Reactivation Of Normal Faults Research Articles

The control of pre-existing extensional structures on the evolution of the southern sector of the Aconcagua fold and thrust belt, southern Andes

The Aconcagua fold and thrust belt, located in the Andean mountains at 32°30′ to 34°S, has been described as a classic model of a thin-skinned thrust belt. However, new structural data from its southern sector have shown that it has a complex structural framework reflected in multiple Mesozoic extensional phases, overprinted by structural inversion, as well as thin- and thick-skinned tectonics. Two major superimposed extensional structural styles have been identified for the Mesozoic characterized by distinctly oriented stress fields. A key role in the evolution of this part of the fold and thrust belt was played by a Late Triassic to Early Jurassic depocentre and by Late Jurassic block faulting. Shortening was accommodated by a combination of inversion of pre-existing normal faults, development of footwall short cuts and both thin and thick-skinned thrusting. Synrift and postrift sedimentary rocks were uplifted by reactivation of normal faults, with further shortening along newly formed thin-skinned thrust faults. The geometry of thin-skinned fault systems is controlled by the architecture of the rift basin, competent footwalls forming barriers to the lateral propagation of detachments.

Analogue modelling of fault reactivation: tectonic inversion and oblique remobilisation of grabens

Analogue models of sand above a silicone layer were examined to determine the effects of normal fault reactivation. Models were first subjected to extension, which lead to the formation of two linear grabens. Each model was then subjected to a second phase deformation, either parallel or oblique to the previous initial extension, and either extensional or contractional. The influence of sedimentation has been evaluated using experiments with and without sedimentation. In cases of oblique secondary deformation, all newly formed faults were parallel to the older grabens, thus they were oblique to the direction of the principal stress directions during the second deformation phase. In experiments without sedimentation, all older faults were reactivated, whereas in experiments with sedimentation, some of the older faults were not reactivated. In the case of an oblique compressional secondary deformation phase with post rift sedimentation, strain partitioning occurred between reactivated older normal faults and new reverse faults. σ2 was vertical on reactivated normal fault planes, whereas σ3 was vertical on reverse fault planes. In the case of oblique compressional secondary deformation phase without post rift sedimentation, no strain partitioning was observed. In this model, σ3 was vertical on every fault plane. It is therefore concluded that sedimentation within grabens induces a variation of stress orientation and strain partitioning.

The elastic properties of the lithosphere beneath Scotian basin

To assess the possibility that the North Atlantic Ocean may subduct at Scotian basin east of Canada, we investigate the present compensation state of this deep basin. A Fourier domain analysis of the bathymetry, depth to basement and observed gravity anomalies over the oceanic area east of Nova Scotia indicates that the basin is not isostatically compensated. Moreover, the analysis emphasizes that in addition to the sediments, density perturbations exist beneath the basin. The load produced by the sediments and these density perturbations must have been supported by the lithosphere. We simulate the flexure of the lithosphere under this load by that of a thin elastic plate overlying an inviscid interior. It is shown that a plate with a uniform rigidity does not adequately represent the lithosphere beneath the basin as well as the oceanic lithosphere far from the basin, rather the rigidity of the lithosphere directly beneath the basin is about one to two orders of magnitude smaller than elsewhere. We relate this weakening to the thermal blanketing effects of the thick sediments and the fact that the lithosphere has a temperature-dependent rheology. We suggest that this weak zone would have a controlling effect on the reactivation of normal faults at the hinge zone of the basin, that were formed during the break-up of Africa and North America and were locked in the early stages after the break-up. The weak zone would facilitate reactivation of the faults if tensional stresses were produced by possible reorientation of the spreading direction of the North Atlantic Ocean in the future. The reactivation of the faults would create a free boundary condition at the hinge zone, allowing further bending of the lithosphere beneath the basin and juxtaposition of this lithosphere to the mantle beneath the continent. This may provide a favorable situation for initiation of slow subduction due to subsequent compressional forces.

Characteristics and consequences of flow in the lower crust

In some places, there is strong evidence that the lower continental crust has flowed so as to smooth out variations in crustal thickness caused by differential crustal extension or shortening. In order to better understand the processes involved, we investigate the behavior of a fluid layer over a fluid half‐space to see how such a system responds to the deformation of its upper and lower boundaries. This simple system can be used to study both the decay of crustal thickness contrasts and the behavior of a thin lithospheric sheet. The changing response of the system to variations in density and viscosity contrasts and to different boundary conditions imposed on the fluid interface can easily be studied analytically. The most important results are that variations in crustal thickness on a wavelength of a few times the thickness of the flowing channel will decay quickest and that large lateral variations in crustal thickness cause the fluid to develop a steep front, which may cause a topographic step above it at the Earth's surface. Deformation within the channel will be principally by simple shear. The clear association of lower crustal flow with regions of thickened crust and magmatic activity suggests that both can reduce the viscosity of the lower crust to levels at which flow can occur. The smoothing of crustal thickness contrasts leads to differential vertical motions, and is thus a method by which substantial tilting can occur without faulting. This differential uplift may be responsible for rotating and exhuming some of the detachment faults in metamorphic core complexes in the Basin and Range province of the western United States. It is also a method of causing structural inversion in basins that does not require the reactivation of normal faults as thrusts or reverse faults.

Fluid involvement in normal faulting

Evidence of fluid interaction with normal faults comes from their varied role as flow barriers or conduits in hydrocarbon basins and as hosting structures for hydrothermal mineralisation, and from fault-rock assemblages in exhumed footwalls of steep active normal faults and metamorphic core complexes. These last suggest involvement of predominantly aqueous fluids over a broad depth range, with implications for fault shear resistance and the mechanics of normal fault reactivation. A general downwards progression in fault rock assemblages (high-level breccia-gouge (often clay-rich) → cataclasites → phyllonites → mylonite → mylonitic gneiss with the onset of greenschist phyllonites occurring near the base of the seismogenic crust) is inferred for normal fault zones developed in quartzo-feldspathic continental crust. Fluid inclusion studies in hydrothermal veining from some footwall assemblages suggest a transition from hydrostatic to suprahydrostatic fluid pressures over the depth range 3–5 km, with some evidence for near-lithostatic to hydrostatic pressure cycling towards the base of the seismogenic zone in the phyllonitic assemblages. Development of fault-fracture meshes through mixed-mode brittle failure in rock-masses with strong competence layering is promoted by low effective stress in the absence of thoroughgoing cohesionless faults that are favourably oriented for reactivation. Meshes may develop around normal faults in the near-surface under hydrostatic fluid pressures to depths determined by rock tensile strength, and at greater depths in overpressured portions of normal fault zones and at stress heterogeneities, especially dilational jogs. Overpressures localised within developing normal fault zones also determine the extent to which they may reutilise existing discontinuities (for example, low-angle thrust faults). Brittle failure mode plots demonstrate that reactivation of existing low-angle faults under vertical σ 1 trajectories is only likely if fluid overpressures are localised within the fault zone and the surrounding rock retains significant tensile strength. Migrating pore fluids interact both statically and dynamically with normal faults. Static effects include consideration of the relative permeability of the faults with respect to the country rock, and juxtaposition effects which determine whether a fault is transmissive to flow or acts as an impermeable barrier. Strong directional permeability is expected in the subhorizontal σ 2 direction parallel to intersections between minor faults, extension fractures, and stylolites. Three dynamic mechanisms tied to the seismic stress cycle may contribute to fluid redistribution: (i) cycling of mean stress coupled to shear stress, sometimes leading to postfailure expulsion of fluid from vertical fractures; (ii) suction pump action at dilational fault jogs; and, (iii) fault-valve action when a normal fault transects a seal capping either uniformly overpressured crust or overpressures localised to the immediate vicinity of the fault zone at depth. The combination of σ 2 directional permeability with fluid redistribution from mean stress cycling may lead to hydraulic communication along strike, contributing to the protracted earthquake sequences that characterise normal fault systems.

Quaternary transfer faulting in the Taiwan Foothills: evidence from a multisource approach

The major structures of the Western Foothills of Taiwan mainly consist of NNE-SSW-trending folds and imbricated west-vergent thrust systems. The additional occurrence of N140°E-striking oblique structures was revealed through a multisource approach involving a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), a study of drainage network anomalies, aerial photographs, Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) images and SPOT-P and Landsat images. These structures are described from north to south based on new field analyses (including stratigraphy and tectonics studies). They are also compared to seismic data and geodetic reconstruction, in order to evaluate their present-day activity. These N140°E major morphostructures are interpreted as left-lateral transfer fault zones, either inherited from the Eurasian passive margin and/or newly formed in the cover in response to the presence of basement highs within the foreland basin (Peikang and Kuanyin highs). The Sanyi and the Chishan transfer fault zones display a high seismic activity; the distribution of earthquakes and the related focal mechanisms confirm the left-lateral movement along N140°E directions. The Chiayi, Chishan, and Fengshan fault zones act presently as transfer fault zones, as indicated by GPS data. The associated N70°E- to N100°E-trending faults result from the reactivation of normal faults of the Eurasian passive margin as right-lateral strike-slip faults in the Foothills during the Plio-Quaternary collision in Taiwan. We conclude that multisource and multiscale geomorphic studies combined with tectonic analysis in the field yield a significant contribution to the understanding of the structural and kinematic development of the Western Foothills at the front of the Taiwan collision belt.

The tectonic evolution of western India and its impact on hydrocarbon occurrences: an overview

The largest hydrocarbon accumulations of India were localized in western India by a unique convergence of tectonic events. Mesozoic rifting along the structural trends of Proterozoic mobile belts formed the passive margin basins of the Indian coast. During the Campanian rifting of Madagascar from India, north-south-striking normal faults propagated into the area of the Cambay Graben. Late Maastrichtian doming over the incipient Deccan/Réunion hotspot imparted extensional stresses to the northwestern Indian coast and formed the fault block that became the Bombay High. After eruption of the Deccan flood basalts in Early Paleocene, extension continued in the weakened crust. This resulted in enhanced subsidence of the Cambay Graben and Surat (Danahu) Depression, rifting of the Seychelles microcontinent from India, and reactivation of normal faults on the emergent Bombay High. The Cambay Graben and the Surat (Danahu) Depression filled with organic-rich source shales as they underwent thermal subsidence. Shallow-water Eocene to Miocene carbonates developed on the slowly subsiding Bombay Platform, and sea-level oscillations fostered secondary porosity development. Late Tertiary maturation of the Surat (Danahu) Depression shales generated hydrocarbons that migrated into the carbonate reservoirs on the Bombay High. Konkan-Kerala, and the older basins of the east coast of India, were unaffected by the post-Campanian tectonic events, and lack the favorable play elements that characterize the giant fields.

Inversion of the Broad Fourteens Basin (offshore Netherlands), a small-scale model investigation

The southern North Sea exhibits spectacular examples of graben inversion which have been extensively documented by oil industry exploration. The Broad Fourteens Basin, which is located at the southern limit of the Southern Permian Salt Basin, displays numerous structural patterns of positive inversion, which are related to the inversion, which are related to the presence and thickness of Zechstein salts. In the northern part of the Broad Fourteens Basin, the Zechstein salt is rather thick (> 500 m), allowing decollement of the Mesozoic series during both extension and compression. Salt is missing to the southern part of this graben, and both Mesozoic series and Palaeozoic ‘basement’ display similar patterns of deformatiqn. The mechanical significance of inversion patterns was investigated through laboratory experiments on brittleductile models. Models were built with sand and silicone putty that represent, respectively, the frictional behaviour of the Mesozoic cover as well as the Palaeozoic basement, and the viscous behaviour of a decollement layer, mainly composed of Zechstein salts, which is intercalated between them. The models were scaled to fit natural configurations observed in the Broad Fourteens Basin. All small-scale experiments were carried out in two steps: (1) graben formation with synkinematic sedimentation, and (2) compression at various angles of obliquity to the graben. Experimental results show that the structures generated by or reactivated during inversion are strongly dependent on: (a) the strength of the decollement layer, which is a function of the layer thickness and of the displacement velocity applied at the model boundaries; and (b) the strength of the sedimentary overburden, which is a function only of its thickness (for a given lithology). Reactivation of normal faults occurs when the angle between the compression and the direction of the normal faults is smaller than 45. The ductile layer, which can be a source for diapirs during extension, plays during compression an important rô1e in the thrusting of the graben fill onto the adjacent platforms.

Late cenozoic deformation in the Central Andes: fault kinematics from the northern Puna, northwestern Argentina and southwestern Bolivia

Fault kinematics from the northern Puna region of the central Andean Plateau show two phases of deformation. The older deformation involved thrusting on NNE-SSW striking faults prior to about 9 Ma. This produced an average shortening direction (120°±20°) which does not overlap the Miocene-to-Recent convergence direction between the Nazca and South American Plates (82°±4°). Reactivation of normal faults associated with a Cretaceous rift and strike-slip faulting in the weakened magmatic arc can explain the ∼40° discrepancy. Deformation younger than 9 Ma is on normal and strike-slip faults that indicate diverse Plio-Quaternary strain orientations, possibly due to the influence of both gravitational and subduction forces. While the normal faults are minor, five orogen parallel (NS) strike-slip faults are marked by ten- to sixty-kilometer-long scarps. Striae indicate right-lateral strike-slip with minor normal displacement. At least two of these faults reactive older thrusts. By analogy with trench-linked forearc strike-slip faults, the kinematics of these back-arc strike-slip faults can be explained by the decoupling of oblique foreland convergence into two mutually orthogonal components.

Tectonic setting of the Midcontinent Rift system

The continental lithosphere which hosts the Midcontinent Rift (MCR) system comprises a crustal assemblage ranging in age from 3.6 to 1.5 Ga. The most voluminous igneous activity along the MCR occurred within Late Archean (2.7 Ga) crust, presumably due to magmatism associated with a rising mantle plume. Two major arms of the rift extend to the southeast and the southwest, where rifting, magmatism, and sedimentation were confined to a 2000 km long rift that cuts through the various crustal provinces ranging in age from 3.6 to 1.5 Ga. Tensional reactivation of pre-existing crustal discontinuities may have influenced the location of parts of the MCR; however, direct cause and effect are difficult to distinguish for want of sufficient exposures. The most active phases of magmatism and rifting occurred between 1109 and 1087 Ma; a U-Pb age of 1097 Ma for the southern end of the MCR shows that magmatic activity was synchronous throughout its length. There is evidence of rifting and magmatism prior to 1109 Ma, but there is little evidence of magmatism after 1087 Ma; rifting may have effectively ceased by that time. Rifting may have ceased as a result of compressional forces being exerted on the foreland during the Grenville collisional event, spanning 1030-970 Ma, and compressional reactivation of normal faults may have resulted in partial inversion of the MCR. Chemical data and U/Pb and Sm/Nd isotopic data for igneous rocks along the rift are similar to those for MCR rocks in the Lake Superior area, which are best explained in terms of a mantle-plume model. However, since the distal arms of the MCR were developed in Proterozoic lithosphere and did not involve nearly as much magmatism as in the Lake Superior area, mantle-plume sources may not have been as important in formation of the distal magmas. Data from the buried arms are also consistent with the mafic magmas being derived by decompression melting of Proterozoic lithosphere during rifting.

The influence of pre-existing basin structure on thrust system evolution in the Western Alps

Summary Collision mountain belts have recently been interpreted as being large scale stacked sedimentary basins, where the wholesale reactivation of pre-existing normal faults exerts the primary control on orogenic style. This model is explored here using examples from the Western Alps. The use of stratigraphic separation across faults, in the absence of corroborative sedimentological data, provides an ambiguous criterion to determinate fault reactivation. Variations between ‘compressional’ and ‘extensional’ stratigraphic separations across the Frontal Pennine thrust are more likely to be due to regional unconformity patterns developed in lower Tertiary times rather than normal fault reactivation along the eastern margin of the external zones. Mesozoic-Tertiary basin structure has been important in controlling the sites of major thrust ramps where stratigraphic horizons suitable for activation as thrust detachment zones have been offset. Examples include the thrust front in the Jura (Triassic detachment dropped to W by faults bounding the Bresse basin) and Vercors (basement uplifted to W at Faille de l’Isere, bounding the Mesozoic sub-Alpine basin to W). Buttressing structures, where thrust displacement is converted into vertical pure shear, may indicate buried normal faults but can occur at either hinterland or foreland-directed basin faults. The overall structural style in the sub-Alpine thrust belt indicates detachment between basement and cover with basement involvement along the Sole thrust which carries the external basement massifs. There is no indication from surface geology that this thrust originates from reactivation of a Mesozoic basin fault although this process may have occurred at depth. Similar styles of detachment-dominated thrusting with large horizontal relative to vertical displacements also characterize internal Alpine structure. Preliminary results from the ECORS-CROP deep seismic reflection profile across the Western Alps support the detachment thrusting model although they do not rule out minor normal fault reactivation.

Constraints on the age of movement of the Montsech and Cotiella Thrusts, south central Pyrenees, Spain

Palaeocene to Oligocene thrusting in the Pyrenees was synchronous with the development of the South Pyrenean foreland basin (collectively the Tremp–Graus, Ainsa and Jaca basins). Sedimentological and stratigraphical evidence from the foreland basin is used to constrain the age of movement of the Montsech, Cotiella and External Sierras thrusts. Movement on the emergent imbricate fan at the Montsech front began in the Early Eocene (Illerdian) during an early phase of thrusting that detached in the Triassic evaporites in that region. This phase of thrusting defined the Tremp–Graus basin as a thrust-sheet-top basin. Following the early thrusting, Cuisian age tectonics in the Tremp–Graus and Ainsa basins was dominated by minor normal fault movements during flexural subsidence associated with thrust sheet loading. Growth of the Boltaña anticline to the west of the Ainsa basin indicates that the Ainsa basin had become detached as a thrust-sheet-top basin in the Lutetian. Movement on the Peña Montañesa thrust, and by inference on the Cotiella thrust, began in post-Lutetian times during the propagation of lower thrusts that involved pre-Triassic (Variscan) basement. Thrusting in the External Sierras caused folding and faulting of Oligocene sediments, indicating the continued southward propagation of basement-involved thrusts in the Upper Eocene and Oligocene. Many faults in the Southern Pyrenees have evidence of early normal and later reverse senses of movement indicating reactivation of normal faults during thrusting.

Andean Structures Along West Flank of Neuquen Basin, Argentina: ABSTRACT

During the Mesozoic, a series of back-arc basins formed along much of western South America. The Neuquen basin, an important petroliferous basin in west-central Argentina, is a roughly triangular remnant of this back-arc basin system preserved along the east side of the Andean Cordillera from about 34° to 40°S. The west flank of the Neuquen basin is formed by the Late Cretaceous-Tertiary foreland fold and thrust belt of the eastern Andean foothills that trends approximately north-south and crosscuts extensional trends that were active during formation of the Triassic-Early Cretaceous Neuquen basin. Field studies have shown that the style of surface structures varies along the west flank of the Neuquen basin, largely as a result of the changing stratigraphic section in which the structures are developed. In thick sediments of the deeply subsided basin, low-angle thrusting is important, with major decollement in evaporitic and shale intervals. These thrusts show a characteristic ramp and flat geometry. Where the fold and thrust belt crosses a block-faulted Jurassic basin margin, a complex zone of imbricate thrust structures is developed. This structural style is suggested to be due to thrust ramping at the eastern pinch-out of major decollement zones. Where the foothills cross a portion of the eastern platform, the structural style is strongly controlled by sub-Jurassic igneous an metamorphic basement, including compressional reactivation of normal faults formed during Triassic-Jurassic extension. A series of length balanced cross sections shows this variation in structural style. End_of_Article - Last_Page 234------------

PRE-EOCENE STRATIGRAPHY, STRUCTURE, AND PETROLEUM POTENTIAL OF THE BASS BASIN

Exploration in the Bass Basin has mainly concentrated on the Eocene part of the Eastern View Coal Measures with the pre-Eocene stratigraphy hardly being tested. Structural mapping using a good quality Bureau of Mineral Resources regional seismic survey and infill industry seismic data, in conjunction with seismic stratigraphy and well data, has generated an understanding of the structure and stratigraphy of the pre- Eocene basin, which suggests that exploration potential exists in structural and stratigraphic leads of both Paleocene and Cretaceous age.The Paleocene structure is influenced by the reactivation of normal faults developed at the time of the mid Cretaceous rift unconformity and reflects drape over deeper features. Consequently fault dependent structural closures often persist from Paleocene to (?)Jurassic levels. Possible stratigraphic traps are also observed against horst blocks and around the basin margins. The longitudinal fault directions are northwest and west northwest with an oblique northerly direction and a prevailing north northeasterly transverse direction.The Paieocene and Upper Cretaceous part of the Eastern View Coal Measures consists of sands, shales and coals deposited in alluvial fans, on flood plains, and in lakes. These are underlain by Early Cretaceous Otway Groups, sands, shales and volcanics. Both intervals have potential reservoir and source rocks and often occur at mature depths. No pre-Otway Group sediments have been encountered in wells in the Bass Basin. However, the Permo- Carboniferous and possibly Triassic strata that occur in Northern Tasmania exhibit reservoir and source rock potential and may extend offshore beneath the Bass Basin.Pre-Eocene structural and stratigraphic studies of the Bass Basin thus point to reservoir and hydrocarbon source potential for possible multiple hydrocarbon exploration targets.