The fracture network, a proxy for mesoscale deformation: Constraints on layer parallel shortening history from the Malargüe fold and thrust belt, Argentina

Abstract

An analysis was performed of the fracture networks in the N-S trending thick-skinned Malargue fold and thrust belt (MFTB). A total of 2000 planar structures including joints and veins were measured in different structural domains ranging from surficial thin-skinned systems detached in the cover to large-scale structures such as basement-cored folds. The investigated stratigraphic section ranges from the Middle Jurassic (Cuyo Group) to the Paleocene (Malargue Group), including sandstones, siltstones, shales, and limestones. Four main fracture sets are identified trending, E-W, NW-SE, NE-SW, and N-S. The abutting relationships provide a reliable chronology between the four fracture sets which are ubiquitously found in the MFTB throughout the various structural domains. Due to this observation, we assume the fracture signal to be regional and developed in response to both large-scale processes and folding. In particular, based on a fold test and the characteristics of data dispersion, the fracture sets I, II, and III exhibit a prefolding origin, while set IV shows a synfolding origin. A regional interpretation of the various fractures is proposed, involving several stages of fracture formation from compaction to folding, including prefolding layer parallel shortening. The fracture signal yields useful insights about the structural history of the MFTB and the spatiotemporal evolution of the foreland tectonic regime since Late Cretaceous times. We then place the various identified fracture sets into the known pattern of geodynamic evolution since the Late Cretaceous.