Tectonically significant pebble types: Sheared, pocked and second-cycle examples

Abstract

A history of repeated faulting, within an area, can be obtained from unconformity analysis or sediment-vector sequences (not treated in the present paper) or from studies of gravel tongues. The latter may include sheared pebbles, pocked pebbles, half-rounds, and second-cycle (or multi-cycle) pebbles. Sheared pebbles (and larger fragments) were cut by faulting after deposition, hence represent two episodes of deformation. Pocked pebbles (scarred pebbles) were ground against each other, after deposition, by a second episode. Sheared and pocked pebbles typically develop where sand matrix is not abundant; single pebbles “floating” in sandstone rarely show these features. Quartz sand schist is a fine-grained equivalent of the sheared-pebble gravel or conglomerate. Half-rounds represent transportation of sheared pebbles, after shearing; where half-rounds have been sheared, at least three episodes of deformation are indicated. A second-cycle conglomerate is one in which individual pebbles (or larger pieces) are themselves conglomerates. They likewise indicate at least two episodes of deformation. In some areas, details of displacement can be obtained best from unconformity analysis; in other areas, the special pebble types listed here may provide such details. In a few places, both types of information may be available, thus giving a fuller picture than could be obtained in other ways. The best example of a thick stratigraphic sequence containing these special pebble types (representing repeated deformation), described in the present paper, is located near Bucaramanga, Colombia. A second example from northern New Mexico is described less fully. Brief references to other occurrences, in Wyoming, Montana, Oklahoma and Alabama, are made. It is concluded that, although these pebble types may not be abundant at any one locality, they nevertheless occur at many places, and therefore can provide important information about deformational history.