and the principal displacement zone (PDZ) below them is likely to have a tendency to decrease slightly from the south to the north, which may indicate that activity intensity on the shallower southern en‐echelon faults is stronger than that on the northern ones. Comparing the reverse separation along the deeper faults and the fault throw of the shallower faults, activity intensity of the Fault zone S1 is similar across different layers, while the activity intensity of the southern faults is larger than that of the northern ones. It is obvious that both the activity intensity of the same layer in different fault zones and different layers in the same fault zone have a macro characteristic in that the southern faults show stronger activity intensity than the northern ones. The Late Ordovician décollement layer developed in the Tazhong area and the peripheral tectonic events of the Tarim Basin have been considered two main factors in the differential deformation characteristics of the strike‐slip fault zones in the northern slope of Tazhong uplift. They controlled the differences in the multi‐level and multi‐stage deformations of the strike‐slip faults, respectively. In particular, peripheral tectonic events of the Tarim Basin were the dynamic source of the formatting and evolution of the strike‐slip fault zones, and good candidates to accommodate the differential activity intensity of these faults.