Low-angle Normal Faults Research Articles

Impact of basement thrust faults on low-angle normal faults and rift basin evolution: a case study in the Enping sag, Pearl River Basin

Abstract. Reactivation of pre-existing structures and their influence on subsequent rift evolution have been extensively analysed in previous research on rifts that experienced multiple phases of rifting, where pre-existing structures were deemed to affect nucleation, density, strike orientation, and displacement of newly formed normal faults during later rifting stages. However, previous studies paid less attention to the extensional structures superimposing onto an earlier compressional background, leading to a lack of understanding of, e.g. the reactivation and growth pattern of pre-existing thrust faults as low-angle normal faults and the impact of pre-existing thrust faults on newly formed high-angle faults and subsequent rift structures. This study investigating the spatial relationship between intra-basement thrust and rift-related faults in the Enping sag, in the northern South China Sea, indicates that the rift system is built on the previously deformed basement with pervasive thrusting structures and that the low-angle major fault of the study area results from reactivation of intra-basement thrust faults. It also implies that the reactivation mode of basement thrust faults is dependent on the overall strain distribution across rifts, the scale of basement thrust faults, and the strain shadow zone. In addition, reactivated basement thrust faults influence the nucleation, dip, and displacement of nearby new faults, causing them to nucleate at or merge into downwards it, which is representative of the coupled and decoupled growth models of reactivated thrust faults and nearby new faults. This work not only provides insights into the growth pattern of rift-related faults interacting with reactivated low-angle faults but also has broader implications for how basement thrust faults influence rift structures, normal fault evolution, and syn-rift stratigraphy.

Using Syntectonic Calcite Veins to Reconstruct the Strength Evolution of an Active Low‐Angle Normal Fault, Woodlark Rift, SE Papua New Guinea

AbstractQuantifying the strength evolution of faults that cut the lithosphere is essential to better understand seismicity in continental regions. We estimate differential stresses and principal stress orientations driving rapid slip of ∼10 mm/yr on the active Mai'iu low‐angle normal fault (LANF), SE Papua New Guinea. The fault's mafic footwall hosts a well‐preserved sequence of mylonite, (ultra‐)cataclasite, and gouge. In these fault rocks, we combine stress inversion of fault‐slip data and paleostress analysis of syntectonically emplaced calcite veins with microstructural and clumped‐isotope geothermometry to constrain a syn‐exhumational sequence of deformation stresses and temperatures, and to construct a stress profile through the exhumed footwall of the active Mai'iu LANF. This includes: (a) at ∼12–20 km depth (T ≈ 275–370°C), mylonites accommodated slip on the Mai'iu fault at low differential stresses (>25–135 MPa) before being overprinted by localized brittle deformation at shallower depths; (b) at ∼6–12 km depth (T ≈ 130–275°C) differential stresses in the foliated cataclasites and ultracataclasites were high enough (>150 MPa) to drive slip on a mid‐crustal portion of the fault (dipping 30–40°), and to trigger brittle yielding of mafic footwall rocks in a zone of mixed‐mode seismic/aseismic slip; and (c) at shallower crustal depths (T < 150°C; depth <6 km) on the most poorly oriented segment of the Mai'iu LANF (dipping ∼22°), slip occurred on frictionally weak clay‐rich gouges (μ ≈ 0.15–0.38). Subvertical σ1 and subhorizontal σ3 parallel to the extension direction, with σ1 ≈ σ2 (constriction), reflect vertical unloading and 3‐D bending strain during rolling‐hinge style flexure of the footwall.

Large Holocene ruptures on the Cañada David detachment, Baja California, Mexico; implications for the seismogenesis of low-angle normal faults

We present the results of detailed mapping and paleoseismic investigations along a section of the complex fault scarp array associated with the Cañada David detachment, a low-angle oblique normal fault that controls the southwestern flank of the Sierra El Mayor, Baja California, Mexico. We used high-resolution unmanned aerial vehicle imagery to map portions of a sequence of alluvial fans that comprise a bajada that flanks the southwestern range front. Their ages are distinguished based on a regional soil chronosequence. Three paleoseismic trenches were excavated across active surface faults that root into the Cañada David detachment at depth. Fine-grained stratigraphic units in the trenches were dated by optically stimulated luminescence techniques. The three trenches in this study show strong evidence for four large (Mw≥7) Holocene earthquakes at or just prior to about 1.7, 4.3–6.1, 7.7–7.6 and 8.4–10.7 ka, as well as weak to moderate evidence for two additional late Pleistocene earthquakes at or just prior to 12.7–14.1 ka and 15.2 ka, indicating an average recurrence of such events of ∼3 ka. This earthquake recurrence interval is slightly longer than that for the Laguna Salada fault to the north that flanks the Sierra Cucapah. The regular recurrence of major surface ruptures strongly suggests that severely-misoriented low-angle normal faults like the Cañada David detachment have a mechanical behavior that is very similar to other more optimally oriented faults suggesting that earthquakes on such faults should be common and may be difficult to recognize from seismologic methods due rolling-hinge ramps and/or multifault ruptures.

High‐ and Low‐Angle Normal Fault Activity in a Collisional Orogen: The Northeastern Granada Basin (Betic Cordillera)

AbstractUnderstanding active tectonics and seismicity in extensional settings requires the analysis of high‐angle normal faults (HANFs) and the transfer of deformation at depth. The debate surrounds the role of low‐angle normal faults (LANFs) in triggering high magnitude earthquakes. The central Betic Cordillera is an active seismic zone affected by the NNW‐SSE Eurasia‐Nubia convergence and orthogonal extension. The seismicity and present‐day stress determined by earthquake focal mechanisms reveals the activity of a NE‐SW extensional system in the shallowest 12 km of the Granada Basin. The structure of the sedimentary infill, as derived by geological field and gravimetric techniques, suggests the formation of a half‐graben tilted to the N‐NE. Seismologic data suggest the activity of HANFs above 6–7 km depth and a LANF zone around 6–12 km depth, with related earthquakes of up to Mw 4.0 and 20° to 30° fault dips. High‐precision leveling lines highlight the importance of the Granada Fault in the system, with average vertical displacement rates of 0.35–1.1 mm/yr. These data suggest creep fault behavior at the surface and increased seismicity at depth. The upper crustal extension in the collisional Betic Cordillera is accommodated by a top‐to‐the‐WSW extensional detachment related to westward motion and rollback in the Gibraltar Arc and the gravitational collapse of the cordillera, in a framework of NNW‐SSE shortening. This comprehensive study draws a new scenario that advances understanding of relationships between HANFs and LANFs.

Structural and paleostress analysis within a fossil slow-spreading ridge: Tectonic processes involved during ocean expansion

This study aims to decipher the spatio-temporal chronology of tectonic processes leading to ocean widening at a slow-spreading oceanic ridge axis, involving mantle and gabbro exhumation and volcanism. Structural and petrographic studies of deformed lithologies were performed on peridotites, gabbros and basalts from the Chenaillet ophiolite (Alps, France). Inversion of fault-slip data reveals N030° and N060° σ3 paleostress trends. The dominant N030° extension, is consistent with the NNW-SSE direction of volcano feeder-dykes and ENE dipping low-angle normal faults crosscutting the mantle. The N060° extension accords with the mantle dome structure formation to the east. Low-angle faults intersect roots of volcanoes that thus belong to their hanging walls. Hydrothermalism is contemporaneous with or postdates low-angle faulting. A feeder-dyke major virgation northwards, synchronous with eruptions, suggests a dextral transform fault consistent with a N120° σ2. Oceanic expansion mechanisms are clarified. At the surface, magma eruption occurs along on-axis active high-angle normal faults, their footwalls enabling mantle exhumation. At depth, off-axis high-angle faults become low-angle faults as they spread at shallow level. With westward drift of the lithosphere, the uppermost levels of the ridge shift westward faster, such that volcanoes move to an off-axis position while their roots are cut by low-angle faults.

Interactions of plutons and detachments: a comparison of Aegean and Tyrrhenian granitoids

Abstract. Back-arc extension superimposed on mountain belts leads to distributed normal faults and shear zones interacting with magma emplacement within the crust. The composition of granitic magmas emplaced at this stage often involves a large component of crustal melting. The Miocene Aegean granitoids were emplaced in metamorphic core complexes (MCCs) below crustal-scale low-angle normal faults and ductile shear zones. Intrusion processes interact with extension and shear along detachments, from the hot magmatic flow within the pluton root zone to the colder ductile and brittle deformation below and along the detachment. A comparison of the Aegean plutons with the island of Elba MCC in the back-arc region of the Apennine subduction shows that these processes are characteristic of pluton–detachment interactions in general. We discuss a conceptual emplacement model, tested by numerical models. Mafic injections within the partially molten lower crust above the hot asthenosphere trigger the ascent within the core of the MCC of felsic magmas, controlled by the strain localization on persistent crustal-scale shear zones at the top that guide the ascent until the brittle ductile transition. Once the system definitely enters the brittle regime, the detachment and the upper crust are intruded, while new detachments migrate upward and in the direction of shearing.

Along-Strike Rapid Structural and Geomorphic Transition From Transpression to Strike-Slip to Transtension Related to Active Microplate Rotation, Papua New Guinea

The area of southeastern Papua New Guinea includes three active microplates – the Trobriand, Woodlark, and Solomon Sea plates – that are being deformed by regional convergence between the much larger Pacific and Australian Plates. The landward extent of the plate boundary between the Trobriand and Australian Plates corresponds to the Owen-Stanley Fault Zone (OSFZ), an onland and continuous 510 km-long left-lateral strike-slip fault that forms a linear, intermontane valley within the elongate Owen-Stanley Range (OSR) and continues as a 250 km-long low-angle normal fault along the margins of Goodenough and Woodlark basins. GPS geodesy reveals that the Trobriand microplate has undergone rapid counter-clockwise rotation since the Late Miocene (8.4 Ma) and that this rotation about a nearby pole of rotation predicts transpressional deformation along the 250 km-long northwestern segment of the OSFZ, strike-slip motion along a 100 km-long central segment, and transtension along the 270 km-long ESE-trending southeastern segment of OSFZ. In order to illustrate the along-strike variations in neotectonic uplift resulting from the changing structure of the OSFZ, we delineated 3903 river segments in the northeastern side of the OSR drainage divide and derived river longitudinal profiles along each river segment. Normalized steepness indices (ksn) and knickpoint clusters are the highest and most concentrated, respectively, for the northwestern transpressional segment of the OSR, moderately high and concentrated along the southeastern segment of the OSR, and the lowest and least concentrated along the central strike-slip segment. These geomorphological indices indicate that most of the plate boundary uplift occurs along the transpressional and transtensional segments that are connected by the central strike-slip zone. Within this overall pattern of structural variation, abrupt changes in the azimuth of the OSFZ create more localized anomalies in the geomorphological indices.

The thermo-tectonic evolution of the actively exhuming Mai'iu Fault footwall – Suckling-Dayman metamorphic core complex – in the Woodlark Rift of Papua New Guinea

The Mai'iu Fault in the Woodlark Rift of southeastern Papua New Guinea is an active north-dipping low-angle normal fault (LANF) that has exhumed the spectacular Suckling-Dayman metamorphic core complex (SDMCC) in its footwall. While its youthful domal geomorphology suggests recent tectonic exhumation of the SDMCC, the cooling and exhumation history of this active metamorphic core complex have not been studied in detail before. Here we provide the first zircon and apatite fission-track (FT) and (U-Th)/He thermochronometric data on the SDMCC based on a suite of samples from slip-parallel footwall transects and syn-extensional alluvial deposits shed from the emerging dome. In addition, we double dated zircon using U–Pb LA-ICP-MS. These chronometric techniques are complemented by temperature and pressure estimates from Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material (RSCM) and Al-in-amphibole and Al-in-biotite barometry on footwall phyllites/schists and granitoids, respectively. The data indicate that slip on the Mai'iu Fault had initiated by ~4 Ma. We show that slip on the Mai'iu Fault has persisted at cm/year rates since the onset of extension, making it one of Earth's most rapidly slipping continental LANF. Integrating temperature estimates from FT and (U-Th)/He thermochronometry and RSCM, we calculated a down-dip, fault-parallel paleo-field temperature gradient along the now-exhumed part of the Mai'iu Fault of ~11 °C/km. For a likely range of pre-extensional geothermal gradients in the Woodlark Rift (10–20 °C/km), this paleo-field temperature gradient implies an average initial dip of the Mai'iu Fault of ~46°. Given the present dip of ~21° at the surface, the thermal data reinforce other evidence that the footwall of the Mai'iu Fault has been back-rotated to the south by ≥20° during progressive unroofing since fault inception, consistent with a rolling hinge style evolution of the SDMCC.

3-D attenuation image of fluid storage and tectonic interactions across the Pollino fault network

SUMMARYThe Pollino range is a region of slow deformation where earthquakes generally nucleate on low-angle normal faults. Recent studies have mapped fault structures and identified fluid-related dynamics responsible for historical and recent seismicity in the area. Here, we apply the coda-normalization method at multiple frequencies and scales to image the 3-D P-wave attenuation (QP) properties of its slowly deforming fault network. The wide-scale average attenuation properties of the Pollino range are typical for a stable continental block, with a dependence of QP on frequency of $Q_\mathrm{ P}^{-1}=(0.0011\pm 0.0008) f^{(0.36\pm 0.32)}$. Using only waveforms comprised in the area of seismic swarms, the dependence of attenuation on frequency increases [$Q_\mathrm{ P}^{-1}=(0.0373\pm 0.0011) f^{(-0.59\pm 0.01)}$], as expected when targeting seismically active faults. A shallow very-low-attenuation anomaly (max depth of 4–5 km) caps the seismicity recorded within the western cluster 1 of the Pollino seismic sequence (2012, maximum magnitude Mw = 5.1). High-attenuation volumes below this anomaly are likely related to fluid storage and comprise the western and northern portions of cluster 1 and the Mercure basin. These anomalies are constrained to the NW by a sharp low-attenuation interface, corresponding to the transition towards the eastern unit of the Apennine Platform under the Lauria mountains. The low-seismicity volume between cluster 1 and cluster 2 (maximum magnitude Mw = 4.3, east of the primary) shows diffuse low-to-average attenuation features. There is no clear indication of fluid-filled pathways between the two clusters resolvable at our resolution. In this volume, the attenuation values are anyway lower than in recognized low-attenuation blocks, like the Lauria Mountain and Pollino Range. As the volume develops in a region marked at surface by small-scale cross-faulting, it suggests no actual barrier between clusters, more likely a system of small locked fault patches that can break in the future. Our model loses resolution at depth, but it can still resolve a 5-to-15-km-deep high-attenuation anomaly that underlies the Castrovillari basin. This anomaly is an ideal deep source for the SE-to-NW migration of historical seismicity. Our novel deep structural maps support the hypothesis that the Pollino sequence has been caused by a mechanism of deep and lateral fluid-induced migration.

Using paleomagnetism to test rolling hinge behaviour of an active continental low angle normal fault, Papua New Guinea

Metamorphic core complexes (MCCs) have been attributed to slip on long-lived detachment faults in extensional environments. At the surface, such faults are typically shallow dipping (<30°). This is inconsistent with Andersonian faulting theory, which requires that normal faults should nucleate and slip at steeper dips. One possible solution to this mechanical problem is a “rolling hinge” evolution for the fault during its slip history. In this model, faults initiate at steep dips (e.g. 60°) and back-tilt to shallower dips due to flexure and isostatic uplift in response to unloading of the footwall during slip. The Mai'iu fault is an active, rapidly slipping (∼1 cm/yr) low-angle (dip 20-22° at the surface) normal fault. Sampling of the footwall Goropu Metabasalt revealed a consistent normal-polarity component of magnetisation with moderate inclination that we interpret to have been acquired during uplift and cooling of the footwall rocks during the Brunhes chron. Comparison of the direction of the normal component with the expected average (geocentric axial dipole) direction at the site latitude indicates 23.9° ± 2.6° (1σ) of back-tilting of the footwall about the strike of the Mai'iu fault, consistent with a rolling hinge style of rotation. This indicates an original fault dip of 41.3-48.5°, as is consistent with independent estimates of original fault dip from fault-bedding cut-off angles and microseismicity at depth. This study is the first of its kind to demonstrate, using paleomagnetism, large-scale horizontal-axis rotations consistent with a rolling hinge evolution for a continental MCC.

Characterizing syn-convergent extension along the Neybaz-Chatak detachment shear zone, Central Iran: Insights from microstructures, quartz petrofabrics and flow vorticity analysis

Integrated microstructural, quartz petrofabric and flow vorticity analyses on mylonitic rocks in the lower plate of the Neybaz Chatak Detachment Shear Zone provide significant information regarding the kinematic characteristics coeval with the Chapedony metamorphic core complex development within the Central East Iranian Microcontinent. Several kinematic shear sense indicators including quartz c-axis fabrics, S–C fabrics, rotated feldspar and mica fish reveal that the detachment shear zone has experienced a consistent top-to-the NE-directed progressive shear deformation. Detailed investigations on recrystallization types of quartz and feldspar in the mylonites demonstrate that the deformation occurred under the amphibolite facies condition corresponding to mid-crustal levels. A combination of investigations on mineral assemblages, microstructures of quartz and feldspar, and quartz lattice preferred orientations (LPOs) show that deformation temperatures ranged from 400 to 645 °C that were varied across a distance of ~21 km in the extension direction (NE-SW). The western and eastern parts of the study area experienced lower temperatures compared to the central parts. The gneissic mylonite record sub simple shear deformation (Wm = 0.56–0.85, 64–36%) associated with an increasing of pure shear component. These data highlight that the metamorphic rocks of the study underwent a non-coaxial shear with ductile low-angle normal faulting, resulting in subvertical thinning in the extensional deformation regime responsible for formation of the core complex.

The connection between the Alps and the Carpathians beneath the Pannonian Basin: Selective reactivation of Alpine nappe contacts during Miocene extension

Abstract The Cretaceous basement of the broader NW Pannonian Basin, including the Vienna Basin, has an Alpine nappe structure that can be correlated between the Eastern Alps and the Western Carpathians. For the first time in this region, based on the systematic integration of petroleum industry vintage 2D reflection seismic data with well data from Austria, Hungary and Slovakia, we document various modes of interaction between pre-existing thrust and superimposed normal faults. Whereas in some cases the pre-existing Cretaceous nappe contacts became extensional low-angle normal faults, the typical scenario is that the Miocene normal faults obliquely cut across them. The style of this negative inversion, i.e. contraction followed by extension exploiting the same fault system, is based on the orientation and geometry of the Alpine nappes in relation to the successor extensional basins. We expand our earlier findings made in the Hungarian sector of the NW Pannonian Basin where Neoalpine (Neogene) low-angle normal faults did indeed interact with abandoned Eoalpine (Cretaceous) and Mesoalpine (Paleogene) thrust fault planes, but in a more selective manner than expected before. The subsurface examples of this paper are located in the Austrian part of the Vienna Basin, the Hungarian, Austrian and Slovakian segments of the broader Danube Basin. Our new regional and local scale subsurface observations also helped to define a very large, but so far unrecognized Eocene antiformal nappe stack beneath the Danube Basin. Presently this is a highly dismembered and dominantly subsurface structure concealed beneath the NW Pannonian Basin between the Eastern Alps and the Western Carpathians. This finding has important implications for the understanding of the Alpine evolution of the broader region.

Structural investigation of background features and normal faults affecting the Calcari con Selce formation, Southern Apennines, Italy

The Calcari con Selce formation (CSf) is a low-porosity multilayer carbonate, partially dolomitized, formation that extensively crops out in the Lucania Apennine chain. This lithostratigraphic succession represents to depth a key formation concerning hydrocarbon exploration and a potential confined acquifer system. In this work we describe the structural features affecting the CSf related to burial and tectonic deformation with emphasis on normal faults related to post-orogenic extensional deformation. A field investigation led to recognition of background structures such as: i) strata-bounded sub-vertical fracture sets (OBj) and bedding-parallel solution seams (BPss), related to lithostatic load; and: ii) oblique-to-bedding solution seams (BOss) induced by syn-orogenic flexural slip. Furthermore, different sets of dolomitic veins extensively affect dolomitized parts of the CSf showing structural relationships with bedding interfaces. Localized low-angle normal faults (LANFs) post-dating the previous structures formed further anisotropies locally associated with sub- vertical fracture sets (SVfs). These structures, enhancing permeability within carbonate beds, promoted fluid compartmentalization. High- angle normal faults and associate fracture sets, characterized by well-connected features, mainly localized along the mature fault zones, further enhanced the permeability of the CSf allowing the development of preferential fluid-flow pathways moving parallel to the fault-zones, as inferred from the structure of calcite veins. This work provides an enhanced characterization of the fracture network affecting the CSf and represents a useful tool aimed at improving hydrological models for fluid circulation within fractured reservoirs.

The MS 6.9, 1980 Irpinia Earthquake from the Basement to the Surface: A Review of Tectonic Geomorphology and Geophysical Constraints, and New Data on Postseismic Deformation

The MS 6.9, 1980 Irpinia earthquake occurred in the southern Apennines, a fold and thrust belt that has been undergoing post-orogenic extension since ca. 400 kyr. The strongly anisotropic structure of fold and thrust belts like the Apennines, including late-orogenic low-angle normal faults and inherited Mesozoic extensional features besides gently dipping thrusts, result in a complex, overall layered architecture of the orogenic edifice. Effective decoupling between deep and shallow structural levels of this mountain belt is related to the strong rheological contrast produced by a fluid-saturated, shale-dominated mélange zone interposed between buried autochthonous carbonates—continuous with those exposed in the foreland to the east—and the allochthonous units. The presence of fluid reservoirs below the mélange zone is shown by a high VP/VS ratio—which is a proxy for densely fractured fluid-saturated crustal volumes—recorded by seismic tomography within the buried autochthonous carbonates and the top part of the underlying basement. These crustal volumes, in which background seismicity is remarkably concentrated, are fed by fluids migrating along the major active faults. High pore fluid pressures, decreasing the yield stress, are recorded by low stress-drop values associated with the earthquakes. On the other hand, the mountain belt is characterized by substantial gas flow to the surface, recorded as both distributed soil gas emissions and vigorous gas vents. The accumulation of CO2-brine within a reservoir located at hypocentral depths beneath the Irpinia region is not only interpreted to control a multiyear cyclic behavior of microseismicity, but could also play a role in ground motions detected by space-based geodetic measurements in the postseismic period. The analysis carried out in this study of persistent scatterer interferometry synthetic aperture radar (PS-InSAR) data, covering a timespan ranging from 12 to 30 years after the 1980 mainshock, points out that ground deformation has affected the Irpinia earthquake epicentral area in the last decades. These ground motions could be a result of postseismic afterslip, which is well known to occur over years or even decades after a large mainshock such as the 23 November 1980, MS 6.9 earthquake due to cycles of CO2-brine accumulation at depth and its subsequent release by Mw ≥ 3.5 earthquakes, or most likely by a combination of both. Postseismic afterslip controls geomorphology, topography, and surface deformation in seismically active areas such as that of the present study, characterized by ~M 7 earthquakes. Yet, this process has been largely overlooked in the case of the 1980 Irpinia earthquake, and one of the main aims of this study is to fill such the substantial gap of knowledge for the epicentral area of some of the most destructive earthquakes that have ever occurred in Italy.

Towards stratigraphic-thermo-mechanical numerical modelling: Integrated analysis of asymmetric extensional basins

Abstract Subsidence and uplift patterns and thermal history of sedimentary basins are controlled by tectonics, mantle dynamics and surface processes, such as erosion, sediment transport and deposition and their links to climatic variations. We use combined thermo-mechanical and stratigraphic numerical modelling techniques to quantify the links between tectonic and surface processes. We aim to assess the thermal evolution and subsidence rates of asymmetric extensional basins during the syn- and post-rift times by simulating different erosion and sedimentation rates. We analyse the 3D sedimentary architecture and facies distribution of the depocenters. Model results are validated by observations in the Pannonian Basin of Central Europe. Extensional reactivation of inherited suture zones creates asymmetric basin systems controlled by large-scale detachments or low-angle normal faults, where crustal and lithospheric mantle thinning are often rheologically decoupled. Subsidence rates and basement heat flow in the depocenters show large variabilities during asymmetric extension and post-rift evolution controlled by their initial position from the suture zone and migration of deformation. Transient heat flow anomalies mirror crustal exhumation of footwalls, sediment blanketing and erosion effects in the basins. Enhanced erosion and sedimentation facilitate lower crustal deformation and elastic flexure of the weak, extended lithosphere leading to accentuated differential uplift and subsidence during the syn- and post-rift basin evolution. Tectonics, climate and autogenic processes control transgressive-regressive cycles at different timescales together with the overall sedimentary facies distribution. In our models assuming wet climate the high subsidence rate often outpaces moments of eustatic water-level fall preventing relative base-level fall and enhances the effects of autogenic processes, such as lobe switching processes.

Seismic Reflection Imaging of the Low‐Angle Panamint Normal Fault System, Eastern California

AbstractShallowly dipping (&lt;30°) low‐angle normal faults (LANFs) have been documented globally; however, examples of active LANFs in continental settings are limited. The western margin of the Panamint Range in eastern California is defined by a LANF that dips west beneath Panamint Valley and has evidence of Quaternary motion. In addition, high‐angle dextral‐oblique normal faults displace middle to late Quaternary alluvial fans near the range front. To image shallow (&lt;1 km depth), crosscutting relationships between the low‐ and high‐angle faults along the range front, we acquired two high‐resolution P wave seismic reflection profiles. The northern, 4.6‐km‐long profile crosses the 2‐km‐wide Wildrose graben and the southern, 0.8‐km‐long profile extends onto the Panamint Valley playa, ~7.5 km S of Ballarat, CA. The profile across the Wildrose graben reveals a robust, low‐angle reflector interpreted to represent the LANF separating Plio‐Pleistocene alluvial fanglomerate and Proterozoic metasedimentary deposits. High‐angle faults interpreted in the seismic profile correspond to fault scarps on Quaternary alluvial fan surfaces. Interpretation of the reflection data suggests that the high‐angle faults vertically displace the LANF up to 80 m within the Wildrose graben. Similarly, the profile south of Ballarat reveals a low‐angle reflector, which appears both rotated and displaced up to 260 m by high‐angle faults. These results suggest that near the Panamint range front, the high‐angle faults are the dominant active structures. We conclude that at least at shallow (&lt;1 km) depths, the LANF we imaged is not active today.

The nature of the interface between basalts and serpentinized mantle in oceanic domains: Insights from a geological section in the Alps

The association of mafic extrusive rocks and serpentinized mantle rocks is a common feature encountered in numerous ultra-distal magma-poor rifted margins as well as in (ultra)slow-spreading oceanic settings where detachment faulting and mantle exhumation occur. Although seismic imaging and high-resolution TOBI radar allow imaging this association, the nature of this interface is poorly understood (e.g. nonconformity vs. tectonic channelized vs. diffuse fluid flow along the interface). The timing between magmatism and active detachment faulting is often poorly constrained and it remains difficult to decipher if mafic extrusives are pre-, syn- or post-exhumation of mantle rocks at the seafloor. In this study, we characterize the nature of this interface from a section of a Jurassic ultra-distal margin preserved in the Platta nappe, SE Swiss Alps. We show that the basalt-serpentinized mantle contact does neither correspond to an Alpine thrust system, nor to a nonconformity or a detachment plane exhuming mantle rocks from underneath already emplaced basalts. Rather, the basalt-serpentinite interface corresponds to a weak decoupling level formed by conjugate low-angle normal faults onto which conjugate high-angle normal faults branch. These structures are diagnostic of co-axial extensional tectonics occurring during and after emplacement of basalts over a formerly exhumed serpentinized mantle. Carbonate extensional and shear veins and foliated ophicalcites formed during this Jurassic extensional event. Their distribution across and along the basalt-serpentinite interface demonstrates that this decoupling interface was a high-permeability layer that channelized high fluid flow responsible for the widespread hydrothermal alteration. A positive feedback between fluid flow and extensional deformation is proposed.

Structural and Stratigraphic Setting of Campagna and Giffoni Tectonic Windows: New Insights on the Orogenic Evolution of the Southern Apennines (Italy)

We present a structural study on the tectonic windows of Giffoni and Campagna, located in the western sector of the southern Apennines (Italy). We analyzed thrusts, folds, and related minor deformation structures. Here, a major in-sequence E-verging thrust fault juxtaposes Meso-Cenozoic successions of the Apennine Platform (Picentini Mts unit) and the Lagonegro-Molise Basin (Frigento unit). However, out-of-sequence thrusts duplicated the tectonic pile with the interposition of the upper Miocene wedge-top basin deposits of the Castelvetere Group. We reconstructed the orogenic evolution of these two tectonic windows, including five deformation phases. The first (D1) was related to the in-sequence thrusting with minor thrusts and folds, widespread both in the footwall and the hanging wall. A subsequent extension (D2) has formed normal faults crosscutting the D1 thrusts and folds. All structures were subsequently affected by two shortening stages (D3 and D4), which also deformed the upper Miocene wedge top basin deposits of the Castelvetere Group. We interpreted the D3–D4 structures as related to an out-of-sequence thrust system defined by a main frontal E-verging thrust and lateral ramps characterized by N and S vergences. Low-angle normal faults were formed in the hanging wall of the major thrusts. Out-of-sequence thrusts are observed in the whole southern Apennines, recording a crustal shortening event that occurred in the late Messinian–early Pliocene. Finally, we suggest that the two tectonic windows are the result of the formation of an E–W trending regional antiform, associated with a late S-verging back-thrust, that has been eroded and crosscut by normal faults (D5) in the Early Pleistocene.

Geology of the Yeşilyurt (Malatya) fluorite-gold deposit: an example of low-angle normal fault related mineralization, Eastern Anatolia-Turkey

Yeşilyurt gold mineralization is located within the provincial borders of Malatya and Adıyaman in the East Anatolian Region. This mineralization is one of the gold deposits which correlated with low-angle normal/detachment fault. Low-angle normal fault associated with a tectonic setting which is potential extensional in Paleogene-Neogene (?) term. Marble-recrystallized limestone which belongs to the metamorphic core is the dominant rock (footwall) type in the bottom plate of the fault zone. There are deformed graphitic calc-schists (hanging wall) in the upper plate of the fault zone. The fault zone is characterized by fault gauge, cataclasite, and breccia. While the cataclasite, and breccia are the principal ore host, there is weaker mineralization in fault gauge. Alteration assemblages are: (1) silica replacements/veinlets and, (2) quartz-pyrite replacements / veinlets. High gold contents are closely related to silicification and quartz-pyrite alteration which damaged the primary textures. Small volume syn-tectonic magmatic rocks are simultaneous and typically monitored in the silicified areas which are border on the high-grade gold mineralization. Mineralization is a non-base metalliferous Au depositthat contains Au/Ag ~ 1.07, As (~0.27%), F (1.59%), and a trace amount of Sb. This deposit will lead to finding new gold deposits in Eastern Taurus Orogenic Belt.

Origin of Low‐Angle Ductile/Brittle Detachments: Examples From the Cretaceous Linglong Metamorphic Core Complex in Eastern China

AbstractThe origin of low‐angle normal faults (LANFs) and shear zones is subject to debate, and the Linglong metamorphic core complex (MCC) in eastern China provides good examples of how they form. Here we present structural and geochronological data that shed light on the geometry, kinematics, and evolution of this MCC. The MCC is bound by the Zhaoping and Jiaojia detachments with an opposite vergence and appears as a bivergent MCC. Both detachments consist of low‐angle ductile shear zones and parallel normal faults. A series of NNE‐SSW‐striking low‐angle normal‐sense shear zones, including ones that are subhorizontal, occur within the northern part of the MCC, and they show opposite tectonic vergence on either side of the MCC. Microstructures in the shear zones suggest that temperatures during deformation were mainly 300–400°C, corresponding to the brittle‐ductile transition. These shear zones are typically overprinted by brittle deformation structures represented by foliation‐parallel normal faults, local LANFs, and widespread high‐angle normal faults. Zircon U‐Pb dating of intrusive rocks within these shear zones constrains the formation of the MCC to 137–108 Ma. Regional NW‐SE extension was responsible for the development of the MCC. The two low‐angle detachments were initiated along the boundary of the preexisting Linglong batholith. The low‐angle shear zones within the MCC formed due to synchronous extension and arching, and their orientations were affected by synkinematic intrusion. Later LANFs developed mainly along the previous low‐angle shear zones due to their high reactivation angles and the arching‐induced flexural stresses.