Four-dimensional transform fault processes: progressive evolution of step-overs and bends

Many bends or step-overs along strike–slip faults may evolve by propagation of the strike–slip fault on one side of the structure and progressive shut-off of the strike–slip fault on the other side. In such a process, new transverse structures form, and the bend or step-over region migrates with respect to materials that were once affected by it. This process is the progressive asymmetric development of a strike–slip duplex. Consequences of this type of step-over evolution include: (1) the amount of structural relief in the restraining step-over or bend region is less than expected; (2) pull-apart basin deposits are left outside of the active basin; and (3) local tectonic inversion occurs that is not linked to regional plate boundary kinematic changes. This type of evolution of step-overs and bends may be common along the dextral San Andreas fault system of California; we present evidence at different scales for the evolution of bends and step-overs along this fault system. Examples of pull-apart basin deposits related to migrating releasing (right) bends or step-overs are the Plio-Pleistocene Merced Formation (tens of km along strike), the Pleistocene Olema Creek Formation (several km along strike) along the San Andreas fault in the San Francisco Bay area, and an inverted colluvial graben exposed in a paleoseismic trench across the Miller Creek fault (meters to tens of meters along strike) in the eastern San Francisco Bay area. Examples of migrating restraining bends or step-overs include the transfer of slip from the Calaveras to Hayward fault, and the Greenville to the Concord fault (ten km or more along strike), the offshore San Gregorio fold and thrust belt (40 km along strike), and the progressive transfer of slip from the eastern faults of the San Andreas system to the migrating Mendocino triple junction (over 150 km along strike). Similar 4D evolution may characterize the evolution of other regions in the world, including the Dead Sea pull-apart, the Gulf of Paria pull-apart basin of northern Venezuela, and the Hanmer and Dagg basins of New Zealand.     

Geophysical evidence on segmentation of the Tancheng-Lujiang fault and its implications on the lithosphere evolution in East China

The north–south trending Tancheng-Lujiang (Tanlu) fault belt extends from northeast China to the Dabie–Sulu orogenic belt, for a length of more than 3000 km. This fault belt probably has close links with the lithosphere evolution, seismic activity and mineral resource concentration in East China. Surface geological mapping and studies on sedimentation and basin formation have indicated segmentation at the southern, middle and northern domains of the fault. Here we employ geophysical constraints to evaluate these fault segments. Unlike previous geophysical studies focused on laterally varying crust/mantle seismic velocity structure across the fault, in this study we have integrated a variety of geophysical data sets, such as crustal P-wave velocity, earthquake occurrence and released seismic energy, seismogenic layer thickness, surface heat flow and geothermal field, to understand the deep structure and strength of the lithosphere along the Tanlu segmented fault belt. The results demonstrate remarkable crustal-scale north-to-south segmentation this major fault. The geophysical evidence and some geochemical constraints suggest that the Tanlu fault belt probably served as a channel for melt and fluid percolation, and exerted a significant control on the lithosphere evolution in East China.     

Comminution and fluidization of granular fault materials: implications for fault slip behavior

Whilst faulting in the shallow crust is inevitably associated with comminution of rocks, the mechanical properties of the comminuted granular materials themselves affect the slip behavior of faults. Therefore, the mechanical behavior of any fault progresses along an evolutionary path. We analyzed granular fault rocks from four faults, and deduced an evolutionary trend of fractal size frequency. Comminution of fault rocks starts at a fractal dimension close to 1.5 (2-D measurement), at which a given grain is supported by the maximum number of grains attainable and hence is at its strongest. As comminution proceeds, the fractal dimension increases, and hence comminution itself is a slip weakening mechanism. Under the appropriate conditions, comminuted granular materials may be fluidized during seismic slip events. In this paper, we develop a new method to identify the granular fault rocks that have experienced fluidization, where the detection probability of fragmented counterparts is a key parameter. This method was applied to four fault rock samples and a successful result was obtained. Knowledge from powder technology teaches us that the volume fraction of grains normalized by maximum volume fraction attainable is the most important parameter for dynamic properties of granular materials, and once granular fault materials are fluidized, the fault plane becomes nearly frictionless. A small decrease in the normalized volume fraction of grains from 1 is a necessary condition for the phase transition to fluidization from the deformation mechanism governed by grain friction and crushing by contact stresses. This condition can be realized only when shearing proceeds under unconstrained conditions, and this demands that the gap between fault walls is widened. Normal interface vibration proposed by Brune et al. [Tectonophysics 218 (1993) 59] appears to be the most appropriate cause of this, and we presented two lines of field evidence that support this mechanism to work in nature.     

The occurrence of graphite-bearing fault rocks in the Atotsugawa fault system,Japan: Origins and implications for fault creep

Graphite in fault zones has received little attention even though it is a well-known solid lubricant that could affect frictional properties of faults dramatically. This paper reports the presence of abundant graphite in fault zones of the Atotsugawa fault system, central Japan. Mesoscopic and microscopic observations of fault rocks revealed two processes of carbon enrichment in fault zones. One is a pressure solution process or diffusive mass transfer in general which removes water-soluble minerals such as quartz and carbonates from rocks, resulting in the enrichment of insoluble minerals including carbon. The other process is precipitation of graphite from a high-temperature carbon-rich fluid, forming graphite filling fractures within cataclasitic fault zones. The two processes have led to the concentration, up to 12 wt% of graphite, in the Atotsugawa fault zones, compared to 0 to 3 wt% of carbonaceous materials in the host rocks. This concentration is high enough for graphite to affect frictional properties at wide range of slip rates. The presence of graphite may provide an explanation for the low resistivity, the patterns of microearthquakes and fault creep along the western part of the Atotsugawa fault system. Graphite should receive more attention as a weakening and stabilizing agent of faults.     

The oblique intersection of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge with Charlie-Gibbs transform fault

The junction angle between the western Charlie-Gibbs transform fault and the spreading axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge diverges by 40° from the orthogonal intersection assumed in many studies of plate boundaries. This has been established by a surface-ship reconnaissance and by mapping fault trends in a transponder-navigated deep-tow survey of the fracture valley 25 km from the intersection. One set of normal faults trends 325–330°, parallel to the obliquely spreading ridge axis, and another set trends 275°, parellel to the direction of relative plate motion. Although the near-bottom survey was in the theoretically inactive part of the fracture zone, beyond the transform fault section, there is evidence for recent motion on faults that cut the thick sediment fill of the fracture valley.Oblique spreading of a ridge axis near a transform fault may result from distortion of the regional stress field by a strike-slip couple. Tension parallel to the long axis of the strike-slip strain ellipse, which is responsible for oblique normal faulting in transform valleys, causes oblique dike injection and oblique faulting in the axial rift valley. These effects extend further from transfrom fault intersections on slow-spreading ridges than on fast-spreading rises.     

Syn-collisional transform faulting of the Tan-Lu fault zone,East China

Origin of the continental-scale Tan-Lu fault zone (TLFZ), East China, remains controversial. About 550 km sinistral offset of the Dabie orogenic belt (DOB) and Sulu orogenic belt (SOB) is shown along the NE-NNE-striking TLFZ. Syn-collisional, sinistral ductile shear belts in the TLFZ have been identified. Thirteen phengite bulk separates from the mylonites were dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method. They gave cooling ages of the 198–181 Ma for the shear belts along the eastern margin of the DOB and 221–210 Ma from the western margin of the SOB. Distribution of the foreland basin deposits suggests that sinistral offset of the DOB and SOB by the TLFZ took place prior to deposition of the Upper Triassic strata. The marginal structures around the DOB and SOB support syn-collisional faulting, and indicate anticlockwise rotation of the DOB during the displacement. The folding and thrust faulting related to crustal subduction, coeval with the Tan-Lu faulting, is older than the foreland basin deposition related to the orogenic exhumation. Several lines of evidence demonstrate that the TLFZ was developed as a syn-collisional transform fault during latest Middle to earliest Late Triassic time when the DOB and SOB experienced crustal subduction of the South China Block (SCB). Eastward increase of the crustal subduction rates is believed to be responsible for the sinistral transform faulting.     

Gas permeability evolution of cataclasite and fault gouge in triaxial compression and implications for changes in fault-zone permeability structure through the earthquake cycle

We report the results of permeability measurements of fault gouge and tonalitic cataclasite from the fault zone of the Median Tectonic Line, Ohshika, central Japan, carried out during triaxial compression tests. The experiments revealed marked effects of deformation on the permeability of the specimens. Permeability of fault gouge decreases rapidly by about two orders of magnitude during initial loading and continues to decrease slowly during further inelastic deformation. The drop in permeability during initial loading is much smaller for cataclasite than for gouge, followed by abrupt increase upon failure, and the overall change in permeability correlates well with change in volumetric strain, i.e., initial, nearly elastic contraction followed by dilatancy upon the initiation of inelastic deformation towards specimen failure. If cemented cataclasite suffers deformation prior to or during an earthquake, a cataclasite zone may change into a conduit for fluid flow. Fault gouge zones, however, are unlikely to switch to very permeable zones upon the initiation of fault slip. Thus, overall permeability structure of a fault may change abruptly prior to or during earthquakes and during the interseismic period. Fault gouge and cataclasite have internal angles of friction of about 36° and 45°, respectively, as is typical for brittle rocks.     

准噶尔盆地二叠纪盆地属性的再认识及其构造意义

准噶尔盆地及其邻区野外剖面、钻井剖面的系统对比和地震剖面的精细解释表明,二叠系沉积演化、断裂控制沉积、箕状断-超反射特征及大地构造背景均显示,二叠纪准噶尔盆地是形成于张性背景下的断陷-裂陷盆地。准噶尔盆地及邻区火山岩地化特征、年代学数据及区域构造研究成果也证明,二叠纪是张性的大地构造背景。早二叠世—中二叠世早期以发育冲积扇沉积为特征,各构造部位的沉积环境差异较大,强烈断陷并逐渐形成坳隆相间的沉积格局,为断陷盆地的裂陷期;中二叠统中晚期由早二叠世隆坳分割的局面逐渐转化为统一的大型内陆湖盆,吐哈盆地与准噶尔盆地水体相通,形成统一的沉积体系,为断陷盆地扩张期;晚二叠世时期以出现冲积-河流相红色粗碎屑沉积为特征,准噶尔盆地和吐哈盆地分割自成沉积体系,是断陷盆地的萎缩期。因此,中生代盆地演化是建立在二叠纪张性背景的基础之上,二叠纪断陷-裂陷盆地的提出对重新认识中生代盆地演化历程将具有重要启示意义,也将对今后的油气勘探具有重要指导意义,值得进一步研究。     

The geometrical evolution of normal fault systems

The purpose of this paper is to examine the kinematic behaviour of normal fault systems and see what general conditions govern their geometrical evolution. We pay particular attention to seismological and surface data from regions of present day active normal faulting, as the instantaneous three-dimensional geometry at the time of fault movement is better known in active regions than in areas where the faults are now static.Most normal faults are concave upward, or listric. This shape can be produced by geometric constraints, either because the faults reactivate curved thrusts, or because they must be curved to accommodate rotations. Another effect which will produce curved faults is the variation of rheology with depth: brittle failure at shallow depths produces less fault rotation than does distributed creep in the lower part of the crust. An important geometric feature of normal faulting is the uplift of the footwall. The amount of such uplift is related not only to the elastic properties of the lithosphere, but also to the throw and dip of the fault. A striking feature of active normal faults is that they occur in groups in which all the faults dip in the same direction. This behaviour arises because the faults cannot intersect: if they do, one must cease to be active. The rotation which such fault systems produce reduces the dip of the faults until a new steeply dipping fault is formed. Once a new fault cuts pre-existing faults the earlier faults become locked, and a new set of faults must propagate rapidly across the whole region involved. Many of these geometric constraints also apply to thrust faulting.     

新生代阿尔金断裂带的演化:来自沿线盆地沉积记录的启示SCIEI北大核心CSCD

阿尔金断裂带是青藏高原自印度与欧亚大陆碰撞后向北扩展的前缘断裂,其新生代活动性对于研究青藏高原隆升与扩展过程和机制具有重要意义。近些年,运用热年代学、断裂几何学和运动学、沉积学、磁性地层学和地震学等方法对阿尔金断裂带的性质、组成结构、断裂活动时代、走滑断裂运动特征、走滑位移量和走滑速率等进行了细致的研究,而对阿尔金断裂带沿线受其控制的新生代沉积盆地的地层年代、沉积演化特征虽然也有一定研究,但往往仅限于单个盆地,缺乏对沿线盆地整体的对比认识,造成对阿尔金断裂带走滑起始时间及阿尔金山的隆升历史存在不同的认识。本文对近二十年来阿尔金断裂带沿线新生代沉积盆地的磁性地层年代与沉积相演化的研究进展进行综述,建立阿尔金断裂带沿线盆地新生代沉积序列和年代框架;辅助热年代学等资料,提出阿尔金断裂带的三阶段演化模型:始新世-中中新世,阿尔金断裂带以大幅度的走滑运动为主,同时伴随着阿尔金山小范围的隆升;中中新世开始,阿尔金山开始大规模的隆升,伴随着较少量的走滑运动;晚中新世以来,阿尔金断裂带构造活动加强。     

Lead isotopic compositions in fault gouges and their parent rocks: implications for ancient fault activities

This is the first study on Pb stable isotopes in fault gouges and their parent rocks. We analyzed the composition of Pb isotopes and contents of U and Pb in 10 pairs of fault gouges and their parent rocks collected along several active faults in central Japan. Thorium-232-²⁰⁸Pb ages of two fault systems were determined as pre-Tertiary, which are consistent with the data from KAr ages and geological considerations.Naturally, the²³⁵U²⁰⁷Pb system is of little use for dating because the magnitude of difference in²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb between gouges and parent rocks is too small. It is found that the²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb can indicate the contribution of²⁰⁶Pb resulting from excess supplies of²²⁶Ra and²²²Rn along the fault. The excess²⁰⁶Pb accumulation rate corresponds to the average²²²Rn concentration in soil gas or groundwater through geological time since the gouge formation. A comparison of Quaternary fault activity and estimated Tertiary activity reveals the characteristics of each fault system.     

Thermal and mechanical evolution of the Michigan Basin

We examine the formation of the Michigan Basin in terms of elastic flexure of the lithosphere. The shape of the flexure accurately determines the flexural rigidity of the lithosphere and the lateral extent of the load responsible for the flexure. The amplitude of differential subsidence then gives the magnitude of the load. Gravity anomalies in the southern peninsula of Michigan further restrain the dimensions of the load. We propose a model for the formation of the Michigan Basin involving mantle diapirs. We suggest that the first stage in its evolution was diapiric penetration of the lithosphere by hot asthenospheric mantle rock to the vicinity of the Moho. The heating of the lower crust by these hot rocks caused the transformation of lower crust, meta-stable gabbroic rocks to eclogite. Initially the lighter mantle rocks nearly balanced the heavier eclogite. As the mantle rocks cooled by conduction, the basin subsided under the load of the eclogite. The thermal contraction mechanism is supported by evidence that the flexural rigidity of the lithosphere increases with time. This is the effect of thickening of the elastic lithosphere as cooling progresses.     

Numerical modeling of strike-slip creeping faults and implications for the Hayward fault, California

The seismic potential of creeping faults such as the Hayward fault (San Francisco Bay Area, CA) depends on the rate at which moment (slip deficit) accumulates on the fault plane. Thus, it is important to evaluate how the creep rate observed at the surface is related to the slip on the fault plane. The surface creep rate (SCR) depends on the geometry of locked and free portions of the fault and on the interaction between the fault zone and the surrounding lithosphere. Using a viscoelastic finite element model, we investigate how fault zone geometries and physical characteristics such as frictionless or locked patches affect the observed surface creep when the system is driven by far field plate motions. These results have been applied to creep observations of the Hayward fault. This analysis differs from most previous fault creeping models in that the fault in our model is loaded by a distributed viscous flow induced by far field velocity boundary conditions instead of imposed slip beneath the major faults of the region. The far field velocity boundary conditions simulate the relative motion of the stable Pacific plate respect to the Rigid Sierra Nevada block, leaving the rheology, fault geometry, and mechanics (locked or free to creep patches), to determinate the patterns of fault creep.Our model results show that the fault geometry (e.g. length and depth of creeping) and the local rheology influence the surface creep rate (SCR) and the slip on the fault plane. In particular, we show that the viscoelastic layer beneath the elastic seismogenic zone plays a fundamental role in loading the fault. Additionally, the coupling with the surrounding lithosphere results in a smooth transition from regions free to creep to locked patches.     

Chaotic fault interactions: implications for seismic hazard in New Zealand

A chaotic fault interaction model previously developed for the San Andreas Fault System and the Nankai Trough (examples of transform fault and subduction dominated tectonic regimes, respectively) is here applied to the large-event seismicity in the New Zealand region, where the interacting blocks of the model are taken to be those parts of the Indo-Australian plate boundary that are, from north-east to southwest, subduction dominated, ‘transpressional’, and transform-fault dominated. The model suggests a shorter term recurrence of large events than do simple seismic cycle approaches.     

燕山东部柳江地区构造属性新解与郯庐断裂系活动

传统意义上的柳江盆地位于燕山东段,完整地出露了从前寒武纪到中生界的华北地台盖层沉积地层,地层序列总体上呈中间新,两侧老的特点。前人认为柳江盆地为一轴向N10°E的不对称向斜。新的野外调查显示,柳江地区西侧陡立的产状是断裂作用形成的构造面理产状,为北北东向断裂构造的一部分,可以清楚识别的原始层面产状实际上与东部地层相似,为250°西倾25°~30°倾角。因此,将柳江地区东侧的原始层面产状与西侧的构造面理产状分别对应同一向斜两翼的传统观点是不恰当的。所谓柳江盆地实际上为单斜构造,是地壳断块在北北东向断裂的作用下西侧上升东侧下降的掀斜作用结果,过去对这一地区关于盆地和向斜构造属性的界定应该予以纠正。柳江地区在古生代和中生代时期是华北盆地的一部分,在新生代以来又同时接受剥蚀,一直不曾是独立的盆地单元。由于柳江断陷的沉降与西侧响山隆起相耦合,在两者边界起调节作用的北北东向断裂系具有左旋走滑兼具垂直运动分量的运动性质,是郯庐断裂系的组成部分,北北东向断裂系活动的时限与响山隆起的时限相对应,根据裂变径迹年龄分析结果,活动时代为白垩世末-古新世。     

Frictional properties of simulated anhydrite-dolomite fault gouge and implications for seismogenic potential

The frictional properties of anhydrite-dolomite fault gouges, and the effects of CO₂ upon them, are of key importance in assessing the risks associated with CO₂ storage in reservoir formations capped by anhydrite-dolomite sequences, and in understanding seismicity occurring in such formations (such as the Italian Apennines). Therefore, we performed velocity-stepping direct-shear experiments on simulated dolomite, anhydrite and 50:50 anhydrite/dolomite gouges, at representative in-situ conditions (120 °C and σ_n^e = 25 MPa). They were conducted under vacuum, or else using water or CO₂-saturated water as pore fluid (P_f = 15 MPa). Friction coefficients varied between 0.55 and 0.7. All dry samples exhibited velocity-weakening behavior, whereas all wet samples exhibited velocity-strengthening behavior, without or with CO₂. This is consistent with trends previously reported for such gouges. A compilation of literature data shows that the transition from velocity-strengthening to velocity-weakening occurs in these materials between 80 and 120 °C when dry, and between 100 and 150 °C when wet. This implies little seismogenic potential for wet dolomite, anhydrite and mixed gouges under CO₂ storage conditions at 2–4 km depth. Seismic slip in the Italian Apennines at depths of ∼6 km and beyond may be explained by the velocity-weakening behavior expected in anhydrite and especially dolomite at temperatures above 150 °C.