Oligocene Extension Research Articles

Contrasting constraints on the temporal and spatial extents of normal faults from the Hilltop and Lewis mining districts, northern Shoshone Range, Nevada, USA

Mapping of rock types, structural geology, and hydrothermal alteration, supported by geochronology and thermochronology, sheds light on the original spatial relationships of hydrothermal systems to intrusions in the northern Shoshone Range in north-central Nevada. Rocks in the Hilltop district are tilted ~35–40°E, as indicated by orientations of flattened pumice fiamme and bedding in sedimentary rocks along a single set of presently low-angle normal faults that initiated at 60–70°W dips. New U-Pb zircon geochronology from two sets of dikes in the Lewis district could suggest late Eocene–early Oligocene extension, but definitive crosscutting relations are lacking to demonstrably support this potential earlier period of normal faulting. Reinterpretation of previously reported apatite fission-track cooling ages with a new palinspastic restoration in the Lewis mining district concurs with middle Miocene extension as documented to the south at the Caetano caldera; however, the depth of burial of the Lewis district—and thus the significance of the apatite fission-track cooling ages—is uncertain. The comparable orientations and tilting history, supported by fault scaling relations, suggest that the temporally coincident extension in the Caetano caldera to the south represents the along-strike continuation of the same system of normal faults as in the Hilltop and Lewis districts, with changes in observed offset, percent extension, and fault spacing attributed to the gradual tipping out of the fault system northward.

Geometry and tectonic history of the Northeastern Cévennes Fault System (Southeast Basin, France) : new insights from deep seismic reflection profiles

Following the Mw4.9 Le Teil surface rupture earthquake that occurred on the north-eastern Cévennes fault system (NCFS) in France, several investigations were carried out to understand the origin of the earthquake rupture. A few studies performed local modeling of the NCFS structures in three dimensions integrating the rheology of the sedimentary layers within the hypocenter zone. However, the geometry of the NCFS at the scale of the Southeast French Basin is poorly constrained and it remains difficult to locate its trace beneath the Quaternary sediments of the Rhône river valley. To address this issue, Électricité de France (EDF) carried out a deep reflection seismic survey along the NCFS. This new set of seismic profiles was interpreted using a geological data base including surface data, well data, and previous seismic data that were reprocessed. The resulting 3D structural model allows us to reconstruct a polyphase geological history during the past 320 Ma, which we divide into three major tectonic phases. We show that all structures in the basin in the study area were initiated as normal faults during the Lower Jurassic and the Lower Cretaceous. During the Upper Cretaceous, these structures were reactivated, acting as a major transfer fault zone during the Pyrenean shortening phase, then as normal faults during the Oligocene extension. The morphology and faults at the top-Carboniferous basin initiated during the Lower Jurassic strongly shaped the final structure of the NCFS during the subsequent tectonic phases. Our new results allow updating the historical geology of the Vivaro-Cévenol region and our knowledge about the structures that have affected the Southeast Basin since the Mesozoic. In the context of the Le Teil earthquake, our new structural model provides important constraints for continuing paleoseismological works that will better assess the seismic hazard in this region.

Syn‐ and post‐rift lower crustal flow under the Sunda Shelf, southern Vietnam: A role for climatically modulated erosion

AbstractTectonic subsidence on rifted, passive continental margins are largely controlled by patterns of extension and the nature of strain partitioning in the lithosphere. The Sunda Shelf, adjacent to the SW South China Sea, is characterized by deep basins linked to regional Cenozoic extension associated with propagating seafloor spreading caused by slab pull from the south. Analysis of seismic reflection profiles and drilled sections crossing the Nam Con Son and Cuu Long basins highlight Oligocene extension, with most of the thinning concentrated in the ductile mid‐lower crust. Upper crustal extension was modest and ductile flow is inferred to be directed northwestwards, towards the oceanic crust. Basin inversion occurred in the Mid Miocene, associated with the collision of the Dangerous Grounds Block and Borneo. Subsequent accelerated tectonic subsidence exceeded predictions from uniform extension models assumed to relate to extensional collapse after inversion. We correlate this to a period of faster erosion onshore driven by strong monsoon rains in Indochina and Peninsular Thailand at that time. Erosion of the onshore basement, inducing rock uplift and coupled with loading of the basins offshore, drives ductile mid‐lower crustal flow, likely to the northeast under Indochina, and/or to the west where Plio‐Pleistocene subsidence of the shelf is very slow. Significant sediment delivery from the Mekong River into the Cuu Long Basin began in the Late Miocene and migrated seawards as the basin filled. Mass balancing suggests that the basins of this part of the Sunda Shelf are filled through erosion of bedrock sources around the Gulf of Thailand. There is no need for sediment delivery from a major river draining the Tibetan Plateau to account for the deposited volumes.

Eocene to Late Oligocene extension dominated mafic magmatism from South Kaleybar, Iran

Eocene to Late Oligocene extension dominated mafic magmatism from South Kaleybar, Iran

Cenozoic slip along the southern Sierra Nevada normal fault, California (USA): A long-lived stable western boundary of the Basin and Range

AbstractThe uplift history of the Sierra Nevada, California, is a topic of long-standing disagreement with much of it centered on the timing and nature of slip along the range-bounding normal fault along the east flank of the southern Sierra Nevada. The history of normal fault slip is important for characterizing the uplift history of the Sierra Nevada, as well as for characterizing the geologic and geodynamic factors that drove, and continue to drive, normal faulting. To address these issues, we completed new structural studies and extensive apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) thermochronometry on samples collected from three vertical transects in the footwall to the east-dipping southern Sierra Nevada normal fault (SNNF). Our structural studies on bedrock fault planes show that the SNNF is a steeply (~70°) east-dipping normal fault. The new AHe data reveal two elevation-invariant AHe age arrays, indicative of two distinct periods of cooling and exhumation, which we interpret as initiation of normal faulting along the SNNF at ca. 28–27 Ma with a second phase of normal faulting at ca. 17–13 Ma. We argue that beginning in the late Oligocene, the SNNF marked the now long-standing stable western limit, or breakaway zone, of the Basin and Range. Slip along SNNF, and the associated unloading of the footwall, likely resulted in two periods of uplift of Sierra Nevada during the late Cenozoic. Trench retreat, driven by westward motion of the North American plate, along the Farallon–North American subduction zone boundary, as well as the gravitationally unstable northern and southern Basin and Range pushing on the cold Sierra Nevada, likely drove the late Oligoceneaged normal slip along the SNNF and the similar-aged but generally local and minor extension within the Basin and Range. We posit that the thick proto–Basin and Range lithosphere was primed for late Oligocene extension by replacement of the steepening Farallon slab with hot and buoyant asthenosphere. While steepening of the Farallon slab had not yet reached the southern Sierra Nevada by late Oligocene time, we speculate that late Oligocene slip along the SNNF reactivated a late Cretaceous dextral shear zone as the Sierra Nevada block was pulled and pushed westward in response to trench retreat and gravitational potential energy. The dominant middle Miocene normal faultslip history along the SNNF is contemporaneous with high-magnitude slip recorded along range-bounding normal faults across the Basin and Range, including the east-adjacent Inyo and White mountains, indicating that this period of extension was a major regional tectonic event. We infer that a combination of slabdriven trench retreat along the Juan de Fuca–North America subduction zone boundary and clockwise rotation of the southern ancestral Cascade Range superimposed on continental lithosphere preconditioned for extension drove this episode of middle Miocene normal slip along the SNNF and extension to the east across the Basin and Range. Transtensional plate motion along the Pacific–North America plate boundary, and likely a growing slab window, continued to drive extension along the SNNF and the western Basin and Range, but not until ca. 11 Ma when the Mendocino triple junction reached the latitude of our northernmost (U-Th)/He transect.

Far-field brittle deformation record in the eastern Paris Basin (France)

AbstractJurassic carbonate strata in the eastern Paris Basin exhibit several generations of faults, tension gashes and stylolites. Although their relative chronology can sometimes be determined according to cross-cutting relationships, the duration of major deformation phases and their influence on fluid flow and carbonate cementation are still uncertain. This contribution aims to clarify the timing of brittle deformation and associated calcite cementation. Tension gashes filled by calcite in Jurassic carbonates were sampled in outcrops and boreholes and dated through U–Pb geochronology. Almost all the sampled fractures were cemented during the Cenozoic period. Continuous deformation spread from c. 50 to 30 Ma. Tension gashes oriented N10° to N20° dated at 48–43 Ma show the main Pyrenean contractional stage. A second set of calcites were dated at c. 35–33 Ma and document a Late Eocene – Oligocene extension. A transition from the compressional to the extensional regime is expressed by tension gashes dated between 43 and 35 Ma. Finally, tension gashes oriented N150° to N175°, dated between 32 and 18 Ma, may result from the propagation of the horizontal stress generated by the Alpine orogen or by late Pyrenean deformation. Clumped isotope thermometry on five samples revealed both low crystallization temperatures (from 27 to 53 °C) and the meteoric origin of calcite-precipitating fluids. Our research therefore documents a continuous fracturing from Ypresian to Rupelian times, and less expressed brittle deformation during the Miocene period.

Quantitative Analysis of Cenozoic Extension in the Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea: Insight on Tectonic Control for Hydrocarbon Reservoir Accumulation and Formation

Cenozoic extension rates were calculated based on 20 seismic profiles across the Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea. The results confirmed that the Cenozoic rifting in the Qiongdongnan Basin exhibited multistage extension and spatiotemporal variation. In terms of the N–S striking seismic profiles, the structural forms of the northern and southern sags of the basin were characterized by narrow half grabens, while the structure at the center sag of the basin was characterized by wide and gentle grabens. The fault strikes in the west of the basin were mainly northeast–southwest trending, whereas those in the east of the basin changed from northeast–southwest trending to nearly east–west trending. The extension rate in the east sag was higher than that in the west area. The extension rate in the middle part was lower relative to the east and west sags. This was because the rifting was controlled by the distribution of the main boundary fault along the basin. Temporally, the Cenozoic extension could be divided into three periods: Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene. The amount of stretching in the three extension stages was unevenly distributed in the entire basin. The maximum was mainly in the Oligocene Lingshui and Yacheng Formations. The Oligocene extension occurred in the entire basin, and the Eocene extension was limited to the Ledong and Changchang sags. Significant fault activity could be observed during the deposition period of the Yacheng and Lingshui Formations and could be attributed to strong extensional activity. The rifting tectonics controlled the distribution of source rocks and oil-generating window as well as hydrocarbon generation, reservoir formation, and accumulation.

Thermo-tectonic history of coastal NW South China Sea: A low-temperature thermochronology study

Coastal NW South China Sea is a critical region for evaluating the contrasting thermo-tectonic histories between the onshore and offshore regions, and the possible surface response to a deep-seated mantle anomaly. To further elucidate the regional post-late Mesozoic tectonic cooling history, low temperature thermochronological data are reported from 16 onshore granite samples. These new data, together with previously reported data, are used to constrain the thermo-tectonic evolution of the onshore southern margin of the South China Block (SCB). Results show that the area has mostly experienced a similar three-stage cooling pattern, characterized by a ~3–8 °C/Myr Early Cretaceous to early Late Cretaceous (~130- ~80 Ma) cooling phase, followed by a period of relative thermal quiescence, and then a further cooling episode initiated in the early Eocene and for most samples continuing until the present day. The early cooling phase is recorded extensively along the southern SCB margin and is probably a combined response to several alternating compressional and extensional tectonic events during the Late Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous (~150- ~80 Ma). The second phase of relative thermal quiescence suggests, in contrast to the offshore and the eastern coast, that the onshore southern SCB margin was not affected markedly by compressional tectonics during the latest Cretaceous. Post-Eocene enhanced cooling and exhumation are probably related to widespread Eocene to Early Oligocene extension, and subsequent uplift due to convergence between the Indo-Australian, Eurasian and Pacific Plates in the onshore southern SCB margin. Southeastward extrusion due to Indo-Asia collision resulted in a decrease in uplift amplitude from NW to SE, but is not recorded in the offshore region. Different tectonic effects result in spatial relief variation from the onshore to the offshore southern SCB margin in the latest Cretaceous obviously different from in the late Cenozoic. NE Hainan Island, which was most likely mountainous during the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene, but became an area of low elevation and relief with gradual exhumation, particularly following significant Eocene–Early Oligocene exhumation. Neogene thermal histories in coastal NW South China Sea do not record any marked cooling rate changes which could be related to significant recent surface uplift and erosion, indicating that the deep anomalous body beneath the Leiqiong Depression might be just a branch of a much larger low-velocity anomalous structure. Our results suggest that the thermo-tectonic evolution of the onshore southern SCB margin (Guangdong) was mainly controlled by Cretaceous NE-trending subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific plate beneath the southeastern SCB, whilst during the Late Cenozoic it was mainly affected by the convergence of adjacent plates, particularly by the Indo-Asia collision.

Two Cenozoic Extensional Phases in Mallorca and Their Bearing on the Geodynamic Evolution of the Western Mediterranean

AbstractWe study the structure of the Llevant ranges in Mallorca with special emphasis on the Cenozoic extensional evolution of the island, which we integrate in a new geodynamic model for the Westernmost Mediterranean. Mallorca underwent two Cenozoic rifting phases in the Oligocene and Serravallian, before and after the development of its Foreland Thrust Belt (FTB). The first extensional event produced Oligocene semigrabens (≈29–23 Ma) that were inverted during the Early‐Middle Miocene (19–14 Ma) WNW‐directed FTB development. The second rifting event produced the extensional collapse of the Mallorca FTB during the Serravallian (≈14–11 Ma). This later rifting was polyphasic, with two orthogonal extensional systems, producing first NE‐SW, and then NW‐SE extension. The Oligocene extension affected a major part of the Western Mediterranean, opening the Liguro‐Provençal and other basins after the collapse of the Palaeogene AlKaPeCa orogen, and Mallorca, its former hinterland. Continued plate convergence nucleated a new subduction system in the Early Miocene that initiated along the Ibiza transform, producing the Mallorca WNW‐directed FTB and subduction of the South‐East Iberian passive margin. This process individualized the Betic‐Rif slab and initiated its westward retreat. Serravallian extension occurred at the northern edge of the subduction system coeval to the Algero‐Balearic basin opening. Extension initiated toward the SW direction of slab tearing and later rotated to a NW‐SE direction, probably in response to flexural and isostatic rebound. Through these processes the Alboran domain archipelago was driven toward the southwest until the Late Miocene, contributing to the present isolation of Mallorca from its Betic hinterland.

Microstructures of bedding-parallel faults under multistage deformation: Examples from the Southeast Basin of France

We conducted a microstructural analysis of bedding-parallel faults (BPFs) in Mesozoic clay-rich layers of the Southeast Basin of France. Various microstructures are recognized in thin sections under a petrographic microscope and by cathodoluminescence. The microscale observations are combined with outcrop observations from previous studies to provide insight into the origin of the BPFs and their evolution during successive phases of deformation in a basin that had a polyphase tectonic history. The BPFs slipped while normal faults were formed during the Oligocene extension. Then, another phase of slip occurred later during the basin inversion. These two phases of deformation are expressed by recurrent crack-seal veins, pull-apart veins and stylolites. In addition, calcite veins with an elongate blocky morphology suggest an opening normal to bedding before the reactivation. The BPFs initiated in clay layers that were shallow dipping. Such conditions may appear mechanically unfavourable for an opening normal to bedding or a shearing parallel to bedding. We suggest that the role of rock anisotropy is critical. This study furthermore demonstrates that BPFs can be long-lived brittle structures that may record successive tectonic events.

Reconstruction of the Cenozoic deformation of the Bohai Bay Basin, North China

AbstractA well‐constrained plate deformation model may lead to an improved understanding of sedimentary basin formation and the connection between subduction history and over‐riding plate deformation. Building quantitative models of basin kinematics and deformation remains challenging often due to the lack of comprehensive constraints. The Bohai Bay Basin (BBB) is an important manifestation of the destruction of the North China Craton, and records the plate kinematic history of East Asia during the Cenozoic. Although a number of interpretations of the formation of the BBB have been proposed, few quantitative basin reconstruction models have been built to test and refine previous ideas. Here, we developed a quantitative deformation reconstruction of the BBB constrained with balanced cross‐sections and structural, stratigraphic and depositional age data. Our reconstruction suggests that the basin formation process was composed of three main stages: Paleocene‐early Eocene (65–42 Ma) extension initiation, middle Eocene‐early Oligocene (42–32.8 Ma) extension climax and post‐Oligocene (32.8–0 Ma) post‐extensional subsidence. The deformation of the BBB is spatially heterogeneous, and its velocity directions rotated clockwise during the basin formation process. The reconstruction supports the interpretation that the BBB formed via strike‐slip faulting and orthogonal extension and that the basin is classified as a composite extensional‐transtensional basin. We argue that the clockwise rotation of the basin velocity field was driven by the counter‐clockwise rotation in the direction of Pacific Plate subduction. The kinematics of the BBB imply that the Pacific Plate may have been sufficiently coupled to the over‐riding East Asian Plate during the critical period of Pacific Plate reorganization. The new reconstruction provides a quantitative basis for studies of deformation processes not only in the vicinity of the BBB, but also more broadly throughout East Asia.

Mesozoic halokinesis and basement inheritance in the eastern Provence fold-thrust belt, SE France

The Provence Chain incorporated preexisting halokinetic and basement features which have played a key role in the structural evolution of the thrust systems. Field structural data, previously published geological maps and exploration well data have been used to interpret a new ~80 km-long balanced and restored cross section across the eastern Provence fold-thrust belt. The geological data and cross section construction suggest evidence for Mesozoic salt domes and minibasins embedded in the thin-skinned thrusts, and upper Paleozoic extensional structures transported on new thick-skinned thrusts. According to field data, pre-contractional palinspastic restoration suggests that salt domes and minibasins grew mainly during Rhaetien to late Jurassic times and intermittently until the early Santonian. Minibasins are mainly filled by carbonate systems associated with gravitational instabilities in minor normal faulting. Minibasin sinking into middle-upper Triassic evaporitic-carbonate succession has been mainly controlled by sediment loading. However, the initiation of salt movements might have been controlled by the initial geometry of the Triassic strata and probably extensional basement faulting. Preexisting salt structures have controlled thrust emplacements and their kinematics. Synorogenic deposits indicate a classical hinterland to foreland sequence of thrust inversion of the margin during the upper Cretaceous-Eocene Pyrenean-Provence compression. Diapiric structures were mainly eroded during and after the Pyrenean-Provence compression then reactivated during Oligocene extension and Miocene to present-day Alpine compression. Cross section balancing shows a total horizontal shortening of 28.5 km related to the Pyrenean-Provence and Alpine compressions. The eastern Provence fold-thrust belt integrates preexisting halokinetic folding which can be misinterpreted as resulting to compression. This suggests that a significant amount of folding in fold-thrust belts can results from an early halokinetic fold system developed during the pre-contractional passive margin evolution.

New insights into the geology and tectonics of the San Dimas mining district, Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico

The San Dimas district is a world-class silver-gold low-sulfidation epithermal deposit located in the central part of the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico, within the eastern part of the Gulf of California extensional province. Previous works assumed a single period of mineralization between ∼38.5 and 31.9 Ma, which is at odds with the existence of vein systems with two different orientations and Ag/Au ratios. We present a re-evaluation of this district based on new zircon U/Pb and apatite fission-track ages as well as petrographic and field observations of mineralization styles. Our study also includes two new prospective areas of Causita and Mala Noche located to the south of the main district.Within the Lower Volcanic Complex, we identify a Late Cretaceous volcanic succession (∼77 to 69 Ma) correlative with the Tarahumara formation from southern Sonora and coeval with the San Ignacio batholith exposed to the west. This volcanic succession hosts Au-rich mineralized sub-volcanic felsic bodies yielding slightly younger ages and is covered by Paleocene intermediate lavas with hypabyssal intrusions with ages around 48 Ma. A voluminous intrusive suite (Piaxtla batholith and associated dike swarms) was emplaced in the region between ∼49 and 44 Ma. Early extensional basins were filled by a continental sedimentary sequence (Palmas formation), which yielded U/Pb age peaks at 66 and 56 Ma from detrital zircons and a maximum depositional age of ∼43 Ma. The last magmatic activity, as in the rest of the Sierra Madre Occidental, consists of silicic ignimbrites and less basaltic lava flows clustered in two pulses of ∼31.5–29 Ma and 24–20 Ma.NNW–SSE extensional fault systems expose the mineralization and tilted all the succession prior to the emplacement of a ∼24 Ma ignimbrite package. This late Oligocene extension, associated to the early stage of the Gulf of California rift, is confirmed by apatite fission-track dating of samples from the Piaxtla batholith, which consistently indicate an episode of cooling at 25–23 Ma followed by a second episode at ∼12.5 Ma. Our absolute ages and geologic mapping allow to infer that an older, WSW–ENE trending normal fault system with up to 1 km of displacement must exist between the San Dimas district and the Causita area to the south. This fault system, currently buried beneath Oligocene–Miocene ignimbrites, may have controlled the intrusion of the Piaxtla batholith and played a crucial role in the preservation of large vein systems of San Dimas in a tectonic depression setting.The main epithermal mineralization is associated with two kinds of structures: Ag/Au veins with WSW–ENE to E–W orientation and Au/Ag veins with NNW–SSE to N–S orientation. The dominant Ag/Au veins slightly post-date the Piaxtla intrusive suite and partly recycled older felsic intrusion with porphyry mineralization. The NNW–SSE to N–S Au/Ag veins are most probably associated with the Oligocene silicic volcanism.

Postobductional extension along and within the Frontal Range of the Eastern Oman Mountains

The Oman Mountains formed by late Cretaceous obduction of the Tethys-derived Semail Ophiolite. This study concerns the postobductional extension on the northern flank of the mountain belt. Nine sites at the northern margins of the Jabal Akhdar/Nakhl and Saih Hatat domes of the Eastern Oman (“Hajar”) Mountains were investigated. The northern margins are marked by a system of major interconnected extensional faults, the “Frontal Range Fault”. While the vertical displacements along the Saih Hatat and westerly located Jabal Nakhl domes measure 2.25–6.25 km, 0.5–4.5 km and 4–7 km, respectively, it amounts to 1–5 km along the Jabal Akhdar Dome. Extension had started during the late Cretaceous, towards the end of ophiolite emplacement. Two stages of extension can be ascertained (late Cretaceous to early Eocene and probably Oligocene) at the eastern part of the Frontal Range Fault System (Wadi Kabir and Fanja Graben faults of similar strike). Along the intervening and differently striking fault segments at Sad and Sunub the same two stages of deformation are deduced. The first stage is characterized again by extension. The second stage is marked by dextral motion, including local transtension. Probable Oligocene extension affected the Batinah Coast Fault while it also affected the Wadi Kabir Fault and the Fanja Graben. It is unclear whether the western portion of the Frontal Range Fault also went through two stages of deformation. Bedding-parallel ductile and brittle deformation is a common phenomenon. Hot springs and listwaenite are associated with dextral releasing bends within the fault system, as well as a basalt intrusion of probable Oligocene age. A structural transect through the Frontal Range along the superbly exposed Wadi Bani Kharous (Jabal Akhdar Dome) revealed that extension affected the Frontal Range at least 2.5 km south of the Frontal Range Fault. Also here, bedding-parallel shearing is important, but not exclusive. A late Cretaceous thrust was extensionally reactivated by a branch fault of the Frontal Range Fault. Extension may be ductile (limestone mylonites), ductile and brittle (ooid deformation, boudinaged belemnite rostra, shear bands) or brittle. Extension is heterogeneously distributed within the Frontal Range. Extension is mainly related to orogenic/gravitational collapse of the Oman Mountains. Collapse may have been associated with isostatic rebound and rise of the two domes. In the western part of the study area, the Frontal Range Fault has a listric morphology. It is probably horizontal at a depth of 15 km below the Batinah coastal area. The fault seems to use the clay- and tuff-bearing Aruma Group as shear horizon. The depth of 15 km may coincide with the brittle-ductile transition of quartz- and feldspar-rich rocks. Close to this depth, the listric Batinah Coast Fault curves into the Frontal Range Fault. Extension along the Frontal Range and Batinah Coast faults probably reactivated preexisting late Cretaceous thrust faults during post-late Eocene time. The latter fault is likely mechanically related to the Wadi Kabir Fault via the Fanja Graben Fault and the Sunub fault segment. Listwaenite and serpentinite cluster preferably around the extensional faults. The Semail Gap probably functioned as a sinistral transform fault or fault zone during the Permian.

Structure of the Cordillera de la Sal: A key tectonic element for the Oligocene-Neogene evolution of the Salar de Atacama basin, Central Andes, northern Chile

The Salar de Atacama basin is the main topographic low of the Preandean Depression of the Central Andes of northern Chile. Although numerous studies have been carried out in this area, the origin of the depression is still a matter of debate. The integration of seismic reflection and surface structural data along the basin allows the characterization of Oligocene and Neogene tectonic activity of the Salar de Atacama. A key element to unravel the Neogene to recent history of the basin is found along the Cordillera de la Sal, which comprises more than 3000 m of continental sedimentary succession assigned to the San Pedro Formation. Detailed analysis of the seismic data shows that large depocenters involving distal alluvial facies and evaporitic members of the San Pedro Formation accumulated in close relation with Oligocene extension. Extension was controlled by a first order normal fault located along the western flank of the Atacama basin, which appears as a key structural feature of the internal architecture of the Salar de Atacama. The rise of the Cordillera de la Sal ridge during the Neogene involved compression and sinistral strike slip in its southern domain, in combination with salt diapirism in its north domain. This transition is related to the thickness and distribution of the evaporitic lower members of the San Pedro Formation, which also controls the depth of the detachment level beneath the Cordillera de la Sal. Our results show that the current relief of the Salar de Atacama basin is mainly due to Oligocene extension and subsequent Neogene tectonic inversion.

Sequential extension as a record of Corsica Rotation during Apennines slab roll-back

The Mediterranean geodynamic system is an exceptional natural laboratory to study the complexities of back-arc extension during subduction rollback. Corsica is a key locality that recorded the Alpine subduction-collision history followed by 30Ma of the Apennines slab rollback, responsible for the successive opening, from West to East, of the Liguro-Provençal basin and the Tyrrhenian Sea. The overall strain pattern of the Alpine metamorphic units of Alpine Corsica is studied through a synthesis of i) available geological maps, ii) geochronological data and iii) newly acquired structural data relative to successive events of ductile and brittle extension. Three main stages of extension are recorded: 1/ Syn-metamorphic Oligocene extension accommodated by N140° trending ductile shear zones, that correspond to the reactivation of a major Alpine thrust; 2/ Burdigalian ramp-flat extension with N60°–70° trending fault zones that controlled the deposition of onshore piggy-back basins (e.g. St Florent basin), and 3/ Serravalian N–S trending fault zones. From a geodynamical point of view, these successive extensional deformations in Alpine Corsica can be correlated to the history of the Apennines slab rollback. The two first stages are related to a southeastward rollback of the Appennines slab that successively triggered: 1/ Continental rifting in Oligocene leading to the opening of the Liguro-Provençal basin and 2/ Burdigalian extension with N60°–70° trending fault zone, oblique to the Alpine thrust that, after a counterclockwise rotation of the Corso-Sardinian block, became unable to accommodate extension. Finally, the third stage that gave NS-trending fault zones developed in Serravalian, at the onset of Tyrrhenian rifting, related to an eastward rollback of the Apennines slab, as a response of slab tearing in Sicily.

Kinematics of the Alpenrhein-Bodensee graben system in the Central Alps: Oligocene/Miocene transtension due to formation of the Western Alps arc

We report fault slip data from exhumed fault surfaces along the NNE trending Alpenrhein valley and its intersection with the WNW striking Bodensee Graben near the Alpine thrust front of the Central Alps in the Swiss-Austrian-German border region. This conjugated graben system straddles the boundary between the Alps and its foreland and allows comparing the kinematics of graben formation between the two different tectonic domains. Our data show sinistral transtension along the Alpenrhein Graben and dextral transtension along the Bodensee Graben. Both transtensional graben systems resulted from the same kinematic regime of NW directed shortening and NE oriented extension. The graben faults are not older than NW striking tear faults associated with NW directed Oligocene nappe emplacement in the Helvetics starting at 35–30 Ma and ending by 25–20 Ma. Compatible with this are six U-Pb ages of calcite fibers from four samples yielding consistent ages ranging from 25.3 ± 5.6 Ma to 21.8 ± 3.4 Ma (2σ errors). Earthquake data since 1996 show that kinematic directions persisted until the Recent. Our data broadly fit with the kinematic evolution of the Oberrhein Graben, which shows significant E-W extension in the Oligocene. We suggest that Oligocene extension in the Alps and its foreland resulted from the increased curvature of the Western Alps arc and associated moderate tangential stretching in the internal parts of the Central Alps. We discuss a tectonic model of eastward rollback of the west Mediterranean subduction zone associated with counterclockwise rotation of Adria, the latter of which aided the formation of the Western Alps arc.

Cenozoic structural evolution of the Andaman Sea: evolution from an extensional to a sheared margin

Abstract The Andaman Sea is proposed to have developed from a margin where Palaeogene back-arc collapse closed a mid-Cretaceous back-arc oceanic basin, and resulted in the collision between island arc crust to the west and the western margin of Sundaland. Subsequent east–west to WNW–ESE extension during the Late Eocene–Oligocene resulted in highly extended continental crust underlying the Alcock and Sewell rises, and the East Andaman Basin, and moderately extended crust in the Megui–North Sumatra Basin. As India coupled with western Myanmar, the margin became dominated by dextral strike-slip and NNW–SSE transtensional deformation during the Miocene. The narrow belt of NNW–SSE-directed extension is proposed to have focused on the region where ductile middle crust remained following Late Eocene–Oligocene extension, whereas strike-slip faults are located in the regions of necking where ductile middle crust was considerably thinned by Late Eocene–Oligocene extension. The last phase of NNW–SSE-extension switched between probable Late Miocene–Early Pliocene seafloor spreading, and extension (by dyke intrusion and faulting) in the Alcock and Sewell rises, and then recently back to the spreading centre.

Structural style and evolution of the Pyrenean-Provence thrust belt, SE France

AbstractThe Pyrenean-Provence fold-thrust belt is characterized by a geological complexity arising from superimposed tectonic history and the propagation of the deformation through a heterogeneous mechanical substratum inherited from Paleozoic and Mesozoic times. The construction of a regional balanced cross section together with field data show that the thrust system of the southeastern Provence region is characterized by a mixed thick- and thin-skinned tectonic style related to the inversion of deep-seated late Paleozoic-Triassic extensional structures and the décollement of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary cover above Triassic series. Earliest Cenomanian restoration state highlights the northward pinched-out of the Lower Cretaceous sedimentary series above the main long-wavelength Durance High uplift. Latest Santonian restoration state indicates a southward tilting of ~2° of the basin attributed to the initial growth of the Pyrenean-Provence prism controlling the external flexure of the foreland. Thrusts propagation in the northern part of the Pyrenean-Provence fold-thrust belt was recorded to be synchronous during latest Cretaceous to Eocene time and produced a ~7° southward basin tilting. This major tilting is attributed to the tectonic inversion and basement thrust stacking of the Cap Sicié-Sainte Baume units. Cross section balancing shows a total horizontal basement shortening of 40 km (~35 %) across the Pyrenean-Provence foreland. The main part of this shortening (~37 km) was accommodated by thick-skinned thrusts involving basement south of the Arc syncline. ~5 km of shortening were accommodated northward by the Arc syncline and eastern Sainte-Victoire thin-skin structures, resulting from slip transferred from the deep thick-skinned intercutaneous thrust wedge. Finally we interpret salt tectonic structures of the southeastern Provence as passive diapirism growth during Jurassic to late Cretaceous time, and then reactivated during Pyrenean-Provence compression. Late normal faulting related to hypothetical reactive diapirism during the Oligocene extension episode was predominantly localized above inherited salt structures and probably controlled by inherited basement faults.

Tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Andean Orogen between 31 and 37°S (Chile and Western Argentina)

Abstract In this classic segment, many tectonic processes, like flat-subduction, terrane accretion and steepening of the subduction, among others, provide a robust framework for their understanding. Five orogenic cycles, with variations in location and type of magmatism, tectonic regimes and development of different accretionary prisms, show a complex evolution. Accretion of a continental terrane in the Pampean cycle exhumed lower to middle crust in Early Cambrian. The Ordovician magmatic arc, associated metamorphism and foreland basin formation characterized the Famatinian cycle. In Late Devonian, the collision of Chilenia and associated high-pressure/low-temperature metamorphism contrasts with the late Palaeozoic accretionary prisms. Contractional deformation in Early to Middle Permian was followed by extension and rhyolitic (Choiyoi) magmatism. Triassic to earliest Jurassic rifting was followed by subduction and extension, dominated by Pacific marine ingressions, during Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. The Late Cretaceous was characterized by uplift and exhumation of the Andean Cordillera. An Atlantic ingression occurred in latest Cretaceous. Cenozoic contraction and uplift pulses alternate with Oligocene extension. Late Cenozoic subduction was characterized by the Pampean flat-subduction, the clockwise block tectonic rotations in the normal subduction segments and the magmatism in Payenia. These processes provide evidence that the Andean tectonic model is far from a straightforward geological evolution.