Drag Folds Research Articles

The early Paleozoic structures and its influence on the Permian strata, Midland Basin: Insights from multi-attribute seismic analysis

The Permian Basin is one of the most important petroleum-producing regions in the United States. The structural history of the Permian Basin is extremely complex. Most of the structural traps in the Permian Basin are associated with the strike-slip fault system, which presented challenges for past structural interpretation completed primarily using well log and 2D seismic data. We utilized a 3D seismic survey, a part of the Midland Basin and eastern margin of the Central Basin Platform (CBP), to identify the Early Paleozoic structural elements to study its influence on the HC production from the Permian strata. We computed volumetric seismic attributes including, coherence which can identify faults with a significant amount of throw, along with curvature which can detect flexure and folds. We also used, recently developed aberrancy attribute, which illuminates subtle faults and flexures. We observed several strong lineations on seismic attributes extracted along the Woodford surface. Lineations have three different trends. Trend 1 lineations are drag folds associated with the Andrews shear zone (ASZ). Trend 2 lineations, which show a left-lateral strike-slip motion, are R’ Riedel Shear, are oriented N 65° W truncating against the CBP. The trend 2 lineations continue upward to the shallower surfaces, as well as they are parallel to the surface lineations identified on the satellite images, which indicates the continued movement of the pre-existing faults. The trend 3 lineations, which show a right-lateral strike-slip motion, are R Riedel Shear and align with the ASZ. The formation micro image (FMI) shows the fracture orientations in trend 2 and trend 3 directions. The aberrancy lineation anomalies are indicative of highly fractured areas; wells drilled in these areas display lower oil-water ratio, as well as a higher amount of production, which may be due to the increase in permeability due to the fractures.

Basement–cover relationships and deformation in the Northern Paraguai Belt, central Brazil: implications for the Neoproterozoic–early Paleozoic history of western Gondwana

The Northern Paraguai Belt, at the SE border of the Amazonian Craton, central Brazil, has been interpreted as a Brasiliano–Pan-African ( c. 650–600 Ma) belt with a foreland basin, recording collisional polyphase tectonism and greenschist-facies metamorphism extending from the late Precambrian to the Cambrian–Ordovician. New structural investigations indicate that the older metasedimentary rocks of the Cuiabá Group represent a Tonian–Cryogenian basement assemblage deformed in two contemporaneous fault-bounded structural sub-domains of wrench-dominated (rake <10°) and contraction-dominated (rake ∼30–40°) sinistral transpression, with tectonic vergence towards the SE. The younger late Cryogenian to early Cambrian sedimentary rocks lying to the NW of the Cuiabá Group are non-metamorphic and display only pervasive brittle transtension characterized by normal-oblique faults, fractures and forced drag folds with no consistent vergence pattern. Our analyses suggest that an unconformity separates the metasedimentary Cuiabá Group basement of the Northern Paraguai Belt from the unmetamorphosed sedimentary cover. It is proposed that the latter units were deposited during a post-glacial marine transgression (after c. 635 Ma) in a post-collisional basin. The Paraguai Belt basement and its post-collisional sedimentary cover share a number of significant geological similarities with sequences in the Bassarides Belt and Taoudéni Basin in the SW portion of the West African Craton.

Structural control on karst water circulation and speleogenesis in a lithological contact zone: The Bossea cave system (Western Alps, Italy)

Geological surveys, structural mapping, and thin section analysis helped to unravel the speleogenesis and water circulation in the Bossea cave (Northern Italy), an unconventional karst system at the contact between carbonates and underlying insoluble rocks. The surveys within the cave and in the surrounding surface outcrops revealed a complex structural setting caused by the coupling of lithological-mechanical heterogeneities with two major regional left-lateral ESE-WNW strike-slip faults. Transpression associated with the faults led to a disharmonic deformation, accommodated by a detachment surface, between the buckled basement meta-volcanics and the disharmonically-folded-marble sequence laying on top. Low-angle shear zones, recumbent or drag folds, and small stacks of duplexes are localized next to this detachment. The preferential pathways for water circulation inside the vadose zone are the folded bedding interfaces in the meta-carbonate sequence. Fracture clusters at slipping bed terminations, on the other hand, provide through-sequence connectivity. Once underground stream water flow reached the cataclastic and highly deformed meta-volcanics of the detachment core and damage zones, erosion started, removing large volumes of rocks. The downward erosion of the Permian basement rocks caused gravitational instability and subsequent roof collapses, aided by structural control in the damage zone above the detachment surface (slip surfaces in between duplexes or drag folds). This gravitational instability ultimately led to the formation of the giant halls that are characteristic of the downstream part of the Bossea cave.

Crystallographic preferred orientations of plagioclase via grain boundary sliding in a lower-crustal anorthositic ultramylonite

To clarify the rheological properties and deformational mechanisms that operate within lower-crustal shear zones, we analyzed deformation microstructures and fabrics in plagioclase grains from high-strain regions of intrafolial drag folds of an anorthositic ultramylonite from Langoya, Vesteralen, northern Norway. These grains have developed weak crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs). Other than deformation twinning, they do not show any indications of intracrystalline plasticity or dynamic recrystallization. In some domains of the drag fold, plagioclase CPOs are more distinct, but the majority of inferred slip systems are not consistent with the main slip systems in plagioclase. These suggest that neither dislocation creep nor dislocation-accommodated grain boundary sliding (GBS) produced the plagioclase CPOs but rather grain rotation via GBS along specific grain boundaries parallel or subparallel to crystallographic planes of (010), (100) or (110), which led to an alignment of the easy-slip grain boundaries in the flow direction that produced the observed CPO patterns. The anisotropy of dissolution and growth rates may have been responsible for the development of the specific grain boundaries.

The episodic rise, net growing rate and kinematics of radial faults of the Salinas de Oro diapir using paleoseismological techniques (NE Spain). Salt upwelling versus karstic subsidence

This paper explores the use of trenching and paleoseismological techniques to determine salt flow rates into a salt diapir for the first time in the literature. The Salinas de Oro diapir, located in the northern Spanish Pyrenees, is an oval-shaped Triassic-salt stock that extends vertically for ≫7 km down to the Paleozoic basement. Salt dissolution subsidence and diapir growth are coeval active processes. Karstification is responsible for the development of large sinkholes, a thick caprock and the monocline folding and ring faulting of the Cretaceous and Early Tertiary limestone rim. The evaporite karstic aquifer discharges high-concentration water of up to 137 g/l of total dissolved solids and a conductivity over 200 mS/cm into the Salado Creek, which drains the diapir top. The salinity monitoring of this drainage provides a maximum karstic surface lowering rate of around 2.8 mm/yr. Salt upwelling has caused the 150 m uplift of the annular limestone escarpment and the development of ≫3000 m long radial grabens with up to 90 m of vertical offset that disrupt drainages, displace Quaternary deposits and overprint concentric faults. The 260 cm drag folding of lacustrine facies exposed in a 42 m long and 6.5 m deep trench due to the creep motion of the western radial fault of Azanza Graben yielded a minimum short-term uplift slip rate of 1.75 mm/yr for the last 1485 years and provides a minimum salt supply rate of over 5 mm/yr considering karstification lowering. This value that is several hundred times higher than average, evidence the discontinuous growth of Salinas de Oro diapir.

Quaternary tectonic activity of the São Marcos–Quarteira fault (Algarve, southern Portugal): a case study for the characterization of the active geodynamic setting of SW Iberia

Tectonic deformation along the Sao Marcos–Quarteira fault zone affecting lithostratigraphic units ascribed to the Pliocene (the Falesia Sands) and to the Middle to Upper Pleistocene (the Boliqueime Sands and the Barrancosa Sands) is studied at the Boliqueime area, Algarve (southern mainland Portugal). Evidence for this tectonic activity includes brittle (faults and joints) and ductile (drag folds) deformation structures, as well as other structures interpreted as generated by liquefaction and fluidization phenomena. The biostratigraphical study of samples collected from the Boliqueime Sands unit allows to propose a Pleistocene age based upon its content of ostracod species, pointing to a probable Calabrian to Middle Pleistocene (ca. 1.8 Ma to 130 ka) time constraint. This age is now also constrained by optically stimulated luminescence, the K-feldspar post-IRIR290 dating of a sediment sample collected from a faulted sand layer of the Boliqueime Sands having provided a minimum age of 250 ka. This study thus supports the Quaternary activity of that major regional structure, which has the potential to generate an Mw 7+ earthquake with surface rupture, a conclusion that has high relevance for the seismic hazard assessment of the very populated area of influence.

Delineation of a buried volcanic system in Kora prospect off New Zealand using artificial neural networks and its implications

The Kora volcano, a submarine Miocene andesitic stratovolcano, is documented to be buried below ~1700 m sedimentary strata in the northern Taranaki basin off New Zealand. The buried volcano and enclosing older sedimentary strata, structurally modulated the subsurface architecture leading to the formation of structural and stratigraphic traps for hydrocarbon reservoirs. The Kora field is known for accumulating sub-commercial hydrocarbon resources within the volcanogenic deposits. Here, we attempt to image such a complex geological system from 3D time-migrated seismic data using state-of-the-art artificial neural networks coupled with interpreter's acquaintances. For this, we have computed several attributes; optimally amalgamated these and trained over interpreter's intelligence. This has resulted into a single new attribute, defined as the intrusion cube (IC) meta-attribute, to produce the best possible image of the subsurface. The resultant IC meta-attribute has successfully brought out the extension and distribution of volcanic edifice within the buried volcanic system along with several structural elements such as the sill networks, dyke swarms, forced folds, drag folds, jacked up strata and pinch-outs (along flanks of the volcano) in the host sedimentary successions, which are very essential in understanding the petroleum system of the Kora field. This interpretational approach, based on a blended output of neural intelligence of artificial networks and interpreters' knowledge, can be suitably employed for imaging any complex volcanic system from 3D seismic data.

Two new microscopic ductile kinematic indicators from the Oman Mountains

Two novel shear-sense indicators were observed in different tectonic settings. The first one (“PDT”) occurs in a calcmylonite, associated with extension. The second one (“Dragged Intergrowths”) was discovered in mylonitized plagiogranite (trondhjemite) dikes with vertical to sub-vertical foliation and strike-slip deformation within harzburgite.The calcite mylonite displays shear planes, characterized by parallel laminae which differ in composition. They contain light-colored, calcite, while darker impurities consist of hematite, goethite, and rutile. PDTs are associated with microthrusts. The thrusts form an acute angle with the mylonitic foliation. Thrusting between two microthrusts created pull-aparts, filled with drusy calcite. The shear sense of the PDTs is revealed by (1) shortening and related imbrication of the thrust laminae, (2) pull-apart structures and (3) drag folds at either end of the microthrusts. The indicated shear is confirmed by independent evidences. One PDT is up to ∼0.5 mm wide and 1 mm long.The mylonitized plagiogranite contains a K-feldspar δ-porphyroclast (2 mm long), featuring dragged K-feldspar/quartz intergrowth due to rotation during high-temperature conditions. Bending occurs on either end of the object. The original orientation of the intergrowth was subparallel to the foliation. As a result an “S”-shaped object formed. The deduced shear sense is independently confirmed.

Deformation around a detached half-graben shoulder during nappe stacking (Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria)

This study describes the inversion of a rift-related graben shoulder during emplacement and transport of a major thrust sheet in the external part of the western Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA). Structural fieldwork was carried out along the Lechtal thrust, separating the tectonically deeper Allgäu thrust sheet from the Lechtal thrust sheet. An irregularly shaped Early Jurassic normal fault and an adjacent basin are present in the immediate footwall of the Lechtal thrust. The Early Jurassic age of the basin formation is indirectly established by thickness differences in the syntectonic deposits. Scaly fabric and small-scale drag folds document top S to top SW kinematics at the normal fault. During Alpine orogeny the Lechtal thrust is forced to recess around the graben shoulder in the footwall. A transpressive, dextral tear-fault develops in the hanging wall to compensate for lateral differences of shortening. The normal fault is too steep for inversion, and a shortcut thrust across the half-graben shoulder developed at a shallower angle. It transports the detached half-graben shoulder into the neighbouring basin. Albian to Paleogene transport of the Lechtal thrust sheet caused deformation below the Lechtal thrust, creating a shear zone with isoclinal folds, break thrusts, boudinaged beds and development of S–C fabric. Kinematic analyses of S–C fabrics and small-scale fold axes along the Lechtal thrust show consistent top NW to top N shortening directions in accordance with Cretaceous to Paleogene thrust directions in the NCA.

Emplacement of the ophiolitic mélanges in the west Karamay area: Implications for the Late Paleozoic tectonic evolution of West Junggar, northwestern China

The Darbut and Karamay ophiolitic mélanges in the west Karamay area at the southeastern margin of West Junggar, southern Altaids, represent the relict fragments of the Paleozoic Junggar ocean basin. The mélanges contain structurally complex tectonic blocks of ultramafic rocks, gabbro, basalt, and chert that are dispersed within an extensively sheared serpentinite matrix. This study presents new field observations, structural analyses, geochronological and geophysical data for the mélanges and the overlying Carboniferous strata. Three stages of deformation (D1–D3) have been identified. D1 is only locally preserved in the mélanges and is characterized by thrust-imbricated faults, recording the subduction and accretion of the paleo-oceanic crust in the Early Carboniferous. D2 mainly consists of map-scale upright folds (F1) in the Carboniferous strata and NE-SW-striking sub-vertical right-lateral shear zones in the mélanges. D3 is characterized mainly by NE-SW-striking transcurrent left-lateral strike-slip faults and “S-shaped” drag folds (F2). The extensive tectonic reworking during D2 and D3 deformations eradicated most of the D1 structures. Our structural observations, combined with geophysical data, suggest that the basement of the west Karamay area consists of trapped oceanic crust or dismembered ophiolitic fragments and that the Darbut and Karamay ophiolitic mélanges were extruded through right-lateral shear zones. Our results and the published data further suggest that the emplacement of the mélanges and the formation of F1 folds represent regional-scale amalgamation processes between different tectonic blocks and/or plates in the Late Carboniferous. These processes resulted in the closure of the West Junggar remnant ocean basin and other sub-oceanic basins in the Paleo-Asian Ocean, leading to the formation of the Kazakhstan orocline. Furthermore, the D3 deformation was associated with anticlockwise rotation of the West Junggar region in a post-collisional setting in the Permian.

Structural characteristics and implication on tectonic evolution of the Daerbute strike-slip fault in West Junggar area, NW China

The Daerbute fault zone, located in the northwestern margin of the Junggar basin, in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, is a regional strike-slip fault with a length of ~ 400 km. The NE-SW trending Daerbute fault zone presents a distinct linear trend in plain view, cutting through both the Zair Mountain and the Hala’alate Mountain. Because of the intense contraction and shearing, the rocks within the fault zone experienced high degree of cataclasis, schistosity, and mylonization, resulting in rocks that are easily eroded to form a valley with a width of 300–500 m and a depth of 50–100 m after weathering and erosion. The well-exposed outcrops along the Daerbute fault zone present sub-horizontal striations and sub-vertical fault steps, indicating sub-horizontal shearing along the observed fault planes. Flower structures and horizontal drag folds are also observed in both the well-exposed outcrops and high-resolution satellite images. The distribution of accommodating strike-slip splay faults, e.g., the 973-pluton fault and the Great Jurassic Trough fault, are in accordance with the Riedel model of simple shear. The seismic and time-frequency electromagnetic (TFEM) sections also demonstrate the typical strike-slip characteristics of the Daerbute fault zone. Based on detailed field observations of well-exposed outcrops and seismic sections, the Daerbute fault can be subdivided into two segments: the western segment presents multiple fault cores and damage zones, whereas the eastern segment only presents a single fault core, in which the rocks experienced a higher degree of rock cataclasis, schistosity, and mylonization. In the central overlapping portion between the two segments, the sediments within the fault zone are primarily reddish sandstones, conglomerates, and some mudstones, of which the palynological tests suggest middle Permian as the timing of deposition. The deformation timing of the Daerbute fault was estimated by integrating the depocenters’ basinward migration and initiation of the splay faults (e.g., the Great Jurassic Trough fault and the 973-pluton fault). These results indicate that there were probably two periods of faulting deformation for the Daerbute fault. By integrating our study with previous studies, we speculate that the Daerbute fault experienced a two-phase strike-slip faulting deformation, commencing with the initial dextral strike-slip faulting in mid-late Permian, and then being inversed to sinistral strike-slip faulting since the Triassic. The results of this study can provide useful insights for the regional tectonics and local hydrocarbon exploration.

PETROGRAPHY AND DIAGENETIC HISTORY OF NAGRI FORMATION SANDSTONE IN DISTRICT BAGH AND MUZAFFARABAD, PAKISTAN

The petrographic analysis of Nagri Formation sandstone based on outcrop study and interpretation of thin sections with special emphasis on the diagenetic history from widely separated areas was accomplished. The calcite concreations, hematite leaching, petrified wood fossils, spheroid weathering, quartz filled joints and the meso scale drag folding has few geological significances. Interpretation of thin sections revealed that the sandstone is lithic arenite and lithic graywackes. The concavo-convex, sutured contacts and muscovite deformations indicates that the compaction of sand under lithostatic stress during early diagenesis. The pore water has widened the intergranular distance in some rocks by dissolving the fractured surfaces of carbonates and other grains, enhancing the concentration of carbonates in water at high pH. On the other hand, the silica dust formation can be attributed to the abrasion of quartz grains during compaction, alteration of feldspar to sericite and overgrowth on quartz by calcite under low pH of solution and pressure solution. The leaching and precipitation of hematite along fractures and thin coating around the grains indicates iron oxides paragenesis from chlorite and biotite in the area. The clay mineral authigenesis includes replacement along the cleaved and fractured feldspar and sericitation. Further elaborations indicate plastic deformations of hydrolytically weak quartz grains and deformations by tectonic upliftment, enhancing the permeability and reservoir quality of sandstone.

Stratigraphy of architectural elements in a buried volcanic system and implications for hydrocarbon exploration

The interaction between magmatism and sedimentation creates a range of petroleum plays at different stratigraphic levels due to the emplacement and burial of volcanoes. This study characterizes the spatio-temporal distribution of the fundamental building blocks (i.e., architectural elements) of a buried volcano and enclosing sedimentary strata to provide insights for hydrocarbon exploration in volcanic systems. We use a large data set of wells and seismic reflection surveys from the offshore Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, compared with outcropping volcanic systems worldwide to demonstrate the local impacts of magmatism on the evolution of the host sedimentary basin and petroleum system. We discover the architecture of Kora volcano, a Miocene andesitic polygenetic stratovolcano that is currently buried by more than 1000 m of sedimentary strata and hosts a subcommercial discovery within volcanogenic deposits. The 22 individual architectural elements have been characterized within three main stratigraphic sequences of the Kora volcanic system. These sequences are referred to as premagmatic (predate magmatism), synmagmatic (defined by the occurrence of intrusive, eruptive, and sedimentary architectural elements), and postmagmatic (degradation and burial of the volcanic structures after magmatism ceased). Potential petroleum plays were identified based on the distribution of the architectural elements and on the geologic circumstances resulting from the interaction between magmatism and sedimentation. At the endogenous level, emplacement of magma forms structural traps, such as drag folds and strata jacked up above intrusions. At the exogenous level, syneruptive, intereruptive, and postmagmatic processes mainly form stratigraphic and paleogeomorphic traps, such as interbedded volcano-sedimentary deposits, and upturned pinchout of volcanogenic and nonvolcanogenic coarse-grained deposits onto the volcanic edifice. Potential reservoirs are located at systematic vertical and lateral distances from eruptive centers. We have determined that identifying the architectural elements of buried volcanoes is necessary for building predictive models and for derisking hydrocarbon exploration in sedimentary basins affected by magmatism.

Relationship Between Hydrothermal Alteration Index and Geological Attributes at Chuquicamata Cu–Mo Porphyry Deposit, Chile

AbstractThe distribution of mineral zones, hydrothermal alteration assemblages and ore associations are important geological attributes of the Chuquicamata Porphyry Cu–Mo deposit. The development and morphology of these attributes were influenced by syn‐mineralization structures with later modification of post‐mineralization tectonism to yield the present day form. In this work we evaluate the elemental mass transfer index due to hydrothermalism by using Pearce Element Ratios, using a database of 1110 samples consisting of elemental concentrations by chemical analysis. We study the relationship of the aforementioned index with the geological attributes in the porphyry as well as evaluate the type of information that the index provides according to its distribution, magnitude and variability. The magnitudes of the alteration index are organized into deciles, each of which represents a source of information, or macrostate. Within these, the geological attribute, or microstate, has a probability to participate that depends on the possible categorization of a particular attributes. The amount of information or uncertainty that each geological attribute provides to each decile of the distribution of the alteration index is determined by measuring the value of entropy. The results indicate that this distribution is controlled by the geometric–kinematic properties of syn‐mineralization structures that generate the primary pattern related to potassic alteration that develops in the hanging wall of the East Shear Zone. Subsequently the shape of the potassic alteration is modified by the kinematic effect imposed by the Americana and Estanques Blancos faults, and this broadly defines the geometry of the Qz–Mo event and the shape of the phyllic alteration. In addition, the sinistral‐inverse shear of the West Fault Zone allows the construction of an enriched blanket and also generates the drag fold that is characteristically observed in the south wall of the mine. All of the above events combine to yield the final geometry of the geological attributes that controls the shape and magnitude of the alteration index in the porphyry. The magnitude of the alteration index is mainly driven by the potassic and phyllic alteration stages. Potassic alteration is dominant in the first four deciles, while phyllic alteration is dominant in the last six deciles. Supergene mineralization attributes contribute discreetly to the average magnitude of the alteration index for each decile. The distribution of the probability of participation of the geological attributes in the distribution of the alteration index suggests that in the potassic alteration, biotite and green‐gray sericite facies contribute to strengthen the index in an associated manner, while in the phyllic alteration, the Qz–Ser textural type is the most significant.

The brittle and ductile components of displacement along fault zones

Abstract The total offset across a fault zone may include offsets by discontinuous faulting as well as continuous deformation, including fault-related folding. This study investigates the relationships between these two components during fault growth. We established conceptual models for the distributions of displacement due to faulting (i.e. brittle component or near-field displacement), to folding (i.e. ductile component) and to the sum of both (i.e. far-field displacement) for different mechanisms of fault-related folding. We then compared these theoretical displacement profiles with those measured along mesoscale normal faults cutting carbonate-rich sequences in the Southeast Mesozoic sedimentary basin of France. The near-field and far-field displacement profiles follow either a flat-topped or a triangular shape. Several fold mechanisms were recognized, sometimes occurring together along the same fault and represent either fault-propagation folds, shear folds or coherent drag folds. In the last case, local deficit in the fault slip is balanced by folding so that the brittle and ductile components compose together a coherent fault zone. Common characteristics of these faults are a high folding component that can reach up to 75% of the total fault throw, a high displacement gradient (up to 0.5) and a strong fault sinuosity.

Inversion kinematics at deep-seated gravity slope deformations revealed by trenching techniques

Abstract. We compare data from three deep-seated gravitational slope deformations (DSGSDs) where palaeoseismological techniques were applied in artificial trenches. At all trenches, located in metamorphic rocks of the Italian Alps, there is evidence of extensional deformation given by normal movements along slip planes dipping downhill or uphill, and/or fissures, as expected in gravitational failure. However, we document and illustrate – with the aid of trenching – evidence of reverse movements. The reverse slips occurred mostly along the same planes along which normal slip occurred, and they produced drag folds in unconsolidated Holocene sediments as well as the superimposition of substrate rocks on Holocene sediments. The studied trenches indicate that reverse slip might occur not only at the toe portions of DSGSDs but also in their central-upper portions. When the age relationships between the two deformation kinematics can be determined, they clearly indicate that reverse slips postdate normal ones. Our data suggest that, during the development of long-lived DSGSDs, inversion kinematics may occur in different sectors of the unstable rock mass. The inversion is interpreted as due either to locking of the frontal blocks of a DSGSD or to the relative decrease in the rate of downward movement in the frontal blocks with respect to the rear blocks.

Direct dating of folding events by 40Ar/39Ar analysis of synkinematic muscovite from flexural-slip planes

Timing of folding is usually dated indirectly, with limited isotopic dating studies reported in the literature. The present study investigated the timing of intracontinental, multi-stage folding in Upper Proterozoic sandstone, limestone, and marble near Beijing, North China, and adjacent regions. Detailed field investigations with microstructural, backscattered electron (BSE) images and electron microprobe analyses indicate that authigenic muscovite and sericite crystallized parallel to stretching lineations/striations or along thin flexural-slip surfaces, both developed during the complex deformation history of the study area, involving repeated compressional, extensional and strike-slip episodes. Muscovite/sericite separates from interlayer-slip surfaces along the limbs and from dilatant sites in the hinges of folded sandstones yield muscovite 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages of ∼158–159 Ma, whereas those from folded marble and limestone samples yield ages of 156 ± 1 Ma. Muscovite from thin flexural-slip planes on fold limbs and hinges yields ages within analytical error of ∼155–165 Ma. Further muscovite samples collected from extensionally folded limestone and strike-slip drag folds yield younger ages of 128–125 Ma with well-defined plateaus. To assess the potential influence of the detrital mica component of the host rock on the age data, two additional muscovite samples were investigated, one from a folded upper Proterozoic–Cambrian sandstone outside the Western Hills of Beijing and one from a folded sandstone sampled 20 cm from folding-related slip planes. Muscovite separates from these samples yield significantly older ages of 575 ± 2 Ma and 587 ± 2 Ma, suggesting that the timing of folding can be directly determined using the 40Ar/39Ar method. This approach enables the identification and dating of distinct deformation events that occur during multi-stage regional folding. 40Ar/39Ar dating can be used to constrain the timing of muscovite and sericite growth at moderate to low temperatures (<400 °C) during folding, yielding well-defined plateau ages and thereby the age of deformation in the upper crust.

Tectonic inversion of compressional structures in the Southern portion of the Paramirim Corridor, Bahia, Brazil

The Paramirim Corridor represents the maximum inversion zone of the Paramirim Aulacogen. Reverse-to-reverse dextral shear zones and various types of folds dominate such corridor. These structures reflect a stress field that is WSW-ENE oriented, developed in units of Aulacogen basement, as well as in the Lagoa Real Intrusive Suite, of Statherian age, in Espinhaço and São Francisco supergroups, of Statherian-Tonian and Cryogenian ages, respectively, and in the Macaúbas-Santo Onofre Group, of Tonian age at the most. A rich collection of extensional structures truncate compressional structures of the Paramirim Corridor, characterized by normal shear zones and foliation, which is sometimes mylonitic, down-dip stretching lineation, drag folds, traction fractures and S/C structures. In these shear zones, quartz occurs truncated by the foliation, while feldspars are fractured and altered to white mica. Distribution of the quartz c-axes is at a maximum of 14° from the Z-axis. Thus, it suggests that the deformation activated mainly the basal glide planes in the &lt;a&gt; direction. The paleostress study using the Win-Tensor software demonstrated that the regimen ranged between radial and pure distention. The S1 direction oscillated around a vertical trend, while s3 was sub-horizontal, with a predominant N230-050° direction. Ar-Ar ages in biotite obtained from the extensional shear zones ranged from 480 and 490 Ma. Together, data obtained for the structures associated with the late extensional regimen described in the present study suggest that its nucleation is associated with distal and brittle-ductile sectors of the gravitational collapse zone of Araçuaí-West Congo Orogen.

The origin and internal structures of submarine-slide deposits in a lower Pleistocene outer-fan succession in the Kazusa forearc basin on the Boso Peninsula of Japan

This study investigates the internal geometry and formation processes of submarine-slide deposits in a lower Pleistocene outer-fan succession in the Kazusa forearc basin on the Boso Peninsula of Japan. The submarine-slide deposits are ~40m thick, with a minimum length of ~900m and a width of ~700m. Both the submarine-slide deposits and host deposits comprise siltstones intercalated with very thin- to medium-bedded, sheet-like turbidites and volcanic ash beds. Based on the sequence-stratigraphic framework of the submarine-fan succession, we conclude that the submarine-slide deposits formed during a glacioeustatic sea-level lowstand at about 1.16Ma.The submarine-slide deposits are characterized by thrust sequences with a ramp anticline in the frontal part. A basal slide plane in the lower part of the deposits is developed at a horizon located 2–4cm below the base of a coarse volcanic ash bed and is associated with sheared deposits. Slide planes are sealed in the upper part of the submarine-slide deposits in association with drag folds and chaotic deposits. Finally, the submarine-slide deposits are transitionally overlain by ~3-m-thick chaotic muddy deposits, and are finally overlain by siltstones intercalated with very thin- to medium-bedded, sheet-like turbidites and volcanic ash beds, which show lithofacies features similar to those of the submarine-slide deposits. The variations in the deformation styles indicate that sliding occurred as a synsedimentary process in the outer-fan environment, and the basal slide plane formed when the porosity of the muddy deposits was reduced to ~55% or less.Based on the empirical relationship between the submarine-fan length and lower-fan slopes from modern examples, the gradient of the outer-fan is estimated at 0.31°–0.46°, which is lower than the threshold gradient of 1.2° for a 40-m-thick submarine slide with the estimated basal porosity. Based on the distribution of deformed deposits within the lower-fan host deposits, the minimum volume and runout distance of the submarine-slide deposits are estimated to be ~3×107m3 and ~5km, respectively. Furthermore, based on data from modern submarine slides, the elevation difference between the failed mass in both the starting and depositional areas is estimated to be 80–170m. Thus, the initiation of a submarine slide in the outer-fan environment was likely influenced by a combination of external forces, such as seismic shaking and increased pore-water pressure in association with the seepage of gas and water from underlying deposits in the Kazusa forearc basin. This study suggests that submarine slides occur in distal and low-gradient deep-water environments in active-margin basins.

Strain analysis in the Sanandaj–Sirjan HP-LT Metamorphic Belt, SW Iran: Insights from small-scale faults and associated drag folds

This study is aimed at quantifying the kinematics of deformation using a population of drag fold structures associated with small-scale faults in deformed quartzites from Seh-Ghalatoun area within the HP-LT Sanandaj–Sirjan Metamorphic Belt, SW Iran. A total 30 small-scale faults in the quartzite layers were examined to determine the deformation characteristics. Obtained data revealed α0 (initial fault angle) and ω (angle between flow apophyses) are equal to 83° and 32°, respectively. These data yield mean kinematic vorticity number (Wm) equal to 0.79 and mean finite strain (Rs) of 2.32. These results confirm the relative contribution of ∼43% pure shear and ∼57% simple shear components, respectively. The strain partitioning inferred from this quantitative analysis is consistent with a sub-simple or general shear deformation pattern associated with a transpressional flow regime in the study area as a part of the Zagros Orogen. This type of deformation resulted from oblique convergence between the Afro-Arabian and Central-Iranian plates.