The structure of the Tuapse shear zone according to the field tectonophysical data

Abstract

The results of field structural studies of the Tuapse shear zone in the Northwest Caucasus are presented. This zone is characterized by shear displacements of various scales with a dominant horizontal shear, viz., a geodynamic type of the stress state, which leads to the formation of faults with mostly lateral displacement of wings, i.e., along the strike of the fault surface. The quantitative characteristics of the local stress conditions in the shear zone (the positions of principal axes and the Lode–Nadai coefficient) are determined on the basis of cataclastic analysis and geological indicators of the paleostresses. The differences between these characteristics are considered for the large tectonic zones. Significant spatial (areal) variations in orientations of the axes of major normal stresses in the shear zone and their local weak gentle variations are evidence of a consistent general stress direction during the formation of faults during the Late Eocene–Miocene deformation epoch.