Strain history of the Pioneer fault, Idaho, USA – progressive deformation and associated crystallographic alteration.

Abstract

In south-central Idaho, a segment of the Pioneer fault, exposed at Little Fall Creek, has accommodated large magnitude Mesozoic shortening overprinted by Paleogene extension. The resulting 30 m thick fault damage zone records a history of fault reactivation and associated deformation in quartz veins, graphite concentration on slip surfaces, polyphase contractional and extensional microstructures, and micro- to outcrop-scale corrugated, mineralized and polished slip surfaces. The gently west dipping (207°/14°) fault zone separates Ordovician argillite in the hanging wall from Mississippian argillite and quartzite in the footwall and accommodated east-northeast directed shortening. However, polished slip surfaces within the fault zone document top-to-the-west translation with a mean slip vector 15°/272°, consistent with extensional unroofing of the Pioneer Mountains core complex. Argillite in the fault damage zone varies from proto- to ultra-cataclasite and provides evidence for overprinting of contractional fabrics by extensional fabrics. The fault damage zone is characterized by multiple anastomosing slip-surfaces which indicate a history of slip surface interactions, fault growth, and reactivation. Early deformation features include graphitic foliations and stylolites, SC foliations, and ptygmatic folds consistent with shortening. Quartz veins, mica fish, and slip surfaces coated with graphite, amorphous carbonaceous material, and amorphous quartz phases, overprint the early deformation features and are associated with west-directed extension. Hydrothermal quartz veins that show at least five phases of deformation indicate multiple strain episodes and high strain rates. Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope textural analysis of the graphite in the fault damage zone show a loss of crystallinity toward the primary slip surface. We infer the late-stage meso- to micro-scale features record seismic slip and fluid-rock interactions in a gently dipping fault zone.