A tectonic model for the Tertiary evolution of strike–slip faults and rift basins in SE Asia

Models for the Tertiary evolution of SE Asia fall into two main types: a pure escape tectonics model with no proto-South China Sea, and subduction of proto-South China Sea oceanic crust beneath Borneo. A related problem is which, if any, of the main strike–slip faults (Mae Ping, Three Pagodas and Aliao Shan–Red River (ASRR)) cross Sundaland to the NW Borneo margin to facilitate continental extrusion? Recent results investigating strike–slip faults, rift basins, and metamorphic core complexes are reviewed and a revised tectonic model for SE Asia proposed. Key points of the new model include: (1) The ASRR shear zone was mainly active in the Eocene–Oligocene in order to link with extension in the South China Sea. The ASRR was less active during the Miocene (tens of kilometres of sinistral displacement), with minor amounts of South China Sea spreading centre extension transferred to the ASRR shear zone. (2) At least three important regions of metamorphic core complex development affected Indochina from the Oligocene–Miocene (Mogok gneiss belt; Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep; around the ASRR shear zone). Hence, Paleogene crustal thickening, buoyancy-driven crustal collapse, and lower crustal flow are important elements of the Tertiary evolution of Indochina. (3) Subduction of a proto-South China Sea oceanic crust during the Eocene–Early Miocene is necessary to explain the geological evolution of NW Borneo and must be built into any model for the region. (4) The Eocene–Oligocene collision of NE India with Burma activated extrusion tectonics along the Three Pagodas, Mae Ping, Ranong and Klong Marui faults and right lateral motion along the Sumatran subduction zone. (5) The only strike–slip fault link to the NW Borneo margin occurred along the trend of the ASRR fault system, which passes along strike into a right lateral transform system including the Baram line.     

Formation of sequential basins along a strike–slip fault–Geophysical observations from the Dead Sea basin

The Dead Sea basin is often cited as one of the classic examples for the evolution of pull-apart basins along strike–slip faults. Despite its significance, the internal structure of the northern Dead Sea basin has never been addressed conclusively. In order to produce the first comprehensive, high-resolution analysis of this area, all available seismic data from the northern Dead Sea (lake)–lower Jordan valley (land) were combined. Results show that the northern Dead Sea basin is comprised of a system of tectonically controlled sub-basins delimited by the converging Western and Eastern boundary faults of the Dead Sea fault valley. These sub-basins grow shallower and smaller to the north and are separated by structural saddles marking the location of active transverse faults. The sedimentary fill within the sub-basins was found to be relatively thicker than previously interpreted. As a result of the findings of this study, the “classic” model for the development of pull-aparts, based on the Dead Sea, is revised. The new comprehensive compilation of data produced here for the first time was used to improve upon existing conceptual models and may advance the understanding of similar basinal systems elsewhere.     

Late-Cenozoic pull-apart basins, Boconó fault zone, Venezuelan Andes

Several areas along the Boconó fault zone are characterized by elongate, almond-shaped basins containing thick alluvial sequences, mainly of Quaternary age, and bounded by faults with normal Quaternary displacements. These areas are separated by segments characterized by narrow fault traces and right-lateral displacements. The fault-bounded basins are interpreted as pull-apart basins that originated at releasing bends along the fault zone. The size of the La González pull-apart basin suggests that Pliocene (?)-Quaternary right-lateral slip on the Boconó fault zone was of the order of 7–9 km.     

Complex geometry and segmentation of the surface rupture associated with the 14 November 2001 great Kunlun earthquake, northern Tibet, China

The 14 November 2001 Kunlun, China, earthquake with a moment magnitude (M_w) 7.8 occurred along the Kusai Lake–Kunlun Pass fault of the Kunlun fault system. We document the spatial distribution and geometry of surface rupture zone produced by this earthquake, based on high-resolution satellite (Landsat ETM, ASTER, SPOT and IKONOS) images combined with field measurements. Our results show that the surface rupture zone can be divided into five segments according to the geometry of surface rupture, including the Sun Lake, Buka Daban–Hongshui River, Kusai Lake, Hubei Peak and Kunlun Pass segments from west to east. These segments, each 55 to 130 km long, are separated by step-overs. The Sun Lake segment extends about 65 km with a strike of N45° 75°W (between 90°05′E 90°50′E) along the previously unrecognized West Sun Lake fault. A gap of about 30 km long exists between the Sun Lake and Buka Daban Peak where no obvious surface ruptures can be observed either from the satellite images or field observations. The Buka Daban–Hongshui River, Kusai Lake, Hubei Peak and Kunlun Pass segments run about 365 km striking N75° 85°W along the southern slope of the Kunlun Mountains (between 91°07′E 94°58′E). This segmentation of the surface rupture is well correlated with the pattern of slip distribution measured in the field. Detailed mapping suggest that these five first-order segments can be further separated into over 20 second-order segments with a length of 10–30 km, linked by smaller scale step-overs or bends.Our result also shows that the total coseismic surface rupture length produced by the 2001 Kunlun earthquake is about 430 km (excluding the 30-km-long gap), which is the longest coseismic surface rupture for an intracontinental earthquake ever recorded.Finally, we suggest a multiple bilateral rupture propagation model that shows the rupture process of the 2001 M_w 7.8 earthquake is complex. It consists of westward and eastward rupture propagations and interaction of these bilateral rupture processes.     

Basement control on oblique thrust sheet evolution: seismic imaging of the active deformation front of the Central Andes in Bolivia

In the area of the Bolivian Orocline, we examine the deformation pattern associated with the active development of a new thrust sheet. A dense grid of reprocessed 2-D seismic lines from hydrocarbon exploration industry is interpreted and a 3-D simplified structural and kinematic model is deduced. In the Boomerang Hills, onlapping Paleozoic and foredeep sediments are detached from the underlying S-dipping basement. They are thrust northeastwards by less than 2 km. Two zones can be differentiated along the Andean deformation front: (1) a W–E to NW–SE striking frontal segment of predominantly orthogonal shortening, comprising a thrust and anticline system; (2) a WSW–ENE striking lateral zone of oblique shortening within a complex system of thin-skinned strike–slip faults and minor folds. The deformation front always follows a pronounced edge in the topography of the top basement surface close to the boundary of the Paleozoic basin. The observed deformation pattern indicates intensified strain partitioning caused by the interaction of contraction direction and basement topography, which provides a near oblique ramp for the onlapping wedge of sediments. The SW–NE thrusting direction is divided into orthogonal and tangential components. These are accommodated by convergent and strike–slip structures, respectively, which sole into a common detachment horizon. The structural evolution of the new thrust sheet in the Bolivian Orocline is primarily controlled by the paleorelief of the Brazilian Shield because: (1) the shape of the basement affects the taper of the thrust wedge and localizes the deformation front and (2) small asperities in/close to the top of the basement promote fault localization. The coincidence of a relatively high basement position and a structural high of the Eastern Cordillera leads to the conclusion that the shape of the Brazilian Shield also controls the structural evolution of the pronounced eastern border of the Bolivian Orocline.     

The role of the Kazakhstan orocline in the late Paleozoic amalgamation of Eurasia

After the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, we mapped surface ground fractures in Tangdhar, Uri, Rajouri and Punch sectors and liquefaction features in Jammu area lying close to the eastern side of the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir, India. The NW trending ground fractures occurred largely in the hanging wall zone of the southeastern extension of the causative fault in Tangdhar and Uri sectors. The principal compressive stress deduced from the earthquake induced ground fractures is oriented at N10°, whereas the causative Balakot–Bagh fault strikes 330°. The fault-plane solution indicates primarily SW thrusting of the causative fault with a component of strike–slip motion. The ground fractures reflect pronounced strike–slip together with some tensile component. The Tangdhar area showing left-lateral strike–slip motion lies on the hanging wall, and the Uri region showing right-lateral strike–slip movement is located towards the southeastern extension of the causative fault zone. The shear fractures are related to static stress that was responsible for the failure of causative fault. The tensile fractures with offsets are attributed to combination of both static and dynamic stresses, and the fractures and openings without offsets owe their origin due to dynamic stress. In Punch–Rajouri and Jammu area, which lies on the footwall, the fractures and liquefactions were generated by dynamic stress. The occurrence of liquefaction features in the out board part of the Himalayan range front near Jammu is suggestive of stress transfer  230 km southeast of the epicenter. The Balakot–Bagh Fault (BBF), the Muzaffarabad anticline, the rupture zone of causative fault and the zone of aftershocks — all are aligned in a  25 km wide belt along the NW–SE trending regional Himalayan strike of Kashmir region and lying between the MBT and the Riasi Thrust (Murree Thrust), suggesting a seismogenic zone that may propagate towards the southeast to trigger an earthquake in the eastern part of the Kashmir region.     

Neogene non-marine sedimentation and tectonics in small pull-apart basins of the San Andreas fault system, Sonoma County, California

The San Andreas fault system in northern California forms an 80–90 km wide zone of right-lateral shear. Extensional tectonism within this broad shear zone is indicated by both Neogene silicic volcanic rocks that gradually young in the direction of shear propagation to the north-west and by numerous Neogene faultbounded structural basins filled with thick non-marine sequences. The Little Sulphur Creek basins, three well-exposed 1·5–2 km wide pull apart basins within this shear system, have sedimentation patterns analogous to those of much larger pull-apart basins. They were formed and subsequently deformed by east-west extension and by north-west to south-east-orientated right-slip concurrently with basin filling. Palaeocurrent and maximum-clast size data indicate both lateral sediment transport from fault-bounded basin margins and longitudinal transport down the basin axes. The basins are filled primarily with coarse alluvial-fan and streamflow deposits derived from a surrounding igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic provenance. Two of the basins contain basin-plain-type lacustrine turbidites that grade laterally into distal alluvial fan, fan-delta, and sublacustrine delta deposits. Talus deposits along the south-west margin of the basins contain megabreccia indicative of active uplift. Structures indicative of dewatering, liquefaction, and slumping suggest penecontemporaneous tectonism.     

Changes in rate of fault creep

Aseismic slip or fault creep is occurring on many faults in California. Although the creep rates are generally less than 10 mm/yr in most regions, the maximum observed rate along the San Andreas fault between San Juan Bautista and Gold Hill in central California exceeds 30 mm/yr. Changes in slip rates along a 162 km segment of the San Andreas fault in this region have occurred at approximately the same time at up to nine alinement array sites. Rates of creep on the fault near the epicenters of moderate earthquakes (M_L 4–6) vary for periods of several years, decreasing before the main shocks and increasing thereafter, in agreement with prior observations based on creepmeter results. The change of surface slip rate is most pronounced within the epicentral region defined by aftershocks, but records from sites at distances up to 100 km show similar variations. Additionally, some variations in rate, also apparently consistent among many sites, have a less obvious relation with seismic activity and have usually taken place over shorter periods. Not all sites exhibit a significant variation in rate at the time of a regional change, and the amplitudes of the change at nearby sites are not consistently related. The time intervals between measurements at the nine array sites during a given period have not always been short with respect to the intervals between surveys at one site; hence, uneven sampling intervals may bias the results slightly. Anomalies in creep rates thus far observed, therefore, have not been demonstrably consistent precursors to moderate earthquakes; and in the cases when an earthquake has followed a long period change of rate, the anomaly has not specified time, place, or magnitude with a high degree of certainty. The consistency of rate changes may represent a large scale phenomenon that occurs along much of the San Andreas transform plate boundary.     

Oblique strain partitioning and transpression on an inverted rift: The Castilian Branch of the Iberian Chain

The Iberian Chain is a wide intraplate deformation zone formed by the tectonic inversion during the Pyrenean orogeny of a Permian–Mesozoic basin developed in the eastern part of the Iberian Massif. The N–S convergence between Iberia and Eurasia from the Late Cretaceous to the Lower Miocene times produced significant intraplate deformation. The NW–SE oriented Castilian Branch of the Iberian Chain can be considered as a “key zone” where the proposed models for the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Iberian Chain can be tested. Structural style of basin inversion suggests mainly strike–slip displacements along previous NW–SE normal faults, developed mostly during the Mesozoic. To confirm this hypothesis, structural and basin evolution analysis, macrostructural Bouguer gravity anomaly analysis, detailed mapping and paleostress inversions have been used to prove the important role of strike slip deformation. In addition, we demonstrate that two main folding trends almost perpendicular (NE–SW to E–W and NW–SE) were simultaneously active in a wide transpressive zone. The two fold trends were generated by different mechanical behaviour, including buckling and bending under constrictive strain conditions. We propose that strain partitioning occurred with oblique compression and transpression during the Cenozoic.     

Pseudotachylytes in the southern border fault of the Cenozoic intracontinental Teletsk basin (Altai, Russia)

The Cenozoic intracontinental Teletsk basin in the Central Asian Altai Mountains is composed of a complexly structured northern and a more simple southern sub-basin. These sub-basins formed in two distinct kinematic stages when first the NNW-striking Teletsk- and then the NE-striking West-Sayan shear zones became reactivated in the Cenozoic under dominant NS-oriented horizontal compression. Although the entire Teletsk basin strikes roughly NS, the southern sub-basin is parallel to the NNW-trending, amphibolite facies Teletsk ductile shear zone, while the northern sub-basin is NS-striking and flanked by differently structured, greenschist facies basement. Basement reactivation closely controlled the southern sub-basin formation, but this is less clear for the northern sub-basin. Contrasts between northern and southern basement and the exclusive occurrence of pseudotachylytes along the margins of the southern basin are explored for their contribution to the formation of the Teletsk basin with two distinct sub-basins.In the ductile shear fabric of the basement flanking the southern sub-basin, concordantly interleaved pseudotachylytes and isolated breccia lenses reflect local brittle deformation along the ductile fabric. The genetic link between breccia lenses and pseudotachylyte occurrences was defined by microstructural investigation. It allows to explore their possible development in a dextral strike–slip zone. These rocks occur in a large fault-bounded segment of the basement. The geometry of the structures in the segment is comparable with a dextral strike–slip sidewall-ripout structure along the Teletsk shear zone. Seismic slip related to pseudotachylytes is attributed to the sudden stress release on the NNW-striking Teletsk shear zone, when the latter became unconstrained by reactivation of the NE-trending West-Sayan fault zone at its northern boundary. The boundary of the sidewall-ripout structure was reactivated as a large listric fault in a later stage. The northern sub-basins roughly develop along an NS strike and are assumed to reflect reactivation of the ductile shear zone underneath the variably structured greenschist facies basement outcropping along the flanks of the sub-basin.     

Metamorphism and deformation at different structural levels in a strike-slip fault zone, Ross Lake fault, North Cascades, USA

Continental crust is displaced in strike-slip fault zones through lateral and vertical movement that together drive burial and exhumation. Pressure – temperature–deformation ( P–T–d ) histories of orogenic crust exhumed in transcurrent zones record the mechanisms and conditions of these processes. The Skagit Gneiss Complex, a migmatitic unit of the North Cascades, Washington (USA), was metamorphosed at depths of ∼25–30 km in a continental arc under contraction, and is bounded on its eastern side by the long-lived transcurrent Ross Lake fault zone (RLFZ). The P–T–d conditions recorded by rocks on either side of the RLFZ vary along the length of the fault zone, but most typically the fault separates high-grade gneiss and plutons from lower-grade rocks. The Ruby Mt–Elijah Ridge area at the eastern margin of the Skagit Gneiss exposes tectonic contacts between gneiss and overlying rocks; the latter rocks, including slivers of Methow basin deposits, are metamorphosed and record higher-grade metamorphism than in correlative rocks along strike along the RLFZ. In this area, the Skagit Gneiss and overlying units all yield maximum P–T conditions of 8–10 kbar at >650 °C, indicating that slices of basin rocks were buried to similar mid-crustal depths as the gneiss. After exhumation of fault zone rocks to <15 km depth, intrusion of granitoid plutons drove contact metamorphism, resulting in texturally late andalusite–cordierite in garnet schist. In the Elijah Ridge area of the RLFZ, an overlapping step-over or series of step-overs that evolved through time may have facilitated burial and exhumation of a deep slice of the Methow basin, indicating that strike-slip faults can have major vertical displacement (tens of kilometres) that is significant during the crustal thickening and exhumation stages of orogeny.     

Palaeoseismology in steep terrain: The Big Bend of the San Andreas fault, Transverse Ranges, California

Transpressional tectonics are typically associated with restraining bends on major active strike-slip faults, resulting in uplift and steep terrain. This produces dynamic erosional and depositional conditions and difficulties for established lines of palaeoseismological investigation. Consequently, in these areas data are lacking to determine tectonic behaviour and future hazard potential along these important fault segments. The Big Bend of the San Andreas fault in the Transverse Ranges of southern California exemplifies these problems. However, landslides, probably seismically triggered, are widespread in the rugged terrain of the Big Bend. Fluvial reworking of these deposits rapidly produces geomorphic planes and lines that are markers for subsequent fault slip. The most useful are offset and abandoned stream channels, for these are relatively high precision markers for identifying individual faulting events. Palaeoseismological studies from the central Big Bend, involving ¹⁴C ages of charcoal fragments from trench exposures, illustrate these points and indicate that the past three faulting events, including the great 1857 earthquake, were relatively similar in scale, each producing offsets of about 7–7.5 m. The mean recurrence interval is 140–220 years. The pre-1857 event here may be the 1812 event documented south of the Big Bend or an event which took place probably between 1630 and 1690. Ground breakage in both events extended south of the Big Bend, unlike the 1857 event where rupture was skewed to the north. The preceding faulting event ruptured both to the north and south of the Big Bend and probably occurred between 1465 and 1495. All these events centred on the Big Bend and may be typical for this fault segment, suggesting that models of uniform long-term slip rates may not be applicable to the south-central San Andreas. A slip-rate estimate of 34–51 mm a^{− 1} for the central Big Bend, although uncertain, may also imply higher slip in the Big Bend and highlights difficulties in correlating slip-rates between sites with different tectonic settings. Slip rates on the San Andreas may increase within the broad compressional tectonics zone of the Big Bend, compared to the north and south where the plate boundary is a relatively linear and sub-parallel series of dominantly strike-slip faults. Partitioning slip within the Big Bend is inherently uncertain and insufficient suitably comparable data are available to sustain a uniform slip model, although such models are a common working assumption.     

What can strike‐slip fault spacing tell us about the plate boundary of western North America?

The spacing of parallel continental strike‐slip faults can constrain the mechanical properties of the faults and fault‐bounded crust. In the western US, evenly spaced strike‐slip fault domains are observed in the San Andreas (SA) and Walker Lane (WL) fault systems. Comparison of fault spacing (S) vs. seismogenic zone thickness (L) relationships of the SA and WL systems indicates that the SA has a higher S/L ratio (~8 vs. 1, respectively). If a stress‐shadow mechanism guides parallel fault formation, the S/L ratio should be controlled by fault strength, crustal strength, and/or regional stress. This suggests that the SA‐related strike‐slip faults are relatively weaker, with lower fault friction: 0.13–0.19 for the SA vs. 0.20 for WL. The observed mechanical differences between the San Andreas and Walker Lane fault systems may be attributed to variations in the local geology of the fault‐hosting crust and/or the regional boundary conditions (e.g. geothermal gradient or strain rate).     

Geophysical images of the creeping segment of the San Andreas fault: implications for the role of crustal fluids in the earthquake process

High-resolution magnetotelluric (MT) studies of the San Andreas fault (SAF) near Hollister, CA have imaged a zone of high fluid content flanking the San Andreas fault and extending to midcrustal depths. This zone, extending northeastward to the Calaveras fault, is imaged as several focused regions of high conductivity, believed to be the expression of tectonically bound fluid pockets separated by northeast dipping, impermeable fault seals. Furthermore, the spatial relationship between this zone and local seismicity suggests that where present, fluids inhibit seismicity within the upper crust (0–4 km). The correlation of coincident seismic and electromagnetic tomography models is used to sharply delineate geologic and tectonic boundaries. These studies show that the San Andreas fault plane is vertical below 2 km depth, bounding the southwest edge of the imaged fault-zone conductor (FZC). Thus, in the region of study, the San Andreas fault acts both as a conduit for along-strike fluid flow and a barrier for fluid flow across the fault. Combined with previous work, these results suggest that the geologic setting of the San Andreas fault gives rise to the observed distribution of fluids in and surrounding the fault, as well as the observed along-strike variation in seismicity.     

Late Quaternary deformation and slip rates in the northern San Andreas fault zone at Olema Valley, Marin County, California

Quaternary sedimentary deposits along the structural depression of the San Andreas fault (SAF) zone north of San Francisco in Marin County provide an excellent record of rates and styles of neotectonic deformation in a location near where the greatest amount of horizontal offset was measured after the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. A high-resolution gravity survey in the Olema Valley was used to determine the depth to bedrock and the thickness of sediment fill along and across the SAF valley. In the gravity profile across the SAF zone, Quaternary deposits are offset across the 1906 fault trace and truncated by the Western and Eastern Boundary faults, whose youthful activity was previously unknown. The gravity profile parallel to the fault valley shows a basement surface that slopes northward toward an area of present-day subsidence near the head of Tomales Bay. Surface and subsurface investigations of the late Pleistocene Olema Creek Formation (Qoc) indicate that this area of subsidence was located further south during deposition of the Qoc and that it has migrated northward since then. Localized subsidence has been replaced by localized contraction that has produced folding and uplift of the Qoc. This apparent alternation between transtension and transpression may be the result of a northward-diverging fault geometry of fault strands that includes the valley-bounding faults as well as the 1906 SAF trace. The Vedanta marsh is a smaller example of localized subsidence in the fault zone, between the 1906 SAF trace and the Western Boundary fault. Analyses of Holocene marsh sediments in cores and a paleoseismic trench indicate thickening, and probably tilting, toward the 1906 trace, consistent with coseismic deformation observed at the site following the 1906 earthquake.New age data and offset sedimentary and geomorphic features were used to calculate four late Quaternary slip rate estimates for the SAF at this latitude. Luminescence dates of 112–186 ka for the middle part of the Olema Creek Formation (Qoc), the oldest Quaternary deposit in this part of the valley, suggest a late Pleistocene slip rate of 17–35 mm/year, which replaces the unit to a position adjacent to its sediment source area. A younger alluvial fan deposit (Qqf; basal age 30 ka) is exposed in a quarry along the medial ridge of the fault valley. This fan deposit has been truncated on its western side by dextral SAF movement, and west-side-down vertical movement that has created the Vedanta marsh. Paleocurrent measurements, clast compositions, sediment facies distributions, and soil characteristics show that the Bear Valley Creek drainage, now located northwest of the site, supplied sediment to the fan, which is now being eroded. Restoration of the drainage to its previous location provides an estimated slip rate of 25 mm/year. Furthermore, the Bear Valley Creek drainage probably created a water gap located north of the Qqf deposit during the last glacial maximum 18 ka. The amount of offset between the drainage and the water gap yields an average slip rate of 21–30 mm/year. Finally, displacement of a 1000-year-old debris lobe approximately 20 m from its hillside hollow along the medial ridge indicates a minimum late Holocene slip rate of 21–25 mm/year. Similarity of the late Pleistocene rates to the Holocene slip rate, and to previous rates obtained in paleoseismic trenches in the area, indicates that the rates may not have changed over the past 30 ka, and perhaps the past 200–400 ka. Stratigraphic and structural observations also indicate that valley-bounding faults were active in the late Pleistocene and suggest the need for further study to evaluate their continued seismic potential.     

Geodimeter measurements of slip and strain accumulation along the san andreas fault

The U.S. Geological Survey conducts repeated geodimeter surveys of trilateration networks in central California in order to study the processes of slip and strain accumulation along the San Andreas fault. The precision of distance measurement is described by a standard deviation where a = 3mm, b = 2 · 10⁻⁷, and L is the line length. Within the precision of measurement, no anomalous strain episodes preceding earthquakes or even strain discontinuities at the time of earthquakes were detected from repeated measurements of lines near the epicenters of small (magnitude 4.5–5.1) earthquakes. Annual measurements of small (5-km aperture) strain polygons near the San Andreas fault have not proved strain accumulation in a 3-year period. Repeated measurements of longer lines over periods of 8 to 14 years indicate changes that cannot be attributed to fault slip and must represent strain accumulation at the level of a few parts in 10⁷ per year.     

Salinia revisited: a crystalline nappe sequence lying above the Nacimiento fault and dispersed along the San Andreas fault system,central California

Salinia, as originally defined, is a fault-bounded terrane in westcentral California. As defined, Salinia lies between the Nacimiento fault on the west, and the Northern San Andreas fault (NSAF) and the main trace of the dextral SAF system on the east. This allochthonous terrane was translated from the southern part of the Sierra Nevada batholith and adjacent western Mojave Desert region by Neogene-Quaternary displacement along the SAF system. The Salina crystalline basement formed a westward promontory in the SW Cordilleran Cretaceous batholithic belt, relative to the Sierra Nevada batholith to the north and the Peninsular Ranges batholith to the south, making Salinia batholithic rocks susceptible to capture by the Pacific plate when the San Andreas transform system developed. Proper restoration of offsets on all branches of the San Andreas system is a critical factor in understanding the Salinia problem. When cumulative dextral slip of 171 km (106 mi) along the Hosgri–San Simeon–San Gregorio–Pilarcitos fault zone (S–N), or dextral slip of 200 km (124 mi) along the Hosgri–San Simeon–San Gregorio–Pilarcitos–northern San Andreas fault system, is added to the cumulative dextral slip of 315–322 km (196–200 mi) along the main trace of the SAF north of the San Emigdio–Tehachapi mountains, central California, there is a minimum amount of cumulative dextral slip of 486 km (302 mi) or a maximum amount of cumulative dextral slip of 522 km (324 mi) along the entire SAF system north of the Tehachapi Mountains. When these sums are compared with the offset distance (610–675 km or 379–420 mi) between the batholithic rocks associated with the Navarro structural discontinuity (NSD) in northern California, and those in the ‘tail’ of the southern Sierra Nevada granitic rocks in the San Emigdio–Tehachapi mountains, central California, a minimum deficit of from ～100 km (～62 mi) to a maximum deficit of ～189 km (～118 mi) is needed to restore the crystalline rocks associated with the NSD with the crystalline terranes within the San Emigdio and Tehachapi mountains – the enigma of Salinia. Two principal geologic models compete to explain the enigma (i.e. the discrepancy between measured dextral slip along traces of the SAF system and the amount of separation between the Sierra Nevada batholithic rocks near Point Arena in northern California and the Mesozoic and older crystalline rocks in the San Emigdio and Tehachapi mountains in southern California). (i) One model proposes pre-Neogene (>23 Ma), Late Cretaceous or Maastrichtian (<ca. 71 Ma) to early Palaeocene or Danian (ca. 66 Ma) sinistral slip of 500–600 km (311–373 mi) along the Nacimiento fault and of the western flank of Salinia from the eastern flank of the Peninsular Ranges (sinistral slip but in the opposite sense to later Neogene (<23 Ma) dextral slip along and within the SAF system. (ii) A second model proposes that the crystalline rocks of Salinia comprise a series of 100 km- (60 mi-) scale allochthonous (extensional) nappes that rode southwestward above the Rand schist–Sierra de Salinas (SdS) shear zone subduction extrusion channels. The allochthonous nappes are from NW–SE: (i) Farallon Islands–Santa Cruz Mountains–Montara Mountain, and adjacent batholithic fragments that appear to have been derived from the top of the deep-level Sierra Nevada batholith of the western San Emigdio–Tehachapi mountains; (ii) the Logan Quarry–Loma Prieta Peak fragments that appear to have been derived from the top of a buried detachment fault that forms the basement surface beneath the Maricopa sub-basin of the southernmost Great Valley; (iii) The Pastoria plate–Gabilan Range massif that appears to have been derived from the top of the deep-level SE Sierra Nevada batholith; and (iv) the Santa Lucia–SdS massif, which appears to be lower batholithic crust and underlying extruded schist that were breached westwards from the central to western Mojave Desert region. In this model, lower crustal batholithic blocks underwent ductile stretching above the extrusion channel schists, while mid- to upper-crustal level rocks rode southwestwards and westwards along trenchward dipping detachment faults. Salinian basement rocks of the Santa Lucia Range and the Big Sur area record the most complete geologic history of the displaced terrane. The oldest rocks consist of screens of Palaeozoic marine metasedimentary rocks (the Sur Series), including biotite gneiss and schist, quartzite, granulite gneiss, granofels, and marble. The Sur Series was intruded during Cretaceous high-flux batholithic magmatism by granodiorite, diorite, quartz diorite, and at deepest levels, charnockitic tonalite. Local nonconformable remnants of Campanian–Maastrichtian marine strata lie on the deep-level Salinia basement, and record deposition in an extensional setting. These Cretaceous strata are correlated with the middle to upper Campanian Pigeon Point (PiP) Formation south of San Francisco. The Upper Cretaceous strata, belonging to the Great Valley Sequence, include clasts of the basement rocks and felsic volcanic clasts that in Late Cretaceous time were brought to a coastal region by streams and rivers from Mesozoic felsic volcanic rocks in the Mojave Desert. The Rand and SdS schists of southern California were underplated beneath the southern Sierra Nevada batholith and the adjacent Salinia-Mojave region along a shallow segment of the subducting Farallon plate during Late Cretaceous time. The subduction trajectory of these schists concluded with an abrupt extrusion phase. During extrusion, the schists were transported to the SW from deep- to shallow-crustal levels as the low-angle subduction megathrust surface was transformed into a mylonitic low-angle normal fault system (i.e. Rand fault and Salinas shear zone). The upper batholithic plate(s) was(ere) partially coupled to the extrusion flow pattern, which resulted in 100 km-scale westward displacements of the upper plate(s). Structural stacking, temporal and metamorphic facies relations suggest that the Nacimiento (subduction megathrust) fault formed beneath the Rand-SdS extrusion channel. Metamorphic and structural relations in lower plate Franciscan rocks beneath the Nacimiento fault suggest a terminal phase of extrusion as well, during which the overlying Salinia underwent extension and subsidence to marine conditions. Westward extrusion of the subduction-underplated rocks and their upper batholithic plates rendered these Salinia rocks susceptible to subsequent capture by the SAF system. Evidence supporting the conclusion that the Nacimiento fault is principally a megathrust includes: (i) shear planes of the Nacimiento fault zone in the westcentral Coast Ranges locally dip NE at low angles. (ii) Klippen and/or faulted klippen are locally present along the trace of the Nacimiento fault zone from the Big Creek–Vicente Creek region south of Point Sur near Monterey, to east of San Simeon near San Luis Obispo in central California. Allochthonous detachment sheets and windows into their underplated schists comprise a composite Salinia terrane. The nappe complex forming the allochthon of Salinia was translated westward and northwestward ～100 km (～62 mi) above the Nacimiento megathrust or Franciscan subduction megathrust from SE California between ca. 66 and ca. 61 Ma (i.e. latest Cretaceous–earliest Palaeocene time). Much, or all, of the westward breaching of the Salinia batholithic rocks likely occurred above the extrusion channels of the Rand-SdS schists; following this event, the Franciscan Sur-Obispo terrane was thrust beneath the schists, perhaps during the final stages of extrusion in the upper channel. Later, the Sur-Obispo terrane was partially extruded from beneath the Salinia nappe terrane, during which time the upper plate(s) underwent extension and subsidence to marine conditions. Attenuation of the Salinia nappe sequence during the extrusion of the Franciscan Complex thinned the upper crust, making the upper plates susceptible to erosion from the top of the Franciscan Complex near San Simeon, where it is now exposed. In the San Emigdio Mountains, the relatively thin structural thickness of the upper batholithic plates made them susceptible to late Cenozoic flexural folding and disruption by high-angle dip–slip faults. The ～100 km (～62 mi) of westward and northwestward breaching of the Salinia batholithic rocks above the Rand-SdS channels, and the underlying Nacimiento fault followed by ～510 km (～320 mi) of dextral slip from ～23 Ma to Holocene time along the SAF system, allow for the palinspastic restoration of Salinia with the crystalline rocks of the San Emigdio–Tehachapi mountains and the Mojave terrane, resolving the enigma of Salinia.     

Growth, linkage, and termination processes of a 10-km-long strike-slip fault in jointed granite: the Gemini fault zone, Sierra Nevada, California

Field-based structural analysis of an exhumed, 10-km-long strike-slip fault zone elucidates processes of growth, linkage, and termination along moderately sized strike-slip fault zones in granitic rocks. The Gemini fault zone is a 9.3-km-long, left-lateral fault system that was active at depths of 8–11 km within the transpressive Late-Cretaceous Sierran magmatic arc. The fault zone cuts four granitic plutons and is composed of three steeply dipping northeast- and southwest-striking noncoplanar segments that nucleated and grew along preexisting cooling joints. The fault core is bounded by subparallel fault planes that separate highly fractured epidote-, chlorite-, and quartz-breccias from undeformed protolith. The slip profile along the Gemini fault zone shows that the fault zone consists of three 2–3-km-long segments separated by two ‘zones’ of local slip minima. Slip is highest (131 m) on the western third of the fault zone and tapers to zero at the eastern termination. Slip vectors plunge shallowly west-southwest and show significant variability along strike and across segment boundaries. Four types of microstructures reflect compositional changes in protolith along strike and show that deformation was concentrated on narrow slip surfaces at, or below, greenschist facies conditions. Taken together, we interpret the fault zone to be a segmented, linked fault zone in which geometrical complexities of the faults and compositional variations of protolith and fault rock resulted in nonuniform slip orientations, complex fault-segment interactions, and asymmetric slip-distance profiles.     

Seismotectonics of strike–slip earthquakes within the deep crust of southern Italy: Geometry, kinematics, stress field and crustal rheology of the Potenza 1990–1991 seismic sequences (Mmax 5.7)

We present a revision and a seismotectonic interpretation of deep crust strike–slip earthquake sequences that occurred in 1990–1991 in the Southern Apennines (Potenza area). The revision is motivated by: i) the striking similarity to a seismic sequence that occurred in 2002  140 km NNW, in an analogous tectonic context (Molise area), suggesting a common seismotectonic environment of regional importance; ii) the close proximity of such deep strike–slip seismicity with shallow extensional seismicity (Apennine area); and iii) the lack of knowledge about the mechanical properties of the crust that might justify the observed crustal seismicity. A comparison between the revised 1990–1991 earthquakes and the 2002 earthquakes, as well as the integration of seismological data with a rheological analysis offer new constraints on the regional seismotectonic context of crustal seismicity in the Southern Apennines. The seismological revision consists of a relocation of the aftershock sequences based on newly constrained velocity models. New focal mechanisms of the aftershocks are computed and the active state of stress is constrained via the use of a stress inversion technique. The relationships among the observed seismicity, the crustal structure of the Southern Apennines, and the rheological layering are analysed along a crustal section crossing southern Italy, by computing geotherms and two-mechanism (brittle frictional vs. ductile plastic strength) rheological profiles. The 1990–1991 seismicity is concentrated in a well-defined depth range (mostly between 15 and 23 km depths). This depth range corresponds to the upper pat of the middle crust underlying the Apulian sedimentary cover, in the footwall of the easternmost Apennine thrust system. The 3D distribution of the aftershocks, the fault kinematics, and the stress inversion indicate the activation of a right-lateral strike–slip fault striking N100°E under a stress field characterized by a sub-horizontal N142°-trending σ1 and a sub-horizontal N232°-trending σ3, very similar to the known stress field of the Gargano seismic zone in the Apulian foreland. The apparent anomalous depths of the earthquakes (> 15 km) and the confinement within a relatively narrow depth range are explained by the crustal rheology, which consists of a strong brittle layer at mid crustal depths sandwiched between two plastic horizons. This articulated rheological stratification is typical of the central part of the Southern Apennine crust, where the Apulian crust is overthrusted by Apennine units. Both the Potenza 1990–1991 and the Molise 2002 seismic sequences can be interpreted to be due to crustal E–W fault zones within the Apulian crust inherited from previous tectonic phases and overthrusted by Apennine units during the Late Pliocene–Middle Pleistocene. The present strike–slip tectonic regime reactivated these fault zones and caused them to move with an uneven mechanical behaviour; brittle seismogenic faulting is confined to the strong brittle part of the middle crust. This strong brittle layer might also act as a stress guide able to laterally transmit the deviatoric stresses responsible for the strike–slip regime in the Apulian crust and may explain the close proximity (nearly overlapping) of the strike–slip and normal faulting regimes in the Southern Apennines. From a methodological point of view, it seems that rather simple two-mechanism rheological profiles, though affected by uncertainties, are still a useful tool for estimating the rheological properties and likely seismogenic behaviour of the crust.     

Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the central Wassuk Range,western Nevada,USA

The central Wassuk Range is ideally located to investigate the interplay of Basin and Range extension and Walker Lane dextral deformation along the western Nevada margin of the Basin and Range province. To elucidate the Cenozoic evolution of the range, the author conducted geologic mapping, structural data collection and analysis, geochemical analysis of igneous lithologies, and geochronology. This research delineates a three-stage deformational history for the range. A pulse of ENE–WSW-directed extension at high strain rates (～8.7 mm/yr) was initiated immediately after the eruption of ～15 Ma andesite flows; strain was accommodated by high-angle, closely spaced (1–2 km), east-dipping normal faults which rotated and remained active to low angles as extension continued. A post-12 Ma period of extension at low strain rates produced a second generation of normal faults and two prominent dextral strike–slip faults which strike NW, subparallel to the dextral faults of the Walker Lane at this latitude. A new pulse of ongoing extension began at ～4 Ma and has been accomodated primarily by the east-dipping range-bounding normal fault system. The increase in the rate of fault displacement has resulted in impressive topographic relief on the east flank of the range, and kinematic indicators support a shift in extension direction from ENE–WSW during the highest rates of Miocene extension to WNW–ESE today. The total extension accommodated across the central Wassuk Range since the middle Miocene is >200%, with only a brief period of dextral fault activity during the late Miocene. Data presented here suggest a local geologic evolution intimately connected to regional tectonics, from intra-arc extension in the middle Miocene, to late Miocene dextral deformation associated with the northward growth of the San Andreas Fault, to a Pliocene pulse of extension and magmatism likely influenced by both the northward passage of the Mendocino triple junction and possible delamination of the southern Sierra Nevada crustal root.